Spa Treatment

Just got off the phone with Amy from APQS, where my Liberty is getting her much needed spa treatment. She said that my machine was in pretty good shape for as many quilts that I do each month and she told me what they had done to her so far (which the cost was below what I though it would be) so she told me what little things they could do to improve the performance of my machine since it was a 2005 and there have been several things improved since it was made. For instance something to do with the needle bar the new one will have bearings or something that will improve my stitching/less drag when doing ruler work. Since it was comming in below budget I decided to go for the new improvements as well as buy new leaders and another dozen bobbins (you can never have too many bobbins in my opinion, LOL!). Anyways it should be finished up tomorrow if Christy gets back from being sick and either shipped back tomorrow afternoon or Monday at the latest. That means I should have it by May 28 or June1 at the latest. So I should be able to meet my deadlines, yea! :0)  

Stressed Out

We packed my Liberty up last night to send her back to the factory for her Maitenance/ Spa Treatment. She goes to the UPS store on Friday. And today I feel very stressed out, about it :0(


I don't know if it has to do with seperation anxiety or not knowing how much the whole thing is going to cost, or worrying about whether or not she will get to her destinations (first to the factory and then back home) safe and sound. Am I nuts? Maybe I shouldn't be asking this question, because I can just imagine what some of you are thinking about that last comment, LOL!


Anyways, until I know for sure what the cost will be I need to stay away from stores and websites that may entice me to spend $$$


I am also DREADING painting my master bed and bath, it is a huge space with volted ceilings and I know that I am going to be so sore (from going up and down the ladder) for a week after. So it is hard to say for sure what is my true source of stress is comming from. Maybe a combo from both...where's the chocolate? ;0)  

Turmoil, No More

For the past few days I have been in turmoil about what I should do about my APQS Liberty. It is 5 years old and since day 1 I have had issues with my wheel/table adjustments (everything else about my machine has been perfect for the most part). Anyways I was planning on sending my Liberty back to the factory for it's LONG over do "Spa Treatment" this summer, it needs it's grease box repacked, needs a new hook assembly, the mother/daughter boards checked (because I started having problems with my stitch regulator increasing stitches on it's own), my needle bar needs a minor tweak etc...basically a little pampering will do it a world of good.I want to do it in May because I can block some time out easier with my customers since the snow birds will be gone and business slows a little.


Ok so the spa thing is not what has had me in turmoil. APQS announced this week that they have a newtable/carriage system for their machines called "Bliss" from what I have learned and read it will address all the wheel tweaking/table truss issues that have been an issue for me since day 1. The problem is that it costs $3K for the upgrade :0( and altough this sounds like it would solve all of my issues with drag etc... I was having a hard time with the cost. If I was planning on keeping my Liberty for decades than this would have been a no brainer. But I would really like to upgrade to a larger APQS machine (maybe the Freedom SR) in 4-5 years and then eventually add the computer upgrade to it. So if I add the Bliss system now it will take me that much longer to save for the larger machine.


I started asking questions about the edgerider wheels for my Liberty, I got ALOT of great feedback from friends at the APQS forums and decided that I can achieve the smooth as silk glide at a much cheaper cost if I just change out my wheels and make an adjustment to my table's truss. Then this will allow me to have the $ to send my Liberty back to the factory for her spa treatment. It will be like having a new machine when she gets back together and I can have some fun practcing my custom quilting this summer. And while she is gone I will have time to piece some quilts of my own.


Oh and having the taxes done and between the state & feds actually getting some $ back which also eases turmoil, LOL

1st Week Back

The first week of the year was suppose to be a great start for 2010, I was going to get back to eating healthy, my exercise plan and get back to quilting customer quilts. Of course I should know by now when you want things to go a certain way, they rarely do. This week was no exception.


I did manage to work out and eat right 1 day, yup that was it, why? Well because life kicked my butt, that's why. Monday was good, Chris went back to work, I tried to get back to work but the kids were still home until Wed. and I had a hard time getting motivated, then I had a couple of days where I had back to back drop off appointments all day!! So when I did finally try to get some quilting done, my machine started to act up. The begining of Dec. I broke a needle on a customer's quilt because of a very bulky seam...this seam was so bad that it actually knocked my hook assembly loose and damaged my hook by creating alot of burrs. Chris got it back together and thought he timed it the right way, and I was able to finish my customer quilts for Dec's deadlines. However when I started up again my top thread was shredding something aweful. So I asked  Chris to buff the hook to get rid of the burrs...no problem, he did a great job but when he tried to put it back together he couldn't  because we were missing a important piece of info. My machine is a 2005 APQS Liberty and the manuel that came with it is lacking in detail info in this area. So I called APQS and Christy e-mailed me detailed instructions to get us back up and running. It turned out that the missing piece of the puzzle was that we needed to file the hook shaft before sliding the collar & hook back on.


Once the machine was back together (the right way this time) I was back in business, however I was now running behind schedule, so I had to work through the weekend to get caught up again.


I was hoping to do some sewing. But it was not going to happen. So needless to say between the stress of the job, falling behind, and having alot of drop off appointments I was not able to exercise or eat healthy. I am so bummed!