quilting trivia question

How many times to YOU redo a broken thread before you will stop and change a needle?? As of the writing of this post I have broken my thread 4 times.......

Karen, Queen of Squishies - off to change the needle, fer pete's sake!

Reply to
Karen, Queen of Squishies
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Once. Today. The thread shredded in my Viking Mega Quilter. While I was fixing the break, I noticed a LARGE skipped stitch as well. ARRRRRRRGGGGG!!! Hopefully the new needle will cure the problems.

Reply to
Lisa Caryl

Howdy!

DNA

R/Sandy-- handquilter

Reply to
Sandy Ellison

First thread break is a gimmie. I assume it was a bad spot in the thread, or batting, or operator error. :)

Second break is needle change.

Third break is complete clean out of bobbin area, generous oiling, and check of thread path.

Fourth break is silicone on the thread and another needle change.

Fifth break and it's time for chocolate, tea, and a nap. *grin*

Reply to
Kathy Applebaum

My thread doesn't break, but I'll tell you, I get about a million miles out of each needle. In fact, unless it bends at a 90 degree angle, I'm pretty much still using it.

Cindy

Reply to
teleflora

Reply to
JPgirl

Oh, if I had a brain.....

Every time I change thread to a different type or weight I have to throw away my needle... I can never remember what I have in there! Yeah, I know, I write myself notes and stick them here and there and lose them and find them and I never know when I wrote it if I happen upon one of those dumb notes- often in the washer or dryer from having put the note in a pocket. I guess I need a time and date stamp for my "Needle Notes". LOL Maybe I should email myself a reminder- that would have the time and date..... and I could keep it in a special folder..... and..... :-S

Leslie, Missy & The Furbabies in MO.

Reply to
Leslie & The Furbabies in MO.

And there, dear friends, is why I so rarely teach. I would have to kill the both of you and toss your bodies to the gators. I can sense and hear that an SM is unhappy from across the room, even in the next room. Please treat your SMs more kindly and they will keep going nicely a long time. [I won't stay up on my high horse any longer; I confess that I hate to change the blade in my rotary and really should take my cutting mats to the dump.] Polly

Reply to
Polly Esther

Fortunately, Leslie, most of my favorite needles are color-coded. If the band on the needle in my SM is green, I know that it is a size 70 quilting needle. If it is blue, that means it's good for denim and will probably do okay for quilting. If I put in something special such as a size 60 for batiste, Then *I* am in trouble. Perhaps we could write ourselves post-it notes and stick them right on the front of the SM. That's why I don't wear glasses or have babies; I'd never remember where I'd put them. Polly

Reply to
Polly Esther

Sandy, do you piece by hand too? I just learned how to do that and absolutely love it.

Karen, Queen of Squishies _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ music is all around us, all you have to do is listen

Reply to
Karen, Queen of Squishies

grin - Well, I was talking about my sewing machine needle, but way to go on your million miles!

Karen, Queen of Squishies _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ music is all around us, all you have to do is listen

Reply to
Karen, Queen of Squishies

Head down, abashed, and promising to take better care of Miss 'Nina.

Karen, Queen of Squishies grin

Reply to
Karen, Queen of Squishies

Maybe those of us that come from a clothing construction background are a little more aware of machines and needles and such. If you are sewing a knit with a bad needle you might be really sorry. With all the fashion and other fabrics non-quilters use there are a lot of needle and thread choices that can make a big difference in the results you get. There may be damage happening to the fibers of quilts that have been stitched with bad needles that don't show up for years. If it is worth doing it is worth doing right IMO.

