Hi,

I have a Janome Harmony machine that was purchased two years ago and then
wasn't used until this last February. I didn't have a sewing room set up
until February and since then I have been learning quilting and have used my
machine every day since the first week in March. Lately I've been using
Coats & Clark monofilament thread .004 for freemotion quilting on a wall
hanging. I believe that yesterday or the day before the tension disks
latched on too tightly to the thread and I had some trouble unlocking it.
After I got the thread out I didn't notice any problems. Today I
re-threaded the machine with cotton for a different project, made all the
appropriate changes, and started working on freemotion stippling with a test
quilt sandwich. I keep track of all my settings for tension, etc., on index
cards and I found that the tension I chose wasn't working. I kept adjusting
the tension until I realized that at the highest number on the dial, there
was no change. I looked at the disks and they were open rather than close
on the thread. Playing with the dial while watching the disks revealed that
they weren't moving. There appears to be a spring that I can see the end of
between the disks and I'm afraid that it has snapped.

There are no dealers open in my area today so I thought I would ask if
anyone else has had this problem. I have an extended warranty on this
machine through Sears. I will be sending it off for repair but both I and
my husband feel that the amount of use I've had out of this machine (2 1/2
months of steady sewing) indicates that this one is not the work-horse I'll
need. I've only made small projects and nothing bigger than 25x26 inches.

I'm thinking about a Bernina quilting machine but I don't know how much they
are. Does anyone have any suggestions for a machine or has had a similar
experience with a Janome machine?


Thanks!


Renee