Assembling quilting machine

[beenthere]

Yep, a new project to assemble a TinLizzie quilting machine. Came yesterday and today some of the parts are being assembled, and no directions were packed (they are in the mail). This is a 100 lb long-arm sewing machine that rides rails of 1¼" thinwall conduit on roller bearings. The frame is of baltic birch plywood milled on a CNC machine.  Pretty detailed routing and fit. I'm deciding I can't go further until I put a finish on the wood. So will back up now, take it apart, and do a finishing job (acrylic as this will set in our great room, so will be like a piece of furniture).




The book says this machine takes what is called HA-8 sewing machine oil or HJ-7 machinery oil. I'm sending a note to Mike of RustReaper to find out his recommendation for a comparable or better product.  Our member Mark M would have probably been a big help here too. There is oil packed with the machine, but I'd like more info before using it.

This project will extend through the weekend, so I'll not be making a swing through central Iowa to see and hear the light brigade party attacking the silo. DanG, wanted to get there too, to meet Patty and Norm and others, if nothing else.

I've got the treadmill torn apart, waiting for a new controller, and need to figure out what is wrong with my blower switch in the Trailblazer (only works on the higher setting) and have an air conditioner that needs installation. Not to include the re-storation of the old '65 JD 110 lawn tractor that is just a pile of parts now. Wonder what to do next.   :

[Norm]

That looks like one heck of a machine beenthere. Any chance of posting some pics of the quilts that are made with such machines?

Sorry to hear you'll not be making the trip, I'll make sure to get plenty of pictures though.

[beenthere]

Thanks Norm.
This machine has wind-up poles to roll the top, and the back, while allowing the batting to fill in the center while the three are quilted together, by whatever pattern the quilter wants. Some times they get pretty fancy with the design. This machine will have a template that can be followed or the user can free-hand the design. I think this one will permit about a 12-15 inch wide area to be stitched across the full width of the quilt.  When finished with that strip, the finished work is rolled on a take-up roll, and an un-stitched strip is ready to go. There is tension kept on the tops and backs as they are held in line for a flat quilt with no wrinkles.
This machine is replacing a smaller one.
Here are a couple quilts, although the blocks are stitched together by hand cutting and sewing to make the tops. About 50 quilts a year have gone through the old machine. Most of those are given to various places through our Church, for World Relief and last year, for Katrina relief.  When a camper load of relief items went to Mississippi last fall, the first things to be accepted were the quilts.

[Burlkraft]

BT,

My Mom has one of those...$$$$$$$$

[beenthere]

Yep, tell me about the $$$$$$$  ;D ;D  Had to add on to the house just to have a room big enough to put it in. It's in a 24x30' room. 

Did you assemble it for your Mom?
I'm thinking ahead about setting that 100# machine up there on that little platform. I only want to do that once. 

Here it is while unpacking it today. Still some packing stuffed under the business end.  Have to put the handlebars on it yet.    Doesn't have a hemi.  :

[UNCLEBUCK]

That is one cool quilting machine ! I remember watching my grandma make those christmas quilts by hand while she watched soap operas on the tube and it seemed to take forever .  Looks like that new machine could compete with a dozen grandma's .   I use to love to take sewing class in high school . Made alot of stuff but never a quilt .  Nice quilts ! 

[RichlandSawyer]

beenthere,

  Wife was watching over my shoulder while i was reading this and she wanted to offer some advice since she has a quilting machine like your new one. Practice on scrap!!! Lots of practice, it takes awhile to get used to the speed control and to get the tension set correctly. Like you i was impressed with the quality of the fit and finish. My wifes only problem now is being able to put her own stuff on it. Everyone seems to have a quilt that needs finished.

Good luck and have fun.

[Norm]

Those quilts are beautiful beenthere, thanks for showing us.

Does your wife ever sell any? I'd love to buy one for our bed if she does.

[Burlkraft]

BT,

I didn't help with my Mom's.....she had the people she bought it from do it.

I told her one time to go ahead and spend her money and not save it to leave to me and my brothers. I was thinking she would travel or something....Nope...started quilting. No traveling except to quilt stores with her quilting buddies. Her basement looks like a fabric store....We have a quilt for every occasion. There are some we use....some we get in trouble for using although they are on the back of the couch.
Jill's sister is a quilt designer. She just had a book come out on her quilts. So now we get them from 2 directions. I'll get you a copy of her book. Her name is Kay Cross...her business is Cross Cuts. maybe your wife has heard of her ??? ???

[Patty]

 :D :D :D  Yea, we don't have another 30 years to wait for me to get one done!

Your wife's quilts are absolutely beautiful. I bet it is fun to watch them go together and form a thing of beauty. I would love to have one for our bed.

I am sorry you won't be able to make it over to the silo shoot, I was looking forward to meeting you. Maybe next time...

[Tonys other half]

Did you ever get the quilting table put together?  Have you started quilting yet?  I hope you have as much fun as I do quilting.  I have had mine almost 2 years now and still learning. The best thread that I have found that works the best in my quilting machine is the surger thread.  I have bought the $10 thread and it just breaks on me and other people that I talk to the cheaper thread works the best.  Dee

[Norm]

Hi Dee, welcome to the forum. Now you can keep an eye on what Tony's up too. ;D

[beenthere]

Welcome Tonys other half (Dee)

Enjoyed your assistance getting us pics and video of the great Silo Shoot. 

Yes, we have most of the minor bugs worked out and the machine set up for quilting. Here is a pic of the setup and a quilt being loaded. The backing rolls up on the upper 'front' roller (1¼ EMT conduit) and is fed across to the take-up roller in the throat of the long-arm machine.  The batting comes up between the two front rollers and across to the take-up roller, after which the top of the quilt is rolled up on the lower 'front' roller and over the batting and then across to the take-up roller (where all three are pinned to a cloth fastened to the take-up roller). Then the front rollers are tightened with just the right stretch to the fabrics to provide the quilting area about 15" wide and the length of the machine (max of 84" I think on this set-up as we trimmed the rollers to 8' in length). 
This heavy industrial machine is very quiet and smooth.

Burlkraft was the first to see it 'in operation' at the Church ladies quilting bee on Monday. That thread idea will be passed along. Seems this tension setting thing is like fine-tuning the tension and the guide rollers on a band saw 'just right' as well as the thread issue is akin to the selection of the right band-saw blade.  Sometimes a bit mysterious, but when all the adjustments fail, then the thread gets blamed for the cause of the frustration.  But my wife has more patience than I when the thread breaks and she has to rethread the machine. I'm looking to make an adjustment, she just calmly rethreads and starts sewing again. But we are narrowing in on the 'right' adjustment. Amazing how happy someone can be when the thread doesn't break while doing an entire quilt  : :

Here is a shot.


A pic after loading below.....ready to quilt (there are so many major phases to this quilting that include the design of the pattern, the selection of the right blend or mix of fabric to go into the design, the cutting, piecing, and stitching of all the little pieces into blocks, and then stitching the blocks together in the right position, and then the selection of the right backing, the right borders, and then the next step to join the face to the back with the right batting in between. Some do this step by hand.  Then there is the trimming, and the hand-sewing of the binding to finish the quilt.   At least that is my impression of the process from a 'distance'  ;D  I just heckle and stand back.



These pics were about 1.2 meg when shot, then processed using Image Expert.  Easy to bring up the pic on the screen, click on Image in the menu, then select Resize and set the widest side to 400 pixels.  Then go to File menu and select Save As, give the file a name and pick Low compression to result in a image size of about 22k (well under the 30k max). 

[red]

welcome dee 

maybe  someone  can make a quilt  for  the BBQ  cook