Does anyone know anything about this machine? I have had one for over 4 years & still don't know how to use it.

Welcome to the board from Southern California!!
Don't know anything about that machine but someone here will.

Welcome from Ireland. I have the Pfaff GrandQuilter sewing machine and I love it. If you go to Search at the top of this page and type in Pfaff GrandQuilter lots of posts will come up. PM me if you need more information.

We also have one and have had a long learning curve. If you have a specific question PM me and I'll help as much as I can. Also you should have received some DVD's with your machine, frame, and also Q-bot if you bought one. I would start by watching those. If you don't have them check with the shop where you purchased the setup, or try searching for them online. They are very helpful at the startup stage.

Darren

I have this machine as well and so far I love it. I am still learning and only have done simple meander and some SID so far, but hope to expand my ablities the more I use it (I got it last March and didn't get it setup until late April so I have had about 6 or 7 months of experience, still a long way to go)

What do you want to know? What is not working?

It's a mechanical machine that sews forward and backwards, and can do so very fast. The tricky part is to get the tension right. It likes to drink lots of oil.

Are you aware that there is a Yahoo group for the grandquilter? May want to sign up.

I cannot get the tension correct & the stitches are not very consistent even with the stitch regulator. My husband bought this for me while on vacation in another state & we don't have a Pfaff dealer in our area. I will check out the Yahoo group. Thanks to all who responded.

welcome from so mo dont know that machine sorry

I found that I do best when I thread it through 2 of the tension holes - not all three.

Are you using the correct needle for the GQ? It takes a special type.
Are you covering the feed dogs with the cover plate?
Are you using good quality thread and use the same thread weight in bobbin and upper thread? Some machines are persnickety.
Did you rethread the machine and reseat the bobbin to make sure that everything is in perfect position?

My recommendation: Take a test block sandwich (plain muslin and some batting) and draw lines horizontally across the block one inch apart.

Start on the first line and set your tension to 1. Sew with that tension from line 1 to line 2. Change the tension to 2 - repeat. Change to 3 - repeat until you have sewn with all of the tension settings. Take the piece out and see which tension setting works best.

As for the free motion quilting, it takes a bit of getting the hang of it - no matter which machine. You need to find the sweet spot where the speed of the machine and the speed of you moving the fabric come together in harmony. Please PLAY and PRACTICE on some scrap pieces. You will be so much more relaxed because the outcome does not matter. (If you worked on a quilt, you would focus on the outcome and it would matter).

Don't give up. It is a process and with patience you will get there.

Okay, I guess I should have said I have the machine on the Inspira frame. I don't know why I wasn't thinking about that when I posted the first message.
I will try doing some of the suggestions & see what I come up with. Thanks to everyone who responded & if you think of anything else please let me know.