Doug Kerr
Well-known member
. . . on the fabric supply and takeup spindles on her new quilting machine yesterday.
We'll have a full photographic report on this wondrous engine shortly. For now, I'll just show you the three muslin leaders, put in their place:
Also shown in the Mark II Pinning Shelf, an apparatus that aids the operator in pinning the leading/trailing edges of the fabric to the respective leaders (otherwise needing to be done "in midair", which you can imagine is no fun).
Here is a quick view of (part of) the entire machine (leaders not yet attached):
The frame is a NewJoy Magic frame, in the 10' wide configuration, a new model introduced within the last year. The sewing head is a NewJoy Crystal Quilter head, just newly introduced (this is one of the first few shipped).
The head sits on a PCQuilter Model SF numerical control carriage (adapted by us to the Magic frame and Crystal Quilter head). It provides complete numerical control of the quilting process. The system can fully automatically stitch a complex pattern in "passes" up to 12" high and 102" wide.
The lower control panel above the "handlebars" is for the sewing head itself (sets speed, moves needle up/down while at stop, trips the thread cutter, etc.). The upper control panel is a touch-screen LCD panel that controls the quilting automation software (which runs on a Dell laptop, not seen here).
This has been a fascinating project.
We'll have a full photographic report on this wondrous engine shortly. For now, I'll just show you the three muslin leaders, put in their place:
Also shown in the Mark II Pinning Shelf, an apparatus that aids the operator in pinning the leading/trailing edges of the fabric to the respective leaders (otherwise needing to be done "in midair", which you can imagine is no fun).
Here is a quick view of (part of) the entire machine (leaders not yet attached):
The frame is a NewJoy Magic frame, in the 10' wide configuration, a new model introduced within the last year. The sewing head is a NewJoy Crystal Quilter head, just newly introduced (this is one of the first few shipped).
The head sits on a PCQuilter Model SF numerical control carriage (adapted by us to the Magic frame and Crystal Quilter head). It provides complete numerical control of the quilting process. The system can fully automatically stitch a complex pattern in "passes" up to 12" high and 102" wide.
The lower control panel above the "handlebars" is for the sewing head itself (sets speed, moves needle up/down while at stop, trips the thread cutter, etc.). The upper control panel is a touch-screen LCD panel that controls the quilting automation software (which runs on a Dell laptop, not seen here).
This has been a fascinating project.
Maybe I could talk my representative into sending me one as an "economic stimulus package" if I promised to continue to give half my quilts to battered women shelters... Hmmm maybe they'll need to send me a minion too so I can free up some time to use it.