Bad time for a breakdown

I set about to start quilting a giant project today, and the Millie had bad hiccups. She stuttered and jerked over the first row, seemingly struggling to sew. Mr Wazoo to the rescue, but even his manipulations couldn't fix what ails that stupid machine. Dead in the water by 4:30, with the entire work day a bust, we gave up. I will have to call APQS tomorrow...again.

Meanwhile, yesterday I quilted with a vengeance and finished some of the pile of quilts to be done. Little consolation when today I got nothing accomplished.

First, I quilted the light custom Camelot quilt.

Big Gammill never missed a beat. Good Girl!

Here is one of the pictures from the quilt's story.

The backing is the same as the quilt from the day before.

New customer, new style! Kaffe Fassett string quilt with a floral accent fabric.

The panto, Posh,  is really only to add texture. I used it's swirly design to soften the straight lines and angles.

The backing is this bright green geometric print.

Next customer had three quilts. The first is this sweet retro-looking baby quilt.

I chose the panto Heart to Heart because it is not dense and kept the quilt soft for the baby.

Cuddly blue flannel on the back.

Quilt number two is for a grandkid for Christmas. They must be into music, wouldn't you agree?

I love black, white and red quilts. They have a vibrancy other combinations don't have.

The panto is Musical Notes

The back is entirely pieced with musical fabrics, too.

Here is a closer look at the music notes, done in red thread.

Starting to notice the wobbly quilting...

Today, I loaded the last of the customer's three projects. Oh dear...another very closely sized backing.

Too small... again. Read on and see what I mean.

Here, I have laid my pointer finger on the edge of the quilt. The backing is one finger bigger than the top on the right side.

It is also one finger bigger on the left side.

My finger is 2 1/2 inches long. When I put the clamps on, the carriage hits the clamps every time it gets close to the edge. It is very difficult to keep the edge of the top a continuous 2 inches from the edge of the backing as I quilt along

Of course, I didn't get to test my skills on the quilt. Millie rebelled and I am unable to progress with the job. Thirty two quilts are in line waiting while she throws her temper tantrum.

We took the machine off the carriage and removed the roller bars from the back of the set up. 

No amount of fiddling would solve the problem.

Tomorrow we go to war with APQS again, and hope to beat Millie into submission.

Something to make us smile.