One of the things I don't enjoy about classes is listening to machines that sound awful. Sometimes it is a crummy machine and sometimes it is lack of care by the operator. Not pleasant. Taria

Polly Esther wrote:

Reply to
Taria

i was taught in HomeEc to change my SM needle every 10 hours of sewing. i figure it's about time to change the needle when i start a new project. especially if i cant remember when i changed it!! my old White 999 wont let me forget to change her needle when it's time. she's real picky. but my DD's singer doesnt care what needle it has....old, new, denim...it still doesnt like 'em!

amy in CNY

Reply to
amy

Are you using special Singer needles in your Singer, Amy? I understand that there is a very slight difference in length between Singer needles and other makes, like Schmetz. Can you get hold of any Singer needles - if you aren't already? . In message , amy writes

Reply to
Patti

My method for keeping used SM needles sorted and accounted for ......and I do a lot of different types of sewing on 3 machines....not counting the serger.

I have one of those BIG red tomato pin cushions that are divided into sections with floss and the little crappy green leaf on top....I hate pin cushions and never use them BUT this was 4 year old's Mother day gift so I HAD to keep it. Only took me about 15 years to actually come up with a use for the darned thing. That 4 year old is now 40 and is always amazed that I still have his "special gift". We moms are such saps. LOL

I tied a piece of floss snuggly around the middle of the tomato so it gives twice as many divisions.

I have three different colored, plastic daisy flower topped 'fleece pins' stuck in the pin cushion (you'll understand why in a minute). Corsage pins or any easy to spot topped pin would work just as well. I also tacked on a loop of elastic to hold a fine tipped Sharpie.

As I finish using a needle and need to swap it for another, I stick it in a section of the pin cushion and use the Sharpie to write, right on the cushion in that section, what it is....metallic ?/?, ball point ?/?, etc. All the sections on my cushion are now marked after many years of use. I've even drawn lines to divided a few more sections to keep track of my double, triple and wing needles. On a little piece of paper write how many hours left (I figure about 10 hours a needle). If I've used a new needle an hour I write 9 on the flag and stick the SM needle through this and into it's labeled section. If I use it again for 2 hours I just cross out the 9 and write a little 7....and so on.

When I remove a needle from the cushion I stick the "flower pin" through the 'flag' and into that section so I know where it came from....and can look at the cushion and know what's in any machine and how many hours on the needle by the flagged flower pin. If I toss a needle and replace it I just stick a blank flagged flower pin in the proper section so if I take out the now replaced needle I know where it goes in the tomato with approximate used hours on the flag.

Since I have three machines I have three colors of 'flower pins' in the tomato and a corresponding colored pin taped to each machine because no matter how sure I am that I will remember....I don't *sigh*

I know this sounds like a lot of fussing but once you get the system up and running it works quite well, keeps your used but not used-up needles all sorted and ready with little less than a moment of time to document the swaps. At a glance you know what needle is in which machine, how many hours it's been used and if the section is empty I need to pull out my box of needle packs and start with a new one. And it's more difficult to loose a big tomato in the rubble than a scrap of paper or Sticky-note;)

Val

Reply to
Val

Leslie, some years ago I heard a tip that has saved me from that very problem. I bought an inexpensive tomato pin cushion and marked the segments of it with a Sharpie pen according to needle type, subdivided each segment and labeled those by size. Now, when I put a needle into my machine, I stick a pin into the correct section of the cushion, and then I know what I've been using. In addition, if I have a needle I've only use for, perhaps, an hour or so, I can stick it into the right section for further use at a later time. Works for me. :)

Reply to
Sandy

Wonder where that was. I sent in pictures of my tomato and how I used it (see post) to some sewing magazine (before my internet) and won a goodies bag for "Tip of the Month".

Val

Reply to
Val

Howdy!

Piecing by hand: sometimes. Esp. for curves. Easy to fudge the block & make the pointiest points.

Cheers! R/Sandy

Reply to
Sandy Ellison

But a warning too - QI's like pretty tomato pin cushions, especially if they are a cat called Kiwi!

They also like hooking a paw through the handle opening at the top of a soft machine cover and helping themselves to the spool of thread from the spindle!

I now hide the tomato and cover the slit on the top of the cover.

Sally at the Seaside ~~~~~~~~~~ (uk)

Val wrote:

Reply to
Sally Swindells

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