How many of us are there?

[Eileen K.]

I've been out of town and I found on my return that it seemed as if my wicks had really dried up. Has anyone else had this happen? I'm plugging along, hoping that business will pick up. How are the rest of you doing?

[Mary K.]

There will be "one more of us" by mid November!!! My Gammill arrives a week or two after the Houston Quilt Festival. I went with the 26-10, with a 12 foot table, and I am looking forward to being able to utilize the breeze system!

[Catherine S.]

Congratulations Mary Kay. I too have a Vision 26-10. I love it. I have only had it about a year so I still consider myself a newbie with it. I do have a few customers who have been very understanding in my learning faze. I mostly do custom work so far, but also do the pantos. I wish I had the breeze track system, but to upgrade will cost me $1,000, plus $800 for delivery and installation. Too much for me right now. I also bought my Gammill from Merrily. Bill Fullerton delivered and set it up for me. He was great at showing me everything. I do wish I had a more thorough manuel for it. I was told I could down load one, but I have not checked on that yet. I think I am rambling. Good luck with your new baby. Have you picked out a name yet? It seems most of the owners named their machines. I have not done that yet. I am waiting for it to tell me what name it likes. Have fun.

[Mary R.]

Lorra, you may want to check out the EZ Glide wheels available from Vern & Donita Reeve at Lakeside Quilt Company - website is http://www.lovetoquilt.com. They are $175 for a full set of wheels and can be installed by yourself. My husband installed mine and found the directions to be well written. I've had them since they first came out and love them. I find it so easy and smooth to move the machine head diagonally as well as horizontal and vertical. There is no more resistance! I am a member of the Yahoo "Gammill Owners Only " forum and a number of the members have added these to their machines and love them. They are so much cheaper than going with the Breeze system and are a great substitute. My Gammill, "Rena Ann" and I are best buddies and enjoy making my customers happy.

[Catherine S.]

Mary, thanks for the info on the EZ gllide system. I will have to check into those. I may be able to talk my husband into that. He ordered another gun (without even discussing it with me :evil: ) so he can't complain. I am still trying to figure out a way to get to Houston. Not much hope getting there though.

[Catherine S.]

I have a new 18" Gammil that I bought in June but home remodeling has interfered with learning very much so far. I did find "Red Snappers" designed by Renee Haddadin at the MQX West in October and tried them for the first time on a small project. They were faster than pinning and I didn't have to adapt the leaders. I will eventually learn how to use the zippered leaders! My question: what is the towa guage?

[Margo C.]

A Towa gauge is used to set the tension of your bobbin case. Different weights of thread will work better if the bobbin tension is set to a specified number.

You can order a gauge for your size bobbins here: http://www.superiorthreads.com/shop/...uges/products/

And here is a video showing how to use it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kBAhko66fFs

[Mary K.]

Margo - the thread tension gauges looks helpful. Do you have those and use them?

[Margo C.]

Margo - the thread tension gauges looks helpful. Do you have those and use them?

I always use a TOWA gauge when I switch from a prewound SuperBob to a regular bobbin and back again, especially if I wind a bobbin with a thread other than Bottom Line.

Some people recommend checking EVERY bobbin!

Superior also has a new gauge for measuring your TOP tension, but I haven't tried that yet. Here is an excellent video showing the new top tension gauge as well as a review of the TOWA gauge with a really important tip about cleaning the spring on your bobbin case: http://www.superiorthreads.com/video...n-gauge/intro/

[Mary K.]

Thanks, Margo!!! I switched thread to King Tut when working on my second practice piece and figured out quickly that figuring out tension is going to take some work. If the TOWA can help me get there quickly and more effectively, I think I am all for it!!! I am also going to buy the top tension gauge, the "both for one" price seems reasonable. thanks again for your recommendation!!!

Can you also give me some guidance on what you do for your bobbin thread choices??? Thanks!!!

[Margo C.]

My machine runs really well with Superior's SuperBobs which are the bobbins prewound with Bottom Line thread, so I use a lot of that. They come with cardboard sides on them and depending on your machine, you may have better tension by removing either one side, or both sides of the cardboard bobbin. The thread will work just fine without the sides! Because my machine has a slower motor speed, I remove BOTH cardboard sides to reduce the drag. The recommendation for faster machines is to leave on one or both of the cardboards, but I'm not sure what to use on other machines.

When I don't have a color of prewound thread that works with my backing fabric, I usually just wind a bobbin with the same thread that I'm using on the top. I always check the tension with the TOWA gauge, because it almost always needs to be tweaked when changing thread types.

The prewound bobbins seem to have a lot more thread on them than I can get when I wind them myself, so I don't have to change bobbins as often.
Also, I buy the gross box of assorted neutral colors when I go to big quilt shows, but Superior now offers you the option of your own assorted colors!

http://www.superiorthreads.com/shop/...2-dozen-packs/

[Mary K.]

Margo - if you are using Super Bobs in the bobbin, what threads does that work well with on the top?

[Margo C.]

Margo - if you are using Super Bobs in the bobbin, what threads does that work well with on the top?

I have not yet found a thread that does NOT work well with Bottom Line in the bobbin!!

I haven't tried silk, but don't see why it wouldn't work unless you wanted to be a real purist and use silk in the bobbin.

I use lots of MasterPiece (when I want a finer thread or want to use cotton) and King Tut (great colors, also cotton but is a heavier weight).

I have also used YLI threads, Signature, FilTec, Isacord and Floriani embroidery threads and they all work well with Bottom Line.

[Mary K.]

Awesome!!! Thanks Margo!!!

[Caroline A.]

I have a HQ16 and use the towa gauge to check the bobbin tension. I check the bobbin tension every time I change a bobbin just to be on the safe side. I haven't found enough reason to buy the top tension gauge, so haven't done so. I like the combination of King Tut on the top and So Fine in the bobbin. It's worked well for me. I usually wind at least one extra bobbin before I start a quilt so I don't have to stop and wind more once I've started quilting. For a larger quilt I'll wind several. I have used other threads, mostly Superior and, like Margo, my machine will take just about anything. I do like to use good quality thread and prefer Superior. Fi