Adventures in machine quilting

Carole D. - Retired and loving it in the foothills of NW Georgia

My quilts, crafts, QIs, and more -

Hi EP, I'm fairly new also but have found that practice practice practice is the still the best advice. On the few quilts I've gotten done, I used spray basting on them all. The first one had some puckers on the back too. On the second one, I spray basted AND used safety pins (those ones for quilts that have a bend in them) every few inches and that really helped to keep the puckers from forming. I got it all sandwiched, sprayed, and pinned and then flipped it over on my dining room table and hand smoothed the back fabric. I was amazed how much extra fabric that "moved", so I just redid the pins as I smoothed the wrinkles out to the edges. That quilt sewed up perfect with no wrinkles on the back!

I'm wondering if the weight of your quilt is pulling the tension off kilter if it's hanging down the front with no support. Also let the feed dogs of the machine move the fabric and try not to push it through with your hands. Some of the other folks here will have some helpful ideas on that, that I'll be interested to see too. It sounds like you are doing fine otherwise and I wish you all the best in your quilting! Donna

1 & 2. Do whatever you need to do to prevent that drag. Most find it best to just bunch up the quilt so that you have an area to quilt that's entirely free from any drag or tension on the quilt sandwich. Those durn clips- or rolling or folding the quilt in any manner- just cause more grief. A big loose messy bunch is much better. And lots of table area to rest it on is the very best solution... as is the cabinet/tables up against a wall so the quilt can't drape off of the back side and cause pulling and tension.

1. Something is wrong if your tension needs vary like that. It may be the drag of the quilt or something else, but once you get the stitches balanced with the tension settings you shouldn't have to change them again unless you change threads, etc. Be sure the pressure of the foot on the quilt isn't tightened down too tight. It should feed thru smoothly. And be sure your walking foot is installed properly.

2. Basting is one of the most important things to successfully machine quilt well. I have never used spray basting, but you must start with the layers perfectly smooth or you can't possibly have a wrinkle free back. Maybe it's your preparation??? With my pin basting I always either clamp the backing to my cutting table top or masking tape it to the floor. The back must be perfectly flat and smooth before you add the other layers whether pinning or spraying. Then smooth, smooth, smooth as you baste.

Good luck!

Leslie & The Furbabies in MO.

I agree that the bicycle clips aren't necessary. I've used them, but much prefer just bunching up the quilt -- no need to bother with taking the time to roll it up. And make sure the quilt isn't dragging down in any direction from the needle.

I generally don't have problems with puckers on the back with spray basting, but I do check it pretty carefully. I haven't used basting spray on any big, bed size quilts. Those I pin baste or use a basting gun with plastic tacks.

I've found that cotton batting is easier to work with than polyester for machine quilting. The cotton batting has a natural tendency to cling a big to the cotton top and backing. Polyester batting is more slippery.

Julia > I quilted a bunch of straight lines with a walking foot for the first time

One thing that hasn't yet been said is: although this is simply a straight up and down quilting pattern, where did you start sewing? If you started at one edge and proceeded across, that might have been less successful than the traditional way of starting in the centre and moving to one side, then going back to the centre and moving out to the other side (still starting at a different edge each time).

I bought a set of quilt clamps - used them just once >g< .... It is much easier without anything.

Oh, and what kind of needle are you using? Was it a new one? The type of needle makes a lot of difference to me (I think it is an individual thing). My quilting is my weakest aspect, so I need all the help I can get!

One thing I can tell you with absolute certainty: it *does* get better! . In message , Edna Pearl writes

I tend to butt tables/supports up in an L shape for larger things, so the items isn't pulling down. I also have a quilting table for the sewing machine that gives me a larger flatbed area. Something to think about.

I have some plastic quilt clips that look like squashed flat bicycle clips... Don't like them much either. I get on better without them, sticking an occasional pin into the roll if I need to.

Take a poly micrifiber lens cloth (NOT an impregnated-with-lens-cleaner type one) and floss between the tension disks. Whenever my machine plays up like this, a quick flossing saves the day.

I haven't spray-basted a large quilt yet, only cat sized ones. I pinned the others... Yes, I have sewn through the head of a safety pin. No, it didn't damage the machine. Yes, the needle broke. In several pieces, one of which scarred my specs!

I like loop-de-loops too. No worries about the lines crossing! They are supposed to. Like scribble with thread. :D

And this is the reason I try to never do straight line quilting with a straight stitch. I will use one of my fancy stitches if I am home working on my Janome. If I am at the cabin in Lizard Land, I use the multi zigzag stitch. My straight line are **never** straight and suing some sort of decorative stitch makes that less noticeable :-). CiaoMeow >&;;&<

PAX, Tia Mary >^;;^< (RCTQ Queen of Kitties) Angels can't show their wings on earth but nothing was ever said about their whiskers! Visit my Photo albums at

On Sun, 18 Oct 2009 20:20:45 -0500, Edna Pearl wrote (in article ):

I always, always increase my stitch length a lot when I'm quilting straight lines with my walking foot. I just get better and more even results that way.

This might be heresy but I never, ever use clips of any kind. I just smoonch up the quilt and shove it through.

Yep.

