Showing posts with label Free-motion Quilting. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Free-motion Quilting. Show all posts

Monday, June 24, 2013

Frustrated

Thanks for all of your encouragement about my Drunkard's Path quilt and helpful suggestions about thread and needles.

I must admit, quilting this quilt has been an extremely frustrating experience. I thought that I had solved the problem with a larger needle, but the thread continued to break literally every 30 seconds. After I realized that the needle wasn't the problem, I spent a long time on the phone with my machine dealer in Kamloops, and he patiently walked me through every potential problem. We quickly discovered that my bobbin tension was too tight (I didn't even know that it could be adjusted!), so I was hopeful that the issue was finally resolved. Not so! Even with a larger needle, and the correct tension on both the bobbin and the top thread, I realized that my Grand Quilter hates Mettler thread.


Results of my picking!

I decided to try quilting the quilt from the other side with my go-to Aurifil thread, and of course, it quilted like a dream. The only time I had to stop was when my bobbin ran out! Unfortunately, it meant a few days spent unpicking all of my stitches made with the other thread. I had only quilted 12 blocks, but it still took forever to unpick all of those stitches.


Beautiful thread....just not for my machine!

I am officially donating the almost full spool of Mettler thread to my quilt guild, hopefully someone has a machine that doesn't eat it. And from now on, I'm sticking to what I know works.


Aurifil Thread
 What about you? What thread do you use for machine quilting?

Friday, April 17, 2009

DQS6 Update

Just a quick update on my Doll Quilt:I had a great time machine quilting swirls on my butterfly quilt. It is my first attempt at swirls and I am really happy with the way it turned out. As I read recently, it is imperfectly perfect! I am starting to love free-motion quilting. At first, I was so frustrated by the variation in my stitch length. But it is true - it does get easier with practice. I am also starting to see that with a high density of quilting it is impossible to see every stitch so mistakes get 'swallowed' up by the quilt. Gotta love that.
Now I just have to decide how to quilt the butterflies...any ideas?
Sorry these pictures are so dark. I took them last night when I was sewing - did I mention my sewing 'studio' is in the basement? I think I'll have to work on my lighting before I snap some more 'action' shots.
Oh, and here's a giveaway on the Farm Chicks Site. They are giving away 2 yards (yes, 2 yards...yay!) of the new Prairie Dust Fabric. I love a give-away (although I still haven't won anything (other than of course, getting selected to join Rachel's Bee Inspired Quilt Bee - thanks again Rachel, I'm loving it)) so go check it out! I love the aqua fabric. Good Luck
Happy Friday!