Quiltingboard Forums - A couple of loose screws

Today was a good day, at least compared to yesterday. My back HURT yesterday, so was very pleasantly surprised to wake up with very little pain today. Even more surprised that my back felt pretty good all day!

Feeling good, I decided to work on a doll quilt. Not a big project, not fancy, just a simple pattern.
It took me all day! The top thread kept loosening up and nesting on the back, no matter how much I adjusted the tension. Argh! Lucky thing my back felt good, or I might have gotten frustrated...

Around dinner time, I decided that the machine was as tired of me as I was of it, so turned it off. DH and I had dinner, then watched some TV. After a while, I got antsy and approached my sewing machine, praying that a miracle had happened while I was busy ignoring it.

No such luck. It still sewed terrible.

Not being one to give up easily, I RESORTED TO READING THE MANUAL! (Yes, I was that frustrated!)

I re-threaded the upper thread, put in a new bobbin, made sure it was threaded correctly. No luck. Changed threads, put in new bobbin - no change.

Since I had cleaned the sewing machine two days earlier, the thought that I might have put something back incorrectly crossed my mind. There really isn't much to put back, but I was out of options.

So I started to remove the feed dog plate.

The screws were loose.

Could it be? Could a couple of loose screws have caused so many problems for me? I borrowed a dime from DH, tightened the screws and tested sewing on scraps. Better, but not right. Tightened them more, tested again. And again.

Finally, success! Good stitches!

Who knew that loose screws could mess up tension so much?