It Ain't Broke, So I Don't Have to Fix It!

I had a slight problem with the new embroidery machine. It gave me an error message. I knew there was an easy fix for it, but couldn't recall exactly what it was. No panic. I looked for an instructional video on line and had to push a few buttons on the screen and slowly turn a knob.

POOF!

The Avance was right back to work.

While I was looking for the video, there was a subtext running through my head. A similar error on Mama Bernina, and she'd be in the shop for a week or two and it would cost a minimum of $100. My worst case fear was that I'd have to load the Avance into my truck and drive it to Tampa.

I'd heard really good things about these machines. I'm inclined to believe them now. 

Repair Woes for my Bernina 830LE

I was having trouble with multiple false alarms for my top thread sensor. I turned it off, but then, my touchscreen would lock up. The problem got bad enough that I dropped the machine off for service. That was on Sunday, the 31st of August. The owner of the shop wrote up the service ticket and she understands that I only get to sew on the weekends. Wonderful Hubby picked up my machine on Friday, September 5th.

FAIL!!! Not only was I still getting false alarms, There was a serious top thread tension issue. I got the worst thread 'nests' I've ever seen. Not only did the knotted clump of thread manage to pull the project out of the hoop, the thread nest also pulled the throat plate off the free arm. The bobbin stopped moving entirely, as well. In short, the thread clump pulled my machine apart.

So, on Saturday, September 6, before 10:00 in the morning, my machine was back in the shop for the second time in a single week. I'm not usually prone to italics, but I am that upset about it.

When I dropped off the machine the second time, the owner of the shop was again present. She passed me off to her employees. I didn't get to speak to her about paying for four hours of labor, only to discover that the problem had not been fixed and new issues had been created that were worse.  There is a chance that not only is the top tension off, the timing of the machine is wrong. Bad timing is often a death knell for a machine.

The mechanic has been on vacation this week and has not touched my machine. I was expecting it to be finished by today. Heck, I really had expected it to be finished last week!

OTOH, if the mechanic has screwed up the timing, the worst case scenario means the machine will have to be shipped to Chicago to be repaired. If Chicago can't repair it, I'm going to demand that the shop owner buy me a replacement. My 830 is a Limited Edition of a numbered series. I'd accept a used machine as a replacement because I got mine used. But I'm not paying for the shipping or the additional repairs, no matter what. I didn't break it, the mechanic did.

Embroidery Class Two

The second class on how to do machine embroidery got more into the interface. I had a question on a function button that wasn't mentioned in the manual. But, it still boiled down to the instructor had many different types of machines to cover and could not go into detail for my machine. The students also had a very wide range of skill levels.

I made a mistake with endless embroidery and tried something too fancy. I duplicated the pattern, so the machine thought two repeats were what I really wanted. I only wanted one repeat at a time, but what did I know?

The two "arrows" are the marks, similar to a tailor's tack, that the machine will baste in. They show you where to align the hoop in the machine. I hooped the fabric using the center crease as my center line. The machine started at the left, stitched two repeats and then put in the tailor's tacks. I took the fabric out of the hoop, moved the hoop and then lined up my stitching for the next repeat  using the tailor's tacks. My problem was that all the motifs started at the right side and stitched over to the left. I couldn't tell where I was really going to be using the handwheel and testing the needle position. I just had to trust. It isn't perfect, but it isn't bad either.

But! I did get more actual embroidery completed during this class. I learned how to use a basting box for alignment checks. I learned where to adjust to use Puffy Foam (details to follow in a different post), I learned that Floriani thread and my 830 might not get along. I got a sample of embroidery stabilizer that I'd never seen before. I also got my sample book of fabrics and stabilizers used for embroidery up to date. It wasn't a wasted class.  

Machine Embroidery Class

The class for embroidery has been divided into two parts. If one class covered everything, the students would be completely overloaded. At the first class, I practiced and got better at doing things I already knew how to do.

I learned about the screens:
I got more comfortable flipping back and forth between screens. I learned that it is worth while to use the zoom function on the screen. I learned the technical names for the buttons and that helps me remember what each button does.

