Long Arm Rookies Need Emergency Help...Stat!!! Please....
 

My cousin and I made a tribute quilt for the family of a young man that was killed while towing a car off the interstate. The center was designed by his young daughter. We started quilting it without problem and are about half down. Suddenly the needle broke and we replaced it. Then we promptly got a thread snarl underneath. We are using a Baileys home quilter 17 Pro. We have changed bobbins and needles and thread and are now at a complete loss as to what to do next....oh and we have to have it done by Friday.
Any advice is much appreciated. This is the first quilt we have quilted on the Bailey, although we did a practice one that worked fine.

What a great quilt! I am sorry that I know nothing that would be helpful, but I am sure there are those here who do.

Dina

Is the needle in backwards? It happens.

Thanks.. I wish it wasn't for such a sad reason.

Think we have it fixed, by lowering the upper tension drastically. Lower than I would usually but it seems to be working.

completely un thread the top thread and re thread it some times it jumps out of the tension. make sure your needle is in correct and in all of the way. Other wise it could have been knocked out of time

Oh boy... re threaded and changed needles again then the thread started breaking about every 14 inches of sewing and then we broke another needle! Hopefully its not the timing... any other ideas?

Take thread and bobbin case out. Clean bobbin area as well as you possibly can. If possible, use a magnifying glass to look for a tiny snippet of thread that may have become caught in the bobbin area. Take the bobbin out of the bobbin case and check the bobbin case for any tiny bit of thread or lint, especially where the spring is located in the bobbin case. Make sure the bobbin is tightly and evenly wound.

Clean between the upper tension discs by loosening the tension (make note of where it is before you change it), then using *unwaxed* dental floss to floss between the discs. If there is any tiny piece of thread or lint in there, this should remove it. Change upper tension back to where it was.

Replace needle, making sure it is *all the way up* in the shaft and positioned correctly.

Run your finger around the throat plate hole to check for burrs. The breaking needles may have nicked the hole just enough to cause thread to shred.

When re-threading, be sure presser foot is in up position and make sure that the upper thread gets positioned correctly between the tension discs.

After threading, run the machine very slowly and watch carefully (using protective eyewear!!!) to see what is happening as you move the machine. You can rig up a test sandwich strip to the side of the quilt to give you some space to test out the quilting; just pin a sandwich strip between rollers.

Honestly, what it sounds like to me is that the first break resulted in a tiny piece of thread getting caught somewhere in the mechanism -- most likely the bobbin area. These tiny pieces of thread can be *really* difficult to spot, but they are the demons that change the tension on you unexpectedly -- which is probably why you had to drastically reduce the top tension after the first needle break. When you do spot one, it can be difficult to remove even with tweezers. Soaking the thread in a drop of sewing machine oil can help soften it up enough to remove it strand-by-strand.

Edit: Also look for a tiny needle tip imbedded somewhere in the bobbin area.

What size needle are you using? You may need to go up a size, say from a 16 to an 18. Also, make sure your quilt sandwich is smooth but not tight on the frame. You should be able to grab the end of a finger with your other hand though the quilt top when you push it up from underneath the quilt sandwich. Also, make sure you are not trying to move too fast for the speed of the machine.

Make sure your thread is flossed in the tension disc.

Could be a burr on the hook. I'll send a private email.

Other consideration. I am a relatively new longarmer, but I go to a quilt store that does a lot of quilts. One problem he told me about with t-shirt quilts is the rubberized print on the shirts. Skipped stitches, thread breaking. I was wondering if the center was such a shirt? If so, try quilting around the print. Good luck. It is a nice tribute. Ann

Thank you all so much for the responses. We think we had something in the bobbin area, after completely disassembling it,the machine came through for us and the quilt is finished. We also think that our thread was problematic in that it kept twisting around the thread guides, knotting and generally causing havoc. We have thrown it far, far away and replaced it with brand new high quality thread. Thank you again!

Glad you were able to finish! :thumbup:

I am also glad you were able to get it finished. Whew!

Dina

Make sure you have the right needle for your machine and that it is in correctly. If all else fails, call the Baily hotline. They have people that can help you.

I also have a Bailey. I love it. As to tension, watch Jamie Wallen's YouTube video "Taking the Stress out of Longarm Tension" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1mRhcquZTM. My tension is set at 2. Make sure that your foot is up when you thread, down when you stitch. I belong to the Baileyquiltingmachines group on yahoo.com. You will find a lot of knowledgeable people there.

Just be sure to have gotten every piece of the broken needle out. What a lovely tribute quilt. The family will enjoy it for years to come.

What a beautiful tribute. So sorry for the reason.

I also own a 17 inch Bailey. Two main reasons thread has broken for me are:

1) The size of the needle was too small for the project. I find size 16 topstitch works well for me. I use size 18 for flannel and heavy quilts. Topstitch needles are the best, smile.

2) An occasional burr on the bobbin hook underneath the plate. I use this little stone (maybe you can find this in a knife shop that sells all kinds of knives) which I had bought in a serging class several years ago. I gently use the stone to smooth the burr off.

Since Bailey does just 700 stitches per minute, I find it works to have the tension a bit tight both on top and the bobbin. Before I got Bailey, I had a Juki machine that did 1500 stitches per minute and tension on the loose side worked very well. Just a matter of experimenting to see what works best.

Now that I am practically past the learning curve, I really like my Bailey and the Grace Majestic frame.

When I was new to long arm quilting, I had the same problem. There was nothing wrong with the machine or the way it was threaded. It was a total pilot error. The pilot did not lower the presser foot.

What a beautiful tribute.......and to include his daughter in the design process. Such a sad occasion for a quilt, but a loving memory of his life.

If other suggestions don't help, call Bailey's. I've done that before when I was having a problem with my Bailey and they were able to help me over the phone.

When my needle thread kept snapping every few inches it was because a tiny piece of thread had caught in the bobbin case holder area. I tried every thing like rethread, change needle, clean, oil and finally in desperation tried canned air especially in the bobbin area. That tiny thread wiggled and I saw it. I had quite a time getting it out, but finally did. No more problems. I think that thread would tighten up on the needle thread as the needle went up and down causing it to pop. I truly thought I would go crazy. Yes I know canned air can cause problems. I'm not advocating it's use.

I was having thread breakage with So-Fine--usually a great thread for my Gammill on the border of a huge batik I was working and figured out that I had the quilt too tight on the frame for the batik and the border pattern.

Also, I find when I break a needle or thread, the top thread will jump out of the intermediate tensioner and causes that mess of thread.