Confessions of a mechanical incompetent

I am free motion quilting a piece for the QuiltWest exhibition at the end of May. I have been using the older of my two machines because I've had it longer and know most of its tricks and quirks.

I broke the darning foot this morning when it got caught up with a safety pin I was trying to open and remove. Damn and blast! I now remember that I broke another darning foot before, doing the same thing. Not wanting to take a trip to Willetton to replace it, I found a stippling foot. Does the same job, but has a different method of attachment.

Couldn't remember how to attach it, so I had to look it up. My frustration mounted steadily.

I had to remove the ankle (technical term for the bit you usually just clip various feet on to) in order to screw on the stippling foot. I tried, but I couldn't get the foot into the right position for the screw. Back to the reference material.

It said I also had to replace the screw that holds in the needle with another one. OK, found the new screw, replaced the needle, still couldn't attach the foot. Grrr!!

Then I looked at the illustration and my machine. I found that there was another screw at the back of the needle bar that I needed to remove.

Righty tighty, lefty loosey - I need these aids to memory. But the screw was facing away from me, so it took several attempts to actually remove it. Then the new foot fitted perfectly and I was able to sew again. The whole thing took at least 45 minutes.

Kevin says this is a very boring post. I say it helps mental health to vent, not to mention financial health, since I was ready to throw the machine out the window.