Continuing Adventures with a Long Arm Quilting Machine

First and foremost! People with high blood pressure, no patience, and only two hands and suspect eye sight have no business trying to set up, adjust, and operate a long arm quilting machine. After finally adjusting the machine to not shred thread, and where the quilt back was without loops and rats nests I loaded the quilt sandwich, and was ready to quilt. Loading the three layers of the quilt is where one would benefit by having two extra hands. Made a few test stitches and found everything to be perfect and ready to go. WOW, WOWEE! This was fun, fun, fun. Quilted about ten inches of the top and it looked really professional. Then all of a sudden the machine started looping thread stitches on the back of the top. The tension had loosened up considerably. This cannot be natural. I only have two more days to figure this thing out. But when it works properly it's real fun. My hope is to finish the one quilt top, Then figure out why the thread occasionally gets shredded, and why it won't hold the proper thread tension; and load another top on for my daughter to complete after I leave for home.

Yippee! I think I've got it. Crap, I also thought I had it yesterday too. But maybe this is the time. After considerable un-sewing (quilting), lots of adjustments, I got it done. I hope I have learned enough to leave some simplified directions for set up, adjustments, and operation, so that my daughter will have more success with the machine. The instructions that came with it assume way too much.ad are just plain lackings. Example: while many photos are used, they show quilting with a light colored thread on a light colored fabric. That just photographs great for contrast and clarity. Also, the printed instructions are not always on the same page as the photos that they attempt to explain.