new quilter questions
 

i recently was given a gracie 2 quilt frame. i have a shortarm viking machine. i quilted one piece completly. but was frustrted the whole time. it seems i have poor control and the carriage doesnt seem to move the smoothest, any advice. i am not sure if it is the machine sticking when i try to do loops etc or it is the carriage.
thanks

Does the carriage move freely all around with the machine on there? Do you have the carriage wheels lined up correctly on the frame?

You might check the wheels that go along the carriage. Thread can wrap around them and make them hard to turn.

well, there may be several things working against you here, first being, move your machine, does it move freely?
you may just need a drop of oil on the wheels, just be careful to wipe it off good. the second thing is, and the hardest, i was a newbie once myself, and understand, its what i call herky-jerky, where nothing goes smooth, you just feel like youre jerking around, ask a friend to help you come look at it, maybe they will have some input, when in doubt, i always ask a friend, that way if it doesnt work right for you, they will see it too. good luck
katz

Check the tracks for nicks or damage. Even the slightest nick can cause a problem when the wheels run over it. I went to a class and had a frame that had been taken down and put back up many times. It had several nicks in the tracks and was very difficult to try to get it to move smoothly. When I got my new frame up at home, it was really smooth - no problems.