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Another new thing tried

Well, I just tried my first free-motion machine quilting. When I did my lesson on the new machine, the woman at the store showed me how to set up the foot and got me started, so I thought I'd better try some at home before I forgot what she did. "Slow hands, fast foot" was her saying.

I got this little collage of novelty fabrics, about 8 inches square. I used clear monofilament on top, thinking that whatever I did, the clear thread would make the flaws less visible. That didn't work out perfectly, since I had a dark thread on the back and it kept coming through. I changed the tension a bit each way and I couldn't figure out what helped.

But it was fun to do. I just wiggled the fabric around in a stippling pattern for some parts, and freehanded to outline some parts of the pictures or added some complementary designs for other parts, and I left a few bigger figures unquilted to see if they would puff up. It looks okay.

But of course, this gives me even more questions. What do you do when you want to take a break? Just leave it with the needle down? What if you want to sew something else before you go back to it? And what is the trick about the tension anyway?

Louise, in eastern Ontario

Reply to
Louise
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Yup! :) I do that all the time.

Ah, then you have to take it out of the machine, take careful note of all of your settings (write them down!) so you can reproduce them again, and do what you want to do.

Every machine is different -- not just every brand or every model. You have to figure out what's working for you this time, write down those settings along with what kind of thread you're using, what fabrics (if they're different from quilting cottons and what kind of batting you've chosen. Then, if all goes well, you have a starting point for the next project! :)

Reply to
Sandy

Noooooooo! (to the slow hands, fast foot directive). I like to go very slowly, both hand and foot. It is not carved on any stone that you must FM quickly. Find what makes you happy. I confess to being a neatnik. If I must stop with the FM and remove it to do something else, I bring the bobbin thread up to the top after drawing a little circle (if the design will let me get away with it) and then bury both tails of the top thread and bobbin thread into the quilt by hand needle. Once again, it is what makes you happy. I don't do competitive quilting. I do what I hope is sturdy and this seems to be the best for lots of wear and tear. Just one more - I have never resolved the problem about the bobbin thread making teensy little dots on the top if the bobbin thread is different. I simply use the same thread on top and bobbin and escape arriving at a solution. You certainly can use an invisible thread in the bobbin. Just be very sure to wind that bobbin very slowly. Something about fast (or the moon) makes a slowly wound bobbin work much better. Polly

Reply to
Polly Esther

Reply to
Mauvice in central WI

Sounds like you're on the right track! I try not to leave right in the middle of something complicated, get to a natural stopping point if possible. But life isn't always ideal, and then I just stop sewing and do what needs doing. Make sure the weight of the quilt isn't going to fall to the floor before I walk away. If you need to actually sew something else, maybe you should get a second machine. (I have

3 in working order.)

Tension will just about vary with every kind of thread. As for the little dots of bobbin thread, if the color is right, these give the illusion of hand quilting when you use invisible on top. But only if your stitches are really, really even and smooth! Roberta in D

"Louise" schrieb im Newsbeitrag news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com...

Reply to
Roberta Zollner

I can't answer the free motion questions, but I can answer the "what do you do if you want to sew something else" question. Get another machine, of course!! LOL Good for you for learning something new. I keep thinking I'll have to try free motion sometime, but my "has to be perfect" side keeps getting in my way.

Reply to
TerriLee in WA (state)

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