My longarm has sat idle for about four months as I have been in mask mode and in a design frenzy. So I decided to finish Palmetto Pines on my longarm. My husband was great and helped me to get it loaded a week ago. Then came quilt time.
As most longarm quilters know, you need to check your tension each time you start and often when you put in a new bobbin. At first, my tension was so loose, I kept tightening it so the back wasn’t a nest…. I finally got it right and made it through the first bobbin. When I changed my bobbin, the tension was way to tight and the thread snapped. So I loosened it. This time, to get it right, the setting was so low, I was not sure I could go any lower – talk about longarm limbo.
At that point, I decided something was not right. The machine had been serviced not too long ago. I verified the bobbin tension with my Towa bobbin meter – it was fine.
Next, I changed the needle. And that is when my frustration really began…. Now, the needle wouldn’t pick up the bobbin thread! That is a timing issue. When you think about it, the swing in tension could be timing related as well. This was not good. I had to fight the panic….. I tried three different needles – the same result. I went back to the original needle. It would occasionally pick up the bobbin thread, but it was dropping stitches on my tests. This was not going well.
I looked in the manual and I had tried everything they suggested short of calling the service representative. Then, a thought sprung into my head. The longarm tension is partly guided by the computer. An old computer tech once told me, “When all else fails, turn it off. Wait a minute and reboot.” Well, if it worked for computers, maybe it would work with my longarm… I turned her off and waited. Then, I turned her on and said a little prayer. Low and behold, it worked!!
After an hour of fighting the tension, I finally got an hour of stitching in. I may take me while, but I will get this quilt done.
Happy Quilting 🙂
Laureen