Machine Mishap

Yesterday did not go well in the sewing room.

My plan was to get all of the pieces quilted for the Bella Coat, then spend today putting it together sans zipper. The pattern specifies to cut fabric rectangles a bit larger than each pattern piece, layer the rectangle with batting, and quilt the sandwich. Some of the quilt sandwiches were small, and quilting without a backing is a bit different than quilting a complete sandwich. I pulled out one of my gripper rings, which help to hold the sandwich in place as it is being moved under the needle. I was quilting on my Bernina Q20 sit-down longarm.

That opening at the top of the gripper ring is barely 3/4" wide and is there to allow the ring to slide around the foot. Unfortunately, it needs to be about a quarter of an inch wider. In order to get it around the foot, I have to slide it around the needle bar above the foot. That’s going to become important in a moment.

I quilted the pieces for the fronts and back and had just begun quilting the pieces for the sleeve when all of a sudden there was a loud bang. The foot had slipped off the machine and the needle was driving into it. I stopped immediately but the damage was done. The needle had broken and what was left of the needle in the machine was bent at an angle:

I knew what the likely consequences were of the needle hitting the foot—at top quilting speed, no less—and indeed, the machine refused to quilt after that. The needle bar is binding through its stroke.

I called the store to see if Ryan, the tech, was available. Fortunately, he was, so I explained to him what had happened. Ryan and I talk about machines frequently and he knows I understand the mechanics. My concern was his schedule because he is booked out for months on most repairs. I didn’t want to jump the line, but having an inoperable Q20 right now is more than an inconvenience. I was working on a shop sample, after all.

Amazingly, he has an opening Monday morning. He was supposed to come out this way to work on another customer’s Q-series machine, but she called him yesterday morning to let him know that she resolved the problem with the help of her husband. Ryan put my machine into that service slot and he’ll be here first thing next week to work on it. He says it is fixable and may not require any replacement parts, but he’ll bring parts just in case.

After I talked to Ryan, I went back to the machine to determine what had happened. Bernina uses this bracket system to hold its feet on all its machines.

I have never been a big fan of this design; I know it’s great for people who don’t want to have to mess with tiny screws, but I don’t think it’s as secure as it could be. Apparently, when I was removing the gripper ring around the needle bar above the foot, I moved the the bracket arm forward enough that the foot loosened and fell off.

That’s probably the last time I’ll use those gripper rings. If I do use them again, I will make very certain that the foot is secure before I start quilting. I probably should have changed my foot from the ruler foot to the free motion quilting foot, but I tend to leave my ruler foot on there whether I am quilting with rulers or doing free motion quilting, and I was doing both yesterday.

That little mishap wrecked my entire schedule for yesterday and today. I almost tossed the Bella Coat pieces into the trash can, but I gave myself a stern talking-to—the mental equivalent of walk it off—and asked myself what I could do. I finished sewing the yokes to the bodies on the fronts and the back and serged the edges:

And then I went to the kitchen and made an amazing dinner of Salisbury steak, mashed potatoes, and a big salad. You know things are bad when I cook voluntarily, because I don’t enjoy cooking, LOL.

The husband is doing another concrete-cutting job today—this one is at the hospital and has to be completed on the weekend—so I’ll be here by myself. I haven’t yet decided what project to tackle. I have no shortage of them.