Maureen

EP, I'm hoping you give Kate's suggestion about tensions slipping. She wrote: Take a poly micrifiber lens cloth (NOT an impregnated-with-lens-cleaner type one) and floss between the tension disks. Whenever my machine plays up like this, a quick flossing saves the day. I really don't know what she's talking about but since she's a professional, her experience carries great weight and I'd give it serious consideration. Spray basting was a 'tried it once' and nevermore trial for me. Lots of folks here have great success with that stuff but for me it was a guammy mess. (My mama's word, almost the same as gummy but much, Much worse.) Polly

I guess there must be people who love the bicycle clips (they do work great for bicycles). But not me! IMO they don't really add anything helpful. Try it without clips! The sky won't fall!

Don't know what your set-up is like, but part of the tension issue just might be drag from the weight of the quilt. (Lose the clips -gain flexibility.) Drag makes the thread come off the bobbin differently. Do you have a table to your left to hold the bulk off your lap? Do you have enough space behind the machine so you aren't struggling to force it up against a wall? (And enough so it won't suddenly drop off the edge!)

Well d>I quilted a bunch of straight lines with a walking foot for the first time

I read that this approach results in a mess -- I think it was a past edition of Hargrave's "Machine Heirloom Quilting" that said this. (But she also recommended clips, so this edition obviously was not the last word.) Most books I've read explain to start at the top of the length in the middle of the width and proceed right, alternating direction to start from the top or the bottom. Then go back to the middle of the width and start at the bottom of the length.

And for grids, I've read you're supposed to start at the corners.

I'd welcome any thoughts on this issue.

After reading so many experienced quilters say the same thing, and after my experience, I'm SOLD!

I was using a Schmetz 75/11 which I'd used just once previously on a mini-quilt with good success.

ep

Pure genius. I have learned so much from this thread! Mind if I use a clean, soft toothbrush? I went all over my machine with an oily old toothbrush I save for this purpose, but it has never occurred to me to get down into the top-thread tensions disks -- with something clean obviously, not an oily brush!

ep

I strongly suspect this is the case.

ALL RIGHT ALREADY! :-) This group seems to be quite unanimous on this issue. My experience so far suggests that the group is quite right!

I just can't imagine that I would like to do it this way at this point. Without the clips, I think the quilt would rest quite comfortably in my lap. Having seen videos of both methods, I am going to stick with the lap method for the next round of practice. If that bombs, I'll try the over-the-shoulder method.

My set-up doesn't make it easy to get a table behind the machine. I've seen a video of Leah Day sewing up against a corner (and recommending this practice as the best one). I think I'm going to try to get used to this method, as it is the most congenial to my little sewing space in between a piano and an aquarium (and a dining table behind me where we can actually eat off it when I'm not cutting and folding quilts on it).

Thanks for your advice and encouragement!

ep

Better with a cloth. My opticians gives them away with every new pair of specs (and the GMNT gets through a couple of pairs a year at the moment!), and we never use them, so I always have a few spare.

If you don't have any, try a scrap of sanded silk or other fine, dense weave LINT FREE cloth. I just recommend the lens cloths because they work and I always have a few to hand. A chunk of polyester crepe de chine will do.

Lift the presser foot and separate the disks by hand and have a good look, if you have an external mechanism. Mine is burried, but as the machine is out of the 5 year warantee (being 10 years old this month), I just unscrew the skin to get at it. :)

With one particularly manky and grunged mechanism (on my 15-88 treadle), I resorted to taking the tension right off and dismembering it into its

20 or so component parts, polishing the disks with wire wool and then Himself finishing them off with a polishing disk on the craft drill, and giving the spindle a good scrape with a toothpick and a polish with some poly crepe before finishing off with the lens cloth. It has worked perfectly eve since.

EP, it's not so much the brand name or size- altho those are very important!- but the type of needle. If you are using the old standard 'universal' needle you would be better off with a topstitching or microtex or quilting needle. Different machines have their little preferences. I tend to do most everything with 11, 12, 14 or 16 topstitching needle. Except when I use a metallic (for metallic threads) or jeans needle (making the coiled fabric baskets and for many layered appliqué). Different threads and different applications call for different needles. And sometimes you need to experiment with your thread and your machine and see what works the best.

Leslie & The Furbabies in MO.

We might be at cross purposes here? I meant starting with the central line- not actually the centre point. Did you read that as what I meant? I did actually mean exactly what you quoted! I have had scrambled mind for a week or so - it's a nuisance, I don't even know what I mean myself sometimes; annoying too, as I can usually explain things clearly >g< Diagonal grids start at the corners.

I meant what 'kind' of needle, not just size. And the weight in a big quilt might be a bit much for a 75/11? However, I meant was it a quilting needle, a sharp/microtex, a topstitch or ....? . In message , Edna Pearl writes

My sewing space in my sewing room is quite small. It's fine for piecing, but when I'm machine quilting, I usually move out into the dining room. I put a leaf or two (depending on the size of the quilt) in the table and work there. It works so much better to have the extra surface for most quilts, except the very small (up to 4x5 feet or so).

Julia in MN

Patti, it's not your fault the concept of starting in the middle -- but on the edge! -- is so hard to express. :-) It's a lot easier to show with a picture.

And I am using a Schmetz 75/11 *quilting* needle. I should have mentioned that to begin with. I think it was Hargrave, again, that recommended these for most purposes -- particulate Schmetz because they have something special about the design of their quilting needle. (The main thing I've noticed as they are the dickens to thread :-) This is not what I would call a heavy quilt, but it does have cotton batting -- is that a little tougher than poly? It kind of "feels" like it on the machine.

Dismantling the thread tension mechanism? Obviously, you are a braver quilter than I. :-)

ep