I know – it’s been way too long, but am back among the living! I had some health issues, and had a surgery to correct. What I wasn’t aware of, is the second subsequent surgery and bone graft, a week after the first. Trying to recover from two really knocked me for a loop, and I aplogize for the absence. I’m on the road to recovery, and have had all post op visits and clearance from surgery 1, and surgery 2, well the jury is still out!
So, maybe 2 weeks ago, I decided to try quilting on the machine, finally! First, prior the first surgery, the machine started acting funny, and was losing power, so I couldn’t use it! Luckily, I have wonderful friends here, and Rose generously allowed me to quilt a few on her machine! And Eileen Barchi of Kindred Quilting also jumped in and did a couple quilts that I was not able to complete! My family was wonderful, and my Dad flew down and hung out for 2 weeks. That was cool because we’ve never had the opportunity to just hang out! So, despite health issues, I am surrounded by Blessings! I would also like to thank the following shops (in alphabetical order) for being so wonderful, and letting everyone know what was going on: Cotton Patch, Patches Galore, and Sew Worth It – you guys have been a wonderful support!
So, back to the machine! Luckily, I have the absolute best Gammill dealer in the world, Pat’s Calico Cottage in GA. I called Richard, and told him my machine was losing power. He shipped a box of parts for the repair. We were thinking it was electrical, so the odds on getting the machine up and running weren’t very high! A couple days later, Richard calls, and he said, this has really been bugging me – I don’t think it’s electrical because Gammill had my machine a few months ago, and all that was checked. I think it’s your motor belt. Sure enough, when my husband got home, he took everything apart, and the belt was loose, so we tightened it up, and thought we were good to go!
The other thing I did while the machine was down was purchase new wheels for it. When I did my test run a couple weeks ago, the machine was making the worst clackety clack sound I’ve ever heard, and it was bouncing around and vibrating pretty bad. So, we checked, re-checked and no results….
I’m going to end this post, and start another, with pictures so you can see what a longarm quilter goes through to get quilts finished!
I’m sorry to hear of your surgery and health issues (and your machine’s health issues also!) … Hope you and your machine are both feeling better soon!!!