Vivian was not happy today
When I bought my first Gammill–and only–I learned that many quilters gave their machines names. I named mine Vivian after my grandmother who was a sewing machine repair lady during depression days, operated a canning machine during World War II and was always busy with assorted projects.
Vivian has been very nice to me–except the one time I forgot to oil her before starting and she just locked up and said I’m not doing anything at all until you oil me.
Since then I have oiled her liberally and every day that we play together.
Today though was a different story.
I had a black polyester batt left from my mother’s small quilt store twenty years ago, a rather stiff backing–even after washing, and a top that had a LOT of bias edges.
First the backing was so hard to piece with the needle it left big holes in the backing–no way to erase bad stitches. The polyester batt and the bias edges kept me chasing the top all over as though it were alive.
And then Vivian said–no way am I stitching straight lines without you stopping to rethread after shredding the thread. Her arms were crossed and she was not budging on this idea.
I double-checked the threading, checked the bobbin tension, changed threads, changed needles–and still NO!
THEN I tried going left to right—and it was perfect–still the holes in the backing–but that backing is going to a homeless quilt that is tied—ditto the batting.
So Lesson learned—Vivian sews straight lines from left to right but is okay with pantographs also left to right–but on the backside of the machine.
Slowly but surely I am learning how to use this machine. 
Sylvia Weir Art 