Bye, Bye, Longarm

What did you do last weekend?

Here is what we did:

 

Yep, we loaded up the truck and moved the Gammill to Clayton for a temporary stay with foster mother Maureen.

 

We already had a trailer that we use to take the riding mower or the Gator to the shop or to the mountains.  My next-door neighbor showed up at the perfect time to help load the heavy table.  Getting the rest on the trailer was easy.  Then we had to make sure that the twelve-foot rollers would not go sliding out the back.

 

 

A combination of clothesline and bungee cords were looped over and under until everything was tied down.

 

 

We stopped twice on the way to make sure everything was secure.  The only damage was that some of the plastic that covers the pantograph table tore off.  That is not a problem.

 

When we got to Maureen's house, we ran into a problem.  The table would not make the sharp turn needed to go upstairs to the room she had prepared!  Not without taking out a wall, anyway. 

 

Determined to take advantage of my offer to "foster" my Gammill, Maureen cleared out another bedroom, the former "teddy bear room" with antique bed and glass front curio cabinet.  Fortunately, she had called in lots of strong help, and the furniture was out of there in no time.

 

We discovered that putting the table back together is much more difficult than taking it apart!  Here you can see at least three guys down on the floor and one standing.

 

 

If you are going to be attempting a longarm move, be sure to take lots of photos from every angle while it is still in one piece.  Mark the legs and parts that go together with post-its.  Bring the manual.

 

Of course, I am the one who is the expert on using the machine, but that did not help me recognize which piece of black steel went where!

 

 

So, we got it together.  And look how much space was left between the end of the table and the wall!

 

 

 

That would not work very well, because you have to be able to walk around the end of the machine and smooth out the fabric and batting.  Not to mention being able to get to the roll-up wheels.

 

Solution:  take off the door to the room and angle the machine so the end with the wheels is at the opening to the room.

 

It was basically an all-day operation.  And when we were done, there was one vital piece missing:  the Gammill quilting machine!

 

It is still at the shop in Fayetteville being serviced.  We will go back out when it is ready, and I will show Maureen and her quilting neighbor Adrienne how to load a quilt and work the machine.

 

Whew!

 

Then we had to go home and start moving stuff around for the carpet cleaners.  They won't move beds or anything with electronics on it.  So, all of our bedrooms now look something like this:

 

 

The beds are all turned up against the wall.  Everything is moved out into non-carpeted rooms, like the bathrooms or utility room.

 

 

And you would not believe our kitchen.

 

 

We are going to try to get all that into the remaining space in the POD.  Dave has promised to come out and help on Wednesday night.

 

I'm tired!