I quilted a bunch of straight lines with a walking foot for the first time today, and found it quite . . . erm . . . challenging. I am pretty sure that the solution to most of my problems is practice, practice, practice, but I thought I'd make a few notes here and see if anybody has any words of wisdom.
- Setting the machine's stitch length was a joke. The stitch length was determined more by how much the quilt package was dragging for one reason or another -- snagging on the bicycle clips as they traveled on, under, around the machine, snagging on an accordian-fold in the package in my lap, etc. This is related to . . .
- I hate bicycle clips. They scrape across the finish of my SM cabinet (admittedly a beat-up finish already, but still), they snag, they fall off on the floor, etc. I'm getting better with this. Would it help to wrap the clips with cheesecloth?
- No. 1 is also probably related to the fact that my SM and/or walking foot continually demanded changes in the upper thread tension. I was using different color threads on top and bottom, and occasionally the machine would apparently just change its mind about whether it would tighten bobbin threads up to the top or top threads to the bottom. I truly could not make heads or tails of what the thread tension would do next. The SM was well cleaned and lubricated. It seemed as if the machine just got tired and started tightening up one way or the other.
- Puckers on the back. I think this was due purely to the fact that I did a lousy job of spray-basting. The walking foot was feeding fine and doing what it was supposed to do; I just had glued some puckers into the back. I know what I'll do differently the next time I spray-baste.
That said, I got some good practice and the quilt looks pretty decent on top, so far. After the thread yesterday when I asked about how far apart my straight-line quilting should be, I decided that the narrow lines I wanted would make the quilt narrower than I wanted. So I decided to go back to a triple-figure eight, Amish quilting pattern that had attracted me earlier. I'll quilt that tomorrow with my new, see-through darning foot. Based on past experience with a mini-quilt, I think I may be better at quilting such a pattern than I am at quilting a straight line! Meanders and stippling never attracted me very much before, but I find I'm having good luck with it on a practice scrap, so that may be in my future, too.
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