What a Weekend!

I am so glad this past weekend is finally over and things are back to normal!

On Friday I did not have Alyssa, so we got the kids a new movie and I went up to the studio to quilt. I finished Kaylin Marie Alley's quilt (my nephew's soon to be born daughter) and started to work on some of the Christmas stockings. I finished one and the quilting looked good from the front, but the back looked like a bird nest.

OK, so back to the machine to de-thread the bobbin area (what a mess!) and work on the tension a bit. I put a practice sandwich (two pieces of fabric and some batting in between) on to see if the stitch was right and poof! The machine locked up! After spending a few minutes trying to get every last piece of thread out, I decided to turn off the lights and go back downstairs.

Saturday I spent about 4 hours trying to get the bobbin area cleaned. I thought if I was able to get all the last bits and pieces of thread out it would work again...or at least that is what I hoped! I used canned air, WD40 and sewing machine oil. Nothing was working. I finally soaked everything down in oil and tried to go online to see if there was any help for me.

I was able to get in touch with a few online 'friends' who basically had good news for me and thought I was on the right track. But still I was one scared little girl. (maybe not so little) Sunday, after church, we went to Walmart and bought a small pair of tweezers to help in getting out the small bits of fuzz that was still where it didn't belong, but I wasn't having any luck.

Monday morning, I called KenQuilt, and after a brief discussion, discovered all I had to do was to manhandle my machine to get it working again. They told me where would be the best place to use a screwdriver for leverage to get it moving and how to best go about it. Rex was out at the range, so I decided I would have him work on it when he got back around lunch.

Because I can never leave anything alone once my mind is set to do something, I decided to make sure every oiling spot on my machine was oiled...with 3 times the amount that would normally be used. I got my small screwdriver I use on my machine and actually got it to budge ...just a bit. That was enough to keep me going , so I found the largest screwdriver we had in the house and went to work.

It only took me a few tries to get it moving. The right leverage in the right place made all the difference in the world! I let it run a few minutes to get the oil everyplace it should be....now I just have to clean up all the oily mess!

What a weekend!!