Remember my teal quilt? The top has been pieced for a while, and since I'm keeping this one, I had to get backing, batting, and thread for it. So it was on hold for a while for other priorities, until its turn on the long arm came up. Here it is before I fixed the upside-down bottom border. It's fixed now.
Then I checked out the back where I could see it around the roller. Oh, no. Disaster.
Eyelashes everywhere.
Some background:
- This machine was new in March 2025 and was professionally installed.
- It's shared by 78+ PebbleCreek Quilters who have been trained and certified by our Long Arm Committee to use it.
- Only the approved thread can be used, in order to not have to adjust the tension.
- We used to use Superior 50 wt. So Fine thread but due to numerous thread breaks, the Committee recently switched to 40 wt. Omni.
- Due to the change in thread type, the Committee has only stocked basic colors. If they don't have the color you need, you have to buy it yourself. I bought a 6000 yard cone of the approved 40 wt. Omni in a teal color.
- Very strict rule for all users using the long arm: NEVER TOUCH THE TENSION.
There is an instruction book for all long arm users to refer to, which includes trouble shooting.
- I made sure the machine was loaded correctly. It was.
- I checked that the machine was threaded correctly. It was.
- I checked the bobbin tension and found it to be good.
- Made sure the machine, including the bobbin case area, was free of lint. In addition to being a heavier weight, the Omni thread is much hairier and fuzzier than So Fine. I brushed it out before starting and after each pass.
When these steps fail, the procedure is to send a group text to the 5 members of the Long Arm Committee. Whoever can respond will text Got It to all and then reply to the user.
Okay, I was already frustrated, and I'm old, I'm not much of a phone person. I've never started a group text before. I could have cried. It took me a while to figure out that I need to put all the names and numbers into my contacts first, then start the text. Finally I was able to send a photo and a request for help to the Committee.
One of them got right back to me and half an hour later she arrived at the Fiber Arts Room to help. Together we spent about an hour trouble shooting. She found that the tension, although it looked like the correct setting, was actually one whole revolution too tight. That only partially fixed the problem. We fiddled and tested, fiddled and tested, again and again and again, for about an hour and could not get a satisfactory result. Still getting eyelashes on the back, but not quite as bad.
Finally we tried another cone of thread, white. Perfect stitching. We tried black and the stitching was acceptable, not perfect but much better than the teal thread. Since the machine was stitching beautifully with white thread, there was nothing more we could do, but I couldn't use the teal thread to quilt my quilt.
So here's where I'm at today:
- I have a top I spent 9 months designing and piecing, that I love.
- I have the perfect backing for it,
- I bought batting.
- I bought expensive thread that now I can't use.
- I have to rip out two passes of very bad quilting plus numerous test patches in the margins. I don't have and cannot get any more of this backing fabric, so I have to rip out every stitch.
- I must use only Omni thread on the club's machine; Omni thread in my color didn't work, so now I don't know how I'll get this quilt quilted. It's too big for me to quilt on my domestic machine.
- I don't want to pay to send it out for quilting because this quilt is just a vanity project for me. It doesn't have a purpose and doesn't coordinate with any rooms in my house, so it will probably just sit in a closet.
I'm beyond frustrated.
PCQ has a Long Arm Users group that meets once a month under the direction of the Committee. Tomorrow is the December meeting. I plan to take this project and the teal thread to the meeting. Maybe one of the other Committee members will have a suggestion. If nothing else, I can start ripping out the bad quilting.
Sigh.
Link Ups: Small Quilts and Doll Quilts 12/15; Alycia Quilts 12/19
The "expert" committee needs to be reminded that darker threads have many more dye processes and is thicker. Tension has to be adjusted going light to dark and vice versa. They should know this! I have my own LA-not an expensive fancy one but it works well for 1 person. Mine does not like 30wt King Tut even though the selling shop recommends it. I do best with SoFine 50wt.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry this has been an awful experience for you.