FORTY PER CENT IS ENOUGH FOR ME

I did have a chance to play on the Nolting today. By noon it was warm enough in the apartment (55) for me.

 I ran the machine without thread and bobbin case for about five minutes as advised.  I set my channel lock and basted each side in a long, slow stitch.  The machine has a speed control.  For basting I used about 10 percent.

I hiked it up to about 30 percent for stitching.   I felt comfortable at that so inched it up to 35 percent.  Plenty of speed.  The Bailey was so slow compared to this machine.  I tried 40% but it felt much faster than 35 and I backed it off.

I make larger designs with this machine.

That may just be because I have no defining shapes on the practice muslin to restrain my designs.  The machine moves nicely, I am not fighting with it at all.  I think it's just a matter of practice.

I did have some tension problems after I advanced the quilt. Something was terribly wrong.  I think that maybe I wound the quilt too tightly when I advanced it.  I doubt it was because the bobbin was running out of thread.  This didn't happen when I, later, ran out of blue bobbin thread.

  The quilt is rolled onto the take up roller. It might be hard to orient your eye, but the blue stitching is the top of the new, and improved, stitching. The red chaos, eyelashing, is actually the bottom of the piece wound onto the take up roller. This photo may help. 

You may be wondering what that bobbin case is doing on the quilt in the previous photo.  Joyce advised that I remove it and un-thread the machine to before the TUL (take up lever) at the end of my quilting session.  That way the machine is ready for warm up at the next session.  Just imagine the mess if I started the machine up to warm it up, threaded and with a bobbin case.  ACK.

Thanks to Joyce and Ron of Delightful Quilting and Sewing, Avon, NY.  I am on my way!