I learned about hooping my fabric:
505 spray adhesive will hold my stabilizer and fabric together before I put them into the hoop. Too much spray will gum up my needle. 505 is fast and I can reposition my fabric, if I need to. The funky gray doo-dads are handles for the template that fits inside the hoop. I don't need to pick at the edge to pick up the template any more, I've got handles! Me like handles!

I still have two things that I'd like to have the instructor help me get firmly under control.
First, I'm not successful when I need to navigate to a specific location in the design. My move slowly function does not work. The enter the location by stitch number does not work. I can only make large jumps. That's not right.
Second, I want to learn how to do endless embroidery. That's where I put marker stitches in when I complete a design, re hoop the fabric, and use the marker stitches to line up the next repetition. The result is a design that looks like I didn't stop and start a zillion times, but embroidered it all in one go.

Mama Bernina's Table

For many years, I've used a table with a lift that allowed me to raise and lower my sewing machine.  The lift is too small for Big Mama Bernina. Not only that, but it was a bother to switch from sewing to embroidery and back again. My 165e could do embroidery, but I rarely did. I am going to keep Big Mama B on top of the table and not use the lift. I can easily switch from sewing to embroidery and back. I want to embroider more.

There will be no new table for Mama B. I'm not going to pay extra for in-home delivery of a piece of furniture, nor am I going to fight with eight pages of directions and a bent piece of metal described as a wrench to assemble sawdust wrapped in vinyl claiming to be oak or cherry wood finish. 

Certain decisions are freeing.

Mama B and the Bobbin

I broke a needle while trying out Big Mama B's embroidery. While cleaning the bobbin area of metal fragments, I popped out the spring that helps to keep the bobbin in place. When I replaced it, I didn't do it right and the bobbin thread tension was far too tight.

Much frustration ensued. I knew it was something to do with how the bobbin was spinning, or not spinning, and I kept cleaning non-existent metal fragments out, removing, and replacing the bobbin. Sometimes, the spring would pop out again, I'd put it back, and the problem would not go away.

This is the (slightly dusty) spring. It is not in the bobbin case where it should be.

In this picture, the tip of the stylus is touching the spring. The spring is in place and works correctly.

It all ended when I finally popped the spring into the correct place by accident, as I was cleaning. Thank goodness, I was paying attention and noticed that my finger nudged it 'just so' and it popped into place. I then removed and replaced it a couple times more, to learn exactly what it was that I'd done. It must be lined up correctly, pointing in the right direction, and it doesn't take a lot of pressure to put it in place. It really just pops right in if you know the trick. Tension problem solved!

FWIW, checking how the bobbin is threaded in an 830 is, how shall I say it? Annoying. That's it, I'll call it annoying. After lots and lots of practice, several you-tube videos, one-on-one training from a Bernina tech, and a minor hissy fit I got it down to a mirror in one hand and the thread in the other. Why Bernina didn't attach a mirror to the inside of the door, I'll never know.

 

The arrow is pointing to the white thread from the bobbin. It's coming out from under the spring that applies the right tension that is to the right of the thread. Even getting down on the floor under the machine, there is no view of the bobbin. Trust me on that, OK? If you have exceptional hearing and/or sensitive fingertips, you can hear and/or feel the thread pop into place. Then the mirror is not needed.

Suzy's Sack

I got a pattern to make an adorable little bag. I didn't get it from the shop I linked to, but it was exactly the same pattern and price.

The directions are HORRIBLE!

The pictures are not clear and the words that go with them are even worse. At first, I thought it was me having a problem with the directions. I looked up the pattern on the web and every person who has blogged about it has commented that the directions need help.

I sent an e-mail to the designer of the pattern at her website. That was early last week. I haven't heard a peep yet.

Sigh. I suppose the only thing to do is to try to put the bag together and guess at the correct things to do. I'll only be wasting my time and my fabric.

Settling In

The job is OK. I am earning what I get paid. People are getting better and some are even going home. I drive about 4 hours, one way.

