sewing machine woes

Anne, Have you tried putting your thread in a glass or jar & sitting it behind your machine? Or using a metal thread holder? Or tape a safety pin behind your machine & thread your thread thru there from the machine's spool & then thread as your normally would? Are you using the same thread in top & bobbin? I'm sure you'll get more helpful advise from the more experienced members, but those are a few I can think of to try.

I've not done the putting it somewhere else thing, but I do have it on a vertical spool holder. It's feeding freely, I think the problem is down below, it seems like when it skips that needle is getting a good hole, then the next stitch something below catches the top thread and it starts shredding and a couple more stitches all you have is a shredded mess. I am currently using the same thread in the bobbin.

Anne

Anne, I hate to say this, but it sounds like operator error.

Maybe it's something like you are sewing one way on your sample (possibly paying very strict attention to all the 'rules'), the machine stitches well, you relax and think "whew, it's working great", and then when you relax on the actual quilt you revert back to whatever it is that makes the machine skip? Are you sewing the same speed with the machine and moving your hands in the same manner and speed as with the sample? The quilt- being larger and heavier than a sample- isn't hanging up on anything or the weight isn't pulling on it in any way?

Nor meant to criticize, just grabbing at straws cuz it sounds like you are doing everything else very right.

Leslie, Missy & The Furbabies >> Anne,

What kid of machine is it, Anne? Did you change to a new needle?

-Irene

I searched your post looking for a clue and perhaps I see one. Could it just be that whatever you're using in that border simply defies quilting? Our Yorkshire Terrier now has a quilt that is only half-stitched. Nothing I could do (and I tried everything anyone could think of) would work for very long on that creation. We decided the 'impossible' in that quilt was the white-on-white fabric. I will always believe that they used something unspeakable in manufacturing. It could also be that your batting + fabric combination is causing your woes. I'm grabbing at straws with Leslie but wonder how things would go if you simply set your quilt aside and tried making something else. I wonder if you would be successful if you were stitching on another quilt; perhaps a crib quilt or preemie quilt. A set of placemats? Just one? At least by moving on or moving over, you could find out if it's that quilt, the SM or the operator. Polly

"Leslie & The Furbabies in MO." Anne, I hate to say this, but it sounds like operator error.

Anne,

I have a machine that does the same thing, if I understand you correctly, and it is easily remedied by a good cleaning, oiling and a size larger needle. It is one of my favorite machines but when there is a little lint in it I get skipped stitches and broken thread. Weird because it took me a while to figure this out since it didn't look like enough lint to make a difference. Just a bit finicky machine.

The other thing is I have run into some fabrics that are just harder to quilt. Actually almost impossible.

Hope you figure it out, let us know what you find out too.

Piece,

Marsha in nw, Ohio

A few more variables to consider and experiment with:

The batting might be too thick or causing the needle to stick.

Some machines like a throat plate that only accomodates the straight stitch, not the zig-zag one.

Try the free motion foot (also called darning foot, and you're calling it a hopping foot) in another machine to see if it works there. Feet can be fersnickety, and they make all the difference.

You've been able to do free-motion in the past? You're experienced at it? I find that my free-motion skills are excellent as long as stay with the machine I know, the adjustments I know, and the batting and thread I know. Each time I make a change, I have to learn again. I don't have to learn from the start, but there is a learning curve. Skipped stitches could be operator's error.

One has to hold the quilt sandwich differently when doing the middle of a quilt and the border. Maybe something different about where you place your hands and how fast you're able to go?

If there's something different about your posture and positioning, the variable could be the peddle.

One more wild thing to consider-- The worst problem I had with a machine came from the thread. It had been treated with something to make it glide through batting when hand quilting. I put it in my machine where it promptly (about an hour) gummed up my tension disks and made them immovable. After the gumming, switching back to a tried and true thread didn't work. If there's something different about the fabric in the border, it could get on the thread, which would get on the tension disks.

I know none of these exactly fit the situation you describe, but they're directions to think in.

--Lia

My guess is something wrong with your foot. Maybe it isn't coming down firmly enough at the point where the stitch is formed. See if they have a different kind of hopping foot you can try. (My Pfaff has the standard smallish darning foot plus a big foot for quilting.) Roberta in D

"Anne Rogers" schrieb im Newsbeitrag news:CO-dnWwDqpdH_DzanZ2dnUVZ snipped-for-privacy@comcast.com...

