Machine problems

By Sunday evening I had completed the centre of my friend's quilt. I was liking it and was ready to start on the borders.  I had already tried a few things in the first border, but didn't like the affect so took everything out.  I decided that I would hold off on that border and move on to the last border.  It wasn't working. I just could not stop all the looping on the backside of the quilt.  As it was getting late and I was working on the quilt for most of the day, I though to myself that it is time to give it up and try again another day.  So, yesturday I had the evening to do some quilting and decided to check out what was going on.  The machine that I was using is new, by only a few months.  I was hoping it was not the machine, though it was still under warranty.

The picture above is what was happening.  I did everything I could think of to fix it.  At first I thought it was the fact that I was trying to use two different threads, a black for the top and a beige for the bottom.  Changing the thread back did not work.  I tried to re-thread the top and the bobbin, even tried to use a different bobbin thread and different thread thicknesses, but nothing worked.  I played with the tension and even tried a couple of new needles in two different sizes, but again nothing worked.  By this time I was so frustrated.  I took the machine plate off to clean and oil it as a last resort, even though I had done it earlier.  Again nothing made a difference.

I called the store I purchased the machine from and spoke with the associate.  She told me that they would need to see it.  So I gathered up my stuff and brought it in to her.  We placed the machine on the side table.  She looked around, but didn't see anything unusual.  She got some fabric and started to sew.  The machine sewed a perfect seam.  Can you believe it?  She did nothing to the machine and it worked perfectly for her.  It's like when you bring in your car to the mechanic because you hear squeaking and when you get there, there is no squeaking.

I thanked her and took the machine home.  She has been working for me since.  Now I am trying to finish the border.  I am almost done the one side.  It goes well when your machine is working proper.