The travel trailer doesn't support the 830. The table isn't sturdy enough and I don't wish to leave the 830 for the weekends.  Do I think anyone would mess with my stuff on the weekends? Not really. The idea of hauling my new sewing machine back and forth every weekend is not appealing. It's enough that I haul my dirty laundry home. I am working with the 165E during the week and the 830 on the weekends.

I have discovered that Best Press is worth the effort and the price. I used it on fabric, and then folded the fabric and set it aside for a few days.  I barely had to touch the fabric with my iron before I had perfectly pressed fabric to use. The effort I'd put in to prepare the fabric for use was worth it. I looked around. Best Press might be cheaper on Amazon, but only if I don't have to pay for shipping.

 I was able to test King Tut thread for machine quilting. The thread is very fat and full. A small needle gave me skipped stitches. I put in a size 100 needle. Once I did that, I was successful. However, the change made me aware that I could not use the King Tut thread to quilt the same quilt I was using Aurifil thread on. The change in the threads would look odd. I'd get one type of look for the geese and a very different one for the sashing. I did not want that.  How did I make the King Tut thread work? I used it to make a fabric bowl. It came out well.

I am waiting for the Add a Quarter ruler that I ordered to come in. Once it arrives, I'll be able to get started on the Mariner's Compass quilt. Until then, I'm kind of just cutting fabric and trying not to panic.

Traveling Crafter

I took a traveling OT job and have booked a hotel room for the first week of my 13 week contract. I left my new 830 sewing machine at home. I brought my old machine and a small amount of stuff to work on. Now, think of a budget vacation hotel room. Where does the sewing machine go? There's no ironing board. No desk. The coffee table is small, round, and knee high.

I drive a full sized truck. I could have brought half my sewing room. I was unwilling to turn myself into a beast of burden, loading and unloading equipment. Bud and I discussed this and decided on a solution. We bought a 25' travel trailer. Because it was the end of the quarter, we got a significant discount on the price. We take delivery April 5. We'll spend the weekend pulling my SCAdian camping gear out of the attic and stocking our trailer. For the next three months, I'll live in the trailer during the week and at home on the weekends.

Instead of paying $350/week for a room that doesn't meet my needs, we will rent a campsite for $250/month. I can cook my own food, sleep on my own pillows, and have space to work on my projects. In the long run, I expect to save anywhere from 50 to 75% of what I would have spent on hotels and eating out. I could have found a campsite for less than $250, but I don't wish to live in a trailer park right next door to a major highway.

FWIW, I am almost within sight of Legoland Florida. I'll probably have to drive past it on my way to work.

I Like It!

I had been using a standard sewing machine to do the Free Motion Quilting on Bud's Flying Geese quilt. I struggled to complete 7 to 10 units in a day of working. My hands hurt, I got tired, I felt I was fighting with the project. Then I bought the 830 and found myself with double the space to work in to the right of the needle. A good portion of my difficulty with FMQ was difficulty with the space limitation. The overall quality has improved. I don't have nearly the fatigue and discomfort. There is still some, but I can complete a lot more before I need to take a rest break. Comparing my early efforts to my recent results shows significantly improved technique. Curves are smoother, stitch length is more consistent. FMQ is a skill that requires practice. It also requires the right machine. I might be better able to produce a good result using a standard machine after using my 830, but I'd be annoyed at the constraint.

Adjustments and the Learning Curve

I was trying to switch from embroidery to decorative stitching. I forgot to swap out a piece of hardware and broke a needle. Not just broke, shattered into many pieces. Sigh. I wasn't able to get all of the bits of needle out of the bobbin area right away. I ended up pulling out the vacuum cleaner attachments after many attempts with the lint brush. I'd clean, try sewing, discover the tension was incorrect, then go back to cleaning. In all the testing, a metal fragment knocked the tension for the bobbin thread out of whack. It was too tight. Gaahh. Normally, having the bobbin tension out of whack is a significant problem. It is not at all easy to adjust the tension on the bobbin. Well, on all of my other machines, it was difficult. However, on the 830, I was provided with a special tool and the bobbin case has a ratchet style tension adjustment. I moved the tension one notch/click and tested, moved it a second notch/click and tested and poof! The tension was again correct. While many might say that the 830 tension is twitchy and difficult, I think that adjusting the bobbin tension on this machine is much easier than on any other machine I've owned. On the other hand, I also have learned that I need to use the software on the 830 that will prevent the error that caused the broken needle in the first place. I neglected to tell the machine that I had changed hardware. If I had done that, the machine would have prevented me from stitching with hardware that didn't work with the decorative stitch I had chosen.

