Worst Day EVER

I was told I needed to change the needle on my Gammill. I didn't want to. Lola didn't want me to. But I did it anyway.

Now, you need to understand why I didn't want to change the needle. You see, every time you change the needle, the timing goes off. Then you have to spend hours and hours and hours trying to get the timing back on.

Well, I changed the needle. I guess the needle I'd been using had been poking larger holes than normal. Turns out, not only was it incredibly dull, but it was a larger sized needle. So, when I changed the needle I put a smaller one on. Naturally the timing went off, so dear, kind Lola came over to help me fix the timing. We thought we got it. We didn't.

Mike, the dear husband that he is, took it upon himself to fix the machine. 3 hours later.....and 4 times of having "fixed" the timing...it was finally fixed. I started quilting again, until suddenly.....

DOINK!

The needle broke in half! AAAH! So, Mike came back over and helped me find another needle. This time we put the larger size back on. They break less easily than the smaller ones. I installed the needle, and Mike fixed the timing again.

I was also out of bobbin, so I wound a new bobbin, and then I started sewing again. Suddenly......

PLOP!

The needle fell OUT of the shaft! What the heck?! I am totally sure that I installed the needle properly. And, not only did the needle fall out, but I realized that I had forgotten to put the cone of thread back on the machine, so I was sewing with the cut off remnant. What the heck?! I seriously was losing it. Mike came back over, AGAIN, and fixed the timing. He is so good at it now, that it only takes him a few minutes. I re-threaded the machine, and was able to continue sewing. Of course, by this time it was almost 3, and I was totally out of energy.

I did manage to finish the quilt for a family friend, which we are binding while we are on vacation, and I did another sample for the Quilt Shoppe. I wish I had taken pictures, because it turned out so dang cute!

Basically, I am never changing my needle again, unless I absolutely have to.