She gave her all...

Miss Betty I aka HQ16, has just come to my rescue one more time - she gave her ALL, her main hook assembly, so Miss Betty II might finally be fixed:

See the drive shaft w/NO hook assembly or bobbin case?

It occurred to yours truly while trying to figure out one more thing to just 'try' to see IF we couldn't get Miss Betty II back to quilting ALL those Quilts of Valor patiently waiting, to see if a much needed hook assembly part from Betty I might solve our thread shredding/looping problems...

Blue LAVA top thread being yanked to the back in BIG looong loops on this Quilt of Valor

Notice just how sporadic the stitching is - looks good for awhile and then BLAM - blue pukey thread all over the place...

Not a pretty sight on the left!  Notice the 'swirls' in the middle that were quilted AFTER the hook assemblies were swapped - what a huge difference...

And here's the culprit of ALL these nasty stitches:

Multiple scratches and dings can bee seen near the top -
no wonder she was looping and puking thread!

Now that Miss Betty I has graciously 'donated' her precious hook assembly:

Miss Betty I gives her ALL

And look at the quilting stitches of the Avante now:

Checking the 'new' stitching w/old hook assembly swapped for Miss Betty II - looking good!

You can really see the difference here:

Now that's what good stitches should look like, right?

Miss Betty II will now stitch 'right to left' w/NO skipped/shredded stitches!

This was NOT an easy fix and one I'm glad to FINALLY be done with.  You'll remember, it ALL started way back in November: http://donebybettyboop.blogspot.com/2014/11/quilting-bernices-wonderful-quilt-of.html  Course now, we still need a hook assembly for Miss Betty I - I'm sure we'll be able to figure out something...

And of course, this 'intended' Quilt of Valor will need to be replaced with another, since the stitching on this one is completely unacceptable and will most certainly NOT meet QOVF Standards of Excellence.  However, it will serve as a gentle reminder ALL Miss Betty I & II and I have been through together these past few months...Whew!

In the meantime - we're quilting and Quilting and QUILTING away ;-)

Time to get back to it - we've got a QOV Competition quilt to finish up by Monday!

Later,
~Deb

Irene's QOV is FINALLY on the frame!

I think Irene and those Quirky Quilters of Michigan were about ready to give up on 'Miss Betty' & I, and honestly, we couldn't really blame them!  We've had this quilt top longer than I care to admit - even spent National Quilts of Valor Sew Day adding multiple borders to it.  But now, it is actually on the frame w/Betty 1!

Irene's QOV getting quilted - for real!

What a neat quilt this one is and a real pleasure to quilt:

SID in the borders, a favorite Star panto in the interior - I'm going for 100 w/this panto,
McTavishing in the outer border and...a 'surprise' in the dark red/gold star border ;-)

UPDATE 3/19/2015: a Jamie Wallen continuous swirl it is for the dark red/gold star border!  I dearly LOVE this quilting design - I must since I've lost count just how many QOVs I've use it in...what's not to LOVE - it's Fast, it's FUN to quilt in, and looks wonderful quilted out...win/Win/WIN...Thanks Jamie for sharing such a wonderful continuous quilting design!

Swirls and star quilting

We're quilting with King Tut Olde Gold solid in the needle, and it's quilting out great!

McTavishing the outer print border

Quilting back

And ALL finished up:

Irene's Quilt of Valor coming off the frame!

Prior to loading and quilting, had just enough time to finish up the borders on another of Doris's QOV quilt tops:

3 exterior white/blue/red borders added to Doris's QOV

Only five (5) more QOV quilt tops left to add borders to, and I'll actually be ALL caught up!

Time to get back to it...
~Deb

Back to quilting on a QOV...

Finally bid the cold and snow w/scooping Good Bye and got back to quilting.  This time on Miss Betty I, since Betty II had to go to the longarm hospital for a spell - hopefully, she'll be back real soon!  In the meantime, Miss Betty 1 and I are getting re-acquainted quilting another of Doris's QOVs:

Miss Betty I back to quilting a QOV

And she didn't do too badly, once we got in the 'quilting groove' together ;-)

McTavishing in the flag borders

...and some of those Jamie Wallen swirls in the red star borders

I always enjoy looking at backs and this one turned out almost perfect:

Tension/stitch quality doesn't get much better than this -
LOVE it when this happens, don't you?!  WTG Miss Betty 1!

Turned out pretty neat, we think:

Another winning Quilt of Valor by Doris...Congrats!

And while Miss Betty 1 and I are enjoying our quilting time together, I'm still quietly pining away for Betty 2:

Betty 2 on the left, aka HQ Avante and
Miss Betty 1, HQ16 on the right - the first and still adored ;-)

just don't tell Miss Betty 1 or we might have 'issues'!  And we certainly don't have time for that!!  Hopefully, Betty 2 will get to come home sometime next week...

In the meantime, time for more quilting!

Later,
~Deb