New Sewing Machine

OMG. I just bought an 830  sewing computer from our local shop. The machine is used. The lady who owned the shop was the first owner. I will be the second. It needs a cleaning before I take it home, but I won't have to pay for the cleaning. I will take it home tomorrow, I hope. In the meantime, I have the manual to read.

This makes machine number five. I am very excited about it and am looking forward to getting familiar with it. Instead of the 6" space between the needle and the body of the machine, there is 12" of space. I will have room to do my freehand quilting. There are USB ports on this machine. Bernina has entered the 21st century. There isn't FireWire. Oh well.

Explorations

The software that must be used to run the Cricut Explore can not be installed on Windows 8.1 and Firefox. At first, the software was only available if you had purchased the machine. A few days ago, it became available via a download on the Cricut website. I can't 'try before I buy' because I can't install it!

As a money saving ploy, this is working well. I guess I have just saved myself on the order of $300+ just by not installing this software. Perhaps I should look for some other things I can decide not to buy? 

Not That Way Again

I followed directions like these on how to put together the flying geese for the quilt that I'm in the throes of. It wasn't this specific set of directions, but the whole assembly process is the same.

I will NEVER again use this process.

There is an overlap in the first phase of stitching that creates an incredibly lumpy seam allowance at the point of the big triangle. That lumpy seam allowance is pure torture to sew over accurately. Agony. Painful. Annoying to the Nth degree. Pinning carefully does NOT help.

And only now am I realizing this, as I created all of the pieces before I started sewing them together. And even then, I had to sew lots of them together before I could define the problem.

I've long said that there are prices to be paid for short cuts. Some of them are worth it, some are not.

Explore

The new digital cutting machine from Provo Craft is called the Explore. The Explore is available on the Home Shopping Network, but it is part of a bundle of stuff that I do not want. (It is sold out.) The Explore will be available in stores on March 15. Not getting the bundle of extra stuff that I'm not going to use will save me $50 or so. I should probably put my name on a waiting list to make sure that I can get my hands on one.

What are the features that make me want this machine?  It can work with True Type fonts. I can also create using files with .svg, .jpg, .png, .bmp, .gif, and .dxf formats. Yay! Prior to this, the only way I could create my own graphics was by using software that wasn't really designed for that. With the ability to upload my own graphics, I can use any application to create them. A possible downside to the Explore is that the single graphics are pricy. 99 cents and up isn't cheap. The backwards compatibility in the Explore covers much of my hesitation about the price of those single graphics. I have an extensive library of graphics already. 

The new software is called Design Space and it only works with the Explore. The Cricut blog states you must be connected to the internet to use Design Space and you must use Design Space to control your Explore. It also states that all the headache that I have already dealt with to link the graphics I have purchased to my on-line Cricut account was not wasted effort. Everything that is already linked to my account will be available when I use Design Space. Whew!

Pinterest Fine Tuning

I looked up a set of directions to sew something on Pinterest. They were OK, but I had to sew two  before I was happy with the construction. I have been sewing long enough to know that directions in commercial patterns aren't often the best way to construct the item. If I were a newbie at sewing, I'd probably have turned out a flop.

Pinterest is great if you already know how. If you are trying to learn, there are going to be a lot of failures.

FWIW, there is no place near Jacksonville where there are classes on bookbinding. Not that I'd trust. There is no miniature store, nor is there a camera place. No doll houses, no photographers. The locals think it is a big city. I know better.

