I am getting some fairly consistent stitching.  I needed a few more thread guides after moving the cone thread holder to the side of the machine. I ordered them online. You can see this is a pretty cheap fix. I ordered the spool pin because I wasn’t sure there are no burrs in the one we made that might cut thread. And the purpose for all this modification is to stop thread breakage and tame the thread.

 

 

 

 

 

This shows the 3 hole thread guide mounted to the machine and where the cone thread stand is now located on the side. It is  bolted onto the carriage. We cut the arm shorter but can put a taller arm on with a taller cone of thread.

 

The main tension still was not holding a setting. So I reset the tension spring, you need a screwdriver and allen wrench to do this. There is a utube video on the Innova site that shows how to reset the tension spring. There is also information on the Tin Lizzie site about how to do it. All the Innova videos have been valuable helps. It is just outrageous that the manufacturer of my machine offers none of this kind of helpful information to their customers.

Here you can see a small sampling of both top and bottom stitching with the machine now.

I have been able to stitch in all directions without loosing tension. It is important to note that by adding the three hole tension and the 2 hole spool pin I have the flexibility of changing tension threading for different weights of thread. Threading through more holes creates more tension without changing the tension dial.

At least now I have options that were not there before.  Long arm quilting isn’t one-size-fits-all any more than quilting on a domestic machine  is.

Now back to the regularly scheduled program. I have quilting deadlines!