I got mine almost 3 years ago, just before my son and his family decided to move from CA to help me out. Everything got shuffled around to make room for them until they could build a house on part of my acreage. Still no house built but I am converting the garage to my quilting room. Now I need to learn how to use the machine all over again.

I'm one!! Time to get back into the groove, girl! Welcome to the board.

Me too, but am just learning. I don't have one at home, but I use the one at work.

Hopefully I will get the hang of it again. The queen size long cabin I was working on has faded after sitting for over 2 years. I am trying to practice on it but am having trouble with it skipping a stitch every so often. Any suggestions?

Does yours have a stitch regulator on it?

yes it does. Bought it when I sold my house in CA and got all the bells and whistles on it.

I'm a longarmer too! I've had my machine almost 2 years now and LOVE IT!

My machine is the HandiQuilter 16 with stitch regulator and have not had a single problem with the machine.

As far as skipping stitches I would change the needle, check the bobbin tension, check the needle tension. You might want to try a different bobbin, on my machine if my bobbin isn't wound well I will get skipped stitches.

What machine do you have? You may need to re-time the machine if it's been setting for a while.

Some things to try before re-timing:

Turn the needle. For my A-1, I put a pin the the eye, and turn it until the head of the pin is at about 5:00 (6:00 is the head pointing straight at you). This usually fixes it for me when it's only doing it when you are going clockwise and it skips at the 10:00 to 12:00 position.

Check your thread path.

What kinds of fabrics are you working with? What kind of batting? What kind of thread do you have in the top, and in the bottom.

Without knowing what kind of machine you have, I don't know if I should tell you to call your dealer. Mine is usually my first stop when I have problems.

I also have the A-1 with the computer.

The thread is the same as it was when I had to stop using it. I have oiled everything but I didn't change the needle. I will try that and take off the queen quilt and put a practice piece on it. Maybe that will make a difference.

I'm sending you a PM