One Big Needle

Needle for 29-2

If I had been clever, I would have put a 130/705H needle next to this one.  But it is beefy, looking.  You can tell.  It also has a nasty burr on its tip.  I don't know if I could file that out.  But there are needles extant for this machine.  No worries.

I think that it is smoother when I turn the balance wheel.  I wish that I had had time to work on it today.  Instead, I serviced a Kenmore 158.1792.

I know. I wish that I had taken a better photo of it too.  It is an electronic machine, in a way.  The foot controller is electronic and very slick.  No matter what, when you lift your foot off of the controller, the machine keeps running until the needle is in its highest position.  Nice.  It has needle up and needle down as well.  The innards are mechanical but the stitch selector is electronic in a way that I had no intention of trying to figure out.  I cleaned, oiled and adjusted it.  I checked all of the stitches except the button hole stitch and those ridiculous fake embroidery stitches on the bottom of the selector panel.  It makes a lovely stitch and the nicest smocking stitch I have ever seen.  It also has speed control.  I think that would be nice for FMQ.

It is heavy.  Some parts are stupid.  That spool pin is a disaster waiting to happen.  It tucks into the body of the machine, as in the photo, for transport.  But the thing doesn't stay up all that well when in sewing mode. The bobbin winder post is plastic too.  But it hasn't broken yet, so I guess it ok.

It only took two hours to service it so I had plenty of time. I mowed and weed wacked because I promised Steven that I would.  It turned into a lovely day.  Cool.  A nice change.

I then set to work setting up the Grace Machine Quilt frame AGAIN.  I am selling it and want to have some photos.   Now to figure out what machine to put on it.

Yes, that is a kitchen in the back ground.  The only space large enough to set up the frame is my sewing loft or our guest apartment above the shop.  The sewing loft is jammed full.  I need it to sew, besides.

Setting up is a tedious task.  Setting up the cloth leaders with zippers is the way to go.  I don't have any long enough but were I to keep this frame, I would certainly invest.  Instead I basted the cloth leader to one end, each, of the back and the quilt top and pin basted the back, bating and quilt top to the take up rail leader.  Now I will mount a machine on the carrier and baste as close to the edge as I can before I start quilting.

I could use this one

But there is not a whole lot of room between the needle bar and the pillar.  I think I will try the Singer 66 again.  I have a nice one.  Or I could put Queenie on the frame.  Clearly, there is more room

The 66-16 has even more.

And you need a a lot of room for quilting and for the take up bar.

You can go faster with the vertical hook, though.  I think I will just try Queenie out.  I like the color.