quiltedsunshine

Could be a burr on the hook. I'll send a private email.

krafty14

Other consideration. I am a relatively new longarmer, but I go to a quilt store that does a lot of quilts. One problem he told me about with t-shirt quilts is the rubberized print on the shirts. Skipped stitches, thread breaking. I was wondering if the center was such a shirt? If so, try quilting around the print. Good luck. It is a nice tribute. Ann

tjk829

Thank you all so much for the responses. We think we had something in the bobbin area, after completely disassembling it,the machine came through for us and the quilt is finished. We also think that our thread was problematic in that it kept twisting around the thread guides, knotting and generally causing havoc. We have thrown it far, far away and replaced it with brand new high quality thread. Thank you again!

Prism99

Glad you were able to finish!

Dina

I am also glad you were able to get it finished. Whew!

Dina

#1piecemaker

Make sure you have the right needle for your machine and that it is in correctly. If all else fails, call the Baily hotline. They have people that can help you.

Dollyo

I also have a Bailey. I love it. As to tension, watch Jamie Wallen's YouTube video "Taking the Stress out of Longarm Tension" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1mRhcquZTM. My tension is set at 2. Make sure that your foot is up when you thread, down when you stitch. I belong to the Baileyquiltingmachines group on yahoo.com. You will find a lot of knowledgeable people there.

ManiacQuilter2

Just be sure to have gotten every piece of the broken needle out. What a lovely tribute quilt. The family will enjoy it for years to come.

twinkie

What a beautiful tribute. So sorry for the reason.

quilttiger

I also own a 17 inch Bailey. Two main reasons thread has broken for me are:

1) The size of the needle was too small for the project. I find size 16 topstitch works well for me. I use size 18 for flannel and heavy quilts. Topstitch needles are the best, smile.

2) An occasional burr on the bobbin hook underneath the plate. I use this little stone (maybe you can find this in a knife shop that sells all kinds of knives) which I had bought in a serging class several years ago. I gently use the stone to smooth the burr off.

Since Bailey does just 700 stitches per minute, I find it works to have the tension a bit tight both on top and the bobbin. Before I got Bailey, I had a Juki machine that did 1500 stitches per minute and tension on the loose side worked very well. Just a matter of experimenting to see what works best.

Now that I am practically past the learning curve, I really like my Bailey and the Grace Majestic frame.