I had this problem especially when I was using rayon thread and a poly-cotton sheet as backing (high thread count), and solved it with a Metallica needle.

I also find that if the quilt isn't really well supported as it goes into the machine the stitch length goes haywire. I have an extension table so hold the quilt as high up my body as I can - sometimes I feel that putting it over my head would be a good idea! I wish I had a machine set into a table.

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

Liz Megerle wrote:

Anne, is the fabric and/or batting different in the quilt as opposed to the sample? Some fabrics are more difficult for the needle to pierce through. Have you tried using a different kind of needle? Try a quilting or a microtex/sharp needle if you haven't tried them. Or the next size larger. It sounds like the fabric on the quilt is tighter than on the sample. Or the batting is denser. In any case the needle isn't making it through the sandwich in "time" to pick up the bobbin thread.

H> So, I've been having this problem that when quilting, my sewing machine

Honestly, I really can't see a problem, I'm starting off the same speed, the hands in the same position etc. from time to time I do get the error on the sample. For ages last night when I was lowering the needle to pull up the bobbin thread, it wasn't coming up, regardless of whether I was working on a sample, or what, that isn't operator error. There were also some wierd clunks coming from it at one point, but they seemed to smooth out over time (I did some piecing afterwards). Btw, the "real" bit I was working on is actually a border (for quilt as you go), so it's

10inches wide and really long, all nicely in a pile behind the machine so no catching or anything. When I was in the shop 2 weeks ago, they had me work on a big quilt so they could see what I was doing I could confirm I had no issues moving the quilt. Although the error seems fairly random and seems to occur more commonly when I'm working on something big, last night it was occurring on the samples numerous times too.

Whilst I'm not a supremely skilled quilter, this isn't new for me either, it's a new machine and I know I could do this on my old machine, but the shape of the harp means I get a sore wrist very fast.

Cheers Anne

My original sample didn't have the same backing, I'd used two scraps of some of the front fabric and the same batting. So last night I made up one with identical fabric, backing, batting, border fabric. I don't think I single stitch stayed in it, so I though aha, it's the backing (which would be very annoying, it's just regular plain coloured cotton) and went back to the other sample, but it did the same thing on there. It's as if it starts off okay when you first thread it and then after about 12 inches it stops working, it works partially, then won't work at all. Then you rethread and a similar thing, it will appear to be fine for a short time, then deteriorates.

I probably should...

Well I have had this problem come up on another quilt, but I assumed it was the batting as it was the first time I'd tried fusible batting.

Cheers Anne

Tried the different needle, done the cleaning! :-(

Anne

It's a Brother QC1000, 8 weeks old. Yes, I did change the needle.

Anne

The fabrics are regular quilting fabrics, the border fabric is Moda, the others are all know brands, all bought at a LQS. I think we did try a metallica needle in the shop, I didn't try that at home last night.

Cheers Anne

Okay- another question- I know this is a newly purchased machine you are working with. Has this particular model (the exact model) been around for a few years? If it's something new on the market, it may have some tiny design flaw that the repair person isn't even aware of. Maybe the bobbin case sits just a tad wonky/loose or some 'way out there' kinda thing??? BTW Does this happen with a variety of threads? Needles? Are any threads/needles skipping and shredding worse than others or is it consistent with any combination? More grabbing at straws here....

Leslie, Missy & The Furbabies >> Anne, I hate to say this, but it sounds like operator error.

it shouldn't be, it's a cotton/bamboo mix, it's 1/8 inch think, it feels very like warm and natural, but is a little softer and drapier.

I could try that, I have the plate, but I've been inclined not to use it as I know I'm the type of person that would forget and then try and do something with a different needle position....

worth a try, it looks like my other machine has the same size shank etc and it should fit.

Well I'm not a super experienced award winning quilter, but yes, I can do it and I've used some of the more challenging threads, mettallic etc with success. The thread I'm using now is coats and clark machine quilting thread.

last night I was switching between a sample, 10 or so inches square and an unattached border, 10inches by 90+, moving them around was exactly the same, I had the extension table one and was wearing machiningers. There was no quilt bunched up under the harp, and very little extra weight and it was moving freely.

I prewashed the fabric, it's all standard prints, no batiks, nothing with texture like white on whites. I think I've used coats and clark machine quilting thread before, but I switched to aurifil and got the same problem.

Anne