October 29, 2012

Compensating Foot

Today I examined the mysterious “compensating presser foot” which turns out to be a very accurate 1/4″ piecing foot and Nancy Zieman agrees!

I’ve been having problems with thread shredding both free motion quilting and straight stitching when putting the pedal down. I’m using Superior’s King Tut thread on top and Superior So Fine in the bobbin using a top stitch needle which is supposed to prevent shredding according to Superior Threads. I’ll have to experiment with upper and lower tension. I hope this isn’t an ongoing problem.

October 28, 2012

I received my Juki TL-2000Qi Friday afternoon but there were issues regarding the dealer which I may or may not reveal depending on resolution. Let me just say that I was not impressed with the state of the machine when it arrived. If I were to do it all over again, I would buy locally. The difference in price after shipping, taxes and UPS handling fees, is negligible.

Click to enlarge

However, this is a great machine, you can really tell the difference between a domestic and this machine, it sounds different, it feels different, it’s quick and super responsive. It reverses when you want it to reverse, there are no surprise extra stitches backward or forward, it’s super accurate. The feed dogs are fantastic, they grip and hold the fabric moving it straight and true, as they should. I love the reverse lever, it’s BIG, you can’t miss it unlike typical domestic machines where you may or may not hit the correct button. I’ve often hit the wrong button on my Bernina to reverse, which sometimes doesn’t work and sometimes takes too many stitches. When I first turned on the Juki, I was unsure there was any power to the machine because there was no noise, no movement, nothing, it was just ready to go.

So far my only complaints are that the lighting, although LED, is very, very dim and the 1/4 inch marking on the bed is not accurate. As you can see in the image, the difference between Nancy Zieman’s 1/4″ and Juki’s 1/4″ are off enough to make a difference in your piecing, this would be considered a very generous 1/4″! But this machine won’t be used for piecing, it’ll be mounted on a Gracie Queenquilting frame and used for free motion only. This model comes with a “compensating presser foot” which I haven’t tried yet, I don’t know what the seam allowance is with this foot as I haven’t tried it yet and to be honest, have no idea what it’s intended for, it doesn’t say in the manual.

This morning I did some free motion quilting, I had to fold up a piece of painter’s tape and wedge it above the spring of the quilting foot to raise it a little, there was too much pressure and I couldn’t move the fabric freely. So far in my quilting experience, I’ve only FMQ on my Bernina with the stitch regulator.  Winging it without is a blast, quite frankly, I love it! Can’t wait to get it on the frame which is due to arrive Friday, November 2nd, weather permitting!!

October 19, 2012

Juki TL-2000Qi was shipped yesterday, it’s supposed to be here in approximately 10 days! However, The Grace Company will not ship the Start-Right frame to Canada (but they’ll ship it cross country to CA??) due to shipping costs and the possibility of damage. Again, they’ll ship it from one end of the U.S. to the other but not to Canada? In any case, I’ve been upgraded to the Gracie Queen frame. The bars are aluminum and the frame itself is wood. The carriage has foam handles in both front and back, slightly better than the carriage on the Start-Right. The Gracie Queen is also more expensive than the Start-Right but KathyQuilt.com will be absorbing the difference (thank you!).

October 16, 2011

I don’t have my new Juki yet, it’s shipping via UPS on Thursday, October 17th, hopefully I’ll get it the following Monday. I discovered a website SELLING the manual for this machine, silly since it can be sourced for FREE! The Juki TL-2000Qi Manual is available at Juki.com, follow the Juki America Inc. link > Home Sewing > Juki Quilting or just click on the above link.

I’ve watched a number of videos featuring the Juki TL-2010Q and 98Q but nothing on the 2000Qi and I don’t know why.

The Juki TL-2010Qi has the following that the Juki 2000Qi does not;

Variable Sewing Speed Control (I will have this ability with the Grace SureStitch Stitch Regulator)
1/4 Quilting foot
Zipper Attach Foot
Hemming Foot
Compensating Foot

Speed and stitch length are identical. In hind sight, I should have bought this machine instead of the F600 but at that time, I didn’t have the Bernina 550 QE.