Metallic Rubber Bands

Huh. Metallic or 'pearlized' rubber bands don't have the ability to slide as easily as regular rubber bands do. This means they are not a good choice for patterns that are high tension, like the Small Basketweave. How do I know this? I tried to make a Small Basketweave with three different colors of metallic rubber bands. Before I finished, five rubber bands had broken. And further deponent sayeth not.

Clean Workspace and PhDs

I just cleaned up a pile of oddments on my worktable of projects that I got started working on that did not work out on the first (or even second or third) try. Could I have kept working and turned them into a success? Sure. But they just weren't that important to me to put in that much effort, and therefore, they are now trash.

Am I upset? Not the least. I'm actually quite happy that my work area is a lot cleaner. The more I work in a location, the cleaner that location gets. Seeing my work tables clear off means that I'm using my work tables for actual work. If it isn't a project that I want to complete, it's gone.

I used to use UFO for UnFinished Object and WIP for Work In Progress. PhD, I recently learned, is for a Project half Done.

Snicker. I like the idea of working on my PhDs. Or should that be PshD?

Saving Mr. Banks is a very good movie, BTW. "It should be 'Let us go and fly a kite' but..." Grammar mavens will adore the corrections that P.L.Travers allows to slip past. FWIW, I have a copy of Mary Poppins that was printed in the early 1960's. Hardcover. The original copyright is from 1934. It is dedicated to "MY MOTHER 1875-1928"

Rainbow Tips

Well! I have discovered that needing to buy a second loom is simply an early stage in the addiction. I now own six looms. Yes, that's correct, SIX. Since I own some knock-off looms, I am shopping for more of the Rainbow ones.

On to the tips.

When loom shopping, don't go anywhere near the knock offs, no matter how close to the original they might appear. It isn't worth the aggravation. (Trust me on this, been there, done that.)

Flipping the rubber bands into a figure eight is a bother. I just loop the rubber bands onto the pin that is farther away from me, then turn my hand over and loop them onto the closer pin and get my figure eight much faster.

To avoid bending or breaking hooks, remember to slide the rubber bands to the thicker part of the shaft when doing things that require pulling and tugging.

Rainbow Loom C clips are better than the S clips that are found in off-brand rubber band packs.

The more complex patterns that create wide, dense bracelets use up an astonishing number of rubber bands. Getting extra of black and white is a good idea.

Learn how to attach a button closure. It's worth a few failures.

Expect failures when learning a new pattern. Take your failures apart and try again.

Stretched out rubber bands from failures are fragile and break more easily.

Not all rubber bands from failures will be stretched out and fragile.

Rainbow Addiction!

OK, I've gotten addicted to playing with the Rainbow Loom. But the average sized bracelet this thing creates is 1/2 the standard adult bracelet length. It's all of 4", when an adult bracelet is 8". The solution? Get a second loom, hook the things together and make an 8" bracelet instead.Gradually, I'm getting my co-workers addicted to these silly things as well.

A word to the wise. I first got a knock-off loom. You can't hook it together with a real Rainbow Loom and it doesn't hook solidly to other knock-off looms. The hook isn't as nice and the pegs are not as well shaped. Don't settle for a fake.

Have I noticed a difference in the latex-free rubber bands between the real and the knock-offs?  The knock-offs require that you purchase 'S' clips separately. The original Rainbow Loom bands include 'C' clips with each bag of bands. No additional purchase necessary.  FWIW, no craft store accepts coupons for the loom or the bands, whether knock-off or the real thing.

The basic bracelet that can be made with the Rainbow loom is kinda wimpy. It is a single chain. Doesn't look like much. But a popular bracelet is called a Fishtail. Still, not so much. The Double Fishtail is pretty neat, though. I started there.

Since that first Fishtail, I've made Double Cross, Hexafish, Ladder, and the Starburst. There are more than a few websites that have links to YouTube videos that teach you how to use the Rainbow Loom, including the Rainbow Loom website itself.

As an unrelated topic, I'm amazed at how little research parents are doing to learn how to help their kids work with this contraption. And it isn't difficult research, either. You watch the video, you follow along. Duh!