What I learned yesterday
 

Yesterday I spent about 3 hours trying to quilt ONE row of a quilt - end to end patter on my long arm. I actually picked it out about 1/3 of the way across 3 times. Crazy.

I couldn't figure out why it wasn't quilting nicely any more. The first two rows quilted very smoothly, then I changed the bobbin. I tried everything i could think of to get it to work. After the 3rd 'pick out', I finally questioned the bobbin itself.

It was wound correctly. So I pinched it between my thumbnail and pointer finger nails and unwound some thread. That was the key - as the thread unwound from the bobbin, the bobbin wobbled! I did the same thing with another bobbin - no wobble. After carefully examining the bad bobbin again, I realized that the bobbin was slightly bent inward on one side. If I hadn't done the unwinding thing, I would never have seen it!

Inserted another bobbin and the third row quilted correctly! I was so relieved!

I have been told that this is one problem that the TOWA gauge will find. I wonder how the bobbin got bent. Was it a manufacturing defect, or had you used it successfully before?

How frustrating for you. My LA dealer told me that bobbins can bend just by being dropped on the floor and, even if you can't see it, a slight bend can really mess up your stitching.

thanks for sharing your valuable experience

Thanks for the insight. Not sure I would have thought of that.

Yayyy!!! You have to keep looking. I have decided that the first place I have to look when there is a problem is the bobbin. That usually solves the issue.

So glad you figured out the problem. Not sure I would have thought of that. Thanks for sharing your knowledge. We all need to share our knowledge, for sure!

Thanks for sharing. I would never have unwound the bobbin like that. I will definatly add that trick to my trouble shooting list!
-Amy

thanks for the heads up.