Here is the offending machine. It is a Husqvarna Mega Quilter. Currently it is set up in my dining room at the 10 foot span. It has always had a problem with the tension and I thought I had conquered it. I brought it to a Sewing Machine person who was supposed to be the best around and it came back in exactly the same shape it left. I am not sure he even did anything to it for the $120 he charged me.
It is complicated to thread, although not impossible. You have to be a contortionist or be left handed, which I am neither. When it sews correctly, it does a fabulous job of quilting. I wonder why they have all those twists and turns when you thread the thing. Like this, why not just make it go straight into the tension thingy. That way I won't twist it incorrectly and mess up a whole row of quilting......duh.I bought it second hand with the idea that I would decide if I liked a long arm and then become proficient at it. But since it has the tension problems, I have not become proficient at it. That and my mom and Dutch and my life last year. You know the drill.
I have about 20 quilts that need quilting and I think I will attempt to become proficient at doing this. I have all these quilts, you see.......
glen: ohhhh! It is only the 8th and I am already down 7.5 yards! Whoo hoo! Good because I will be out of the country for 9 days soon! No quilting while having fun!
You CAN conquer this! Get your frame loaded with layers of musling/calico and your usual wadding, what thread are you using? What needles? Now this is the brave bit, turn your top tension dial down to the lowest setting, and sew! Yes you will have loops, turn the tension up a setting and sew some more, the loops should be less, keep doing this till you have tension balanced. It will work! It's a bit like the Juki, do you have a foot pressure? If you do, put it to it's lowest setting so there isn't any drag on the fabric from the foot. Are you using a hopping foot? Try it, let me know how you get on :)
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