well, I learned something about my Janome

Hopefully it will now make beautiful stitches for you and thankfully it wasn't a really expensive fix!

Do consider calling the dealer and letting him know what you found - it could hlep him help someone else :)

My new Janome 1000CPX cover stitch machine came pre-threaded and ready to go out of the box. the only new machine I'd gotten that way and I recommend it to all of the manufacturers...what a difference that made in the threading learning curve.

-Irene

Hey Musicmaker

I found this reply and thought i'd pass it on to you.

Skipping stitches is usually caused by: bad needle, needle not in straight, the needle is being bent during stitching, the quilt is to high off the bed of the machine.

Shredding is usually caused by: Thread tension is to tight, the thread is catching somewhere, the needle is to small for the thread, the machine has been threaded incorrectly, poor quality of thread.

Kate T. South Mississippi

I have a Brother 1500S that I think is very similar to your Janome and had the same problem until I found the hidden thread guide. I had to go back to the instructions to find it. :-) My machine also has a bad habit of randomly dislodging the thread from behind the downward facing hook after the thread exits the tension wheel. This results in random bottom loops on the stitches. I think the problem may be with some threads and the way they come off the spool, but I'm not certain about that. I would have thought the tension wheel would keep it steady regardless of what kind of thread is being used.

Diana H - PA

Diana, one of the other things I've learned is that if the thread keeps jumping around enuf to dislodge it, then loop it an extra time through that little 3 hole extension bar that the thread goes thru first, before the tension wheel. Hope Brother has one of those thingies!

Kate - thanks for the checklist. I've gotten so accustomed to checking all those things it's almost 2nd nature. Everytime I change the needle, even when I'm just trying to find the problem and have used the needle for 5 minutes, I throw away the used one because I'd quite a collection of needles laying in a pile and I didn't ever know if they caused any of my problems.

Irene - I'd consider calling the dealer and helping him with future problems if I could stand the thought of talking to him again.

Polly - I can't find the words to express how embarrassing it is to have been pursuing quilting on a frame for 3 yrs and still be unsuccessful. It gets to the point where I wait months between attempts because of the psychological burden!!

To the everyone - thanks for your thoughts and encouragement. I haven't given up - but will wait for a GOOD day to make another try at it!

Musicmaker