Free motion attempt gone wrong!
04-04-2016, 03:19 PM
#12
Super Member
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: Va.
Posts: 5,752
The PC420PRW has a speed controller on the front---it's a sliding lever. You might want to try putting it toward the middle. That has the effect of making it so you can't inadvertently go too fast (causing teeny stitches). It also will help you find the "sweet spot" that is where you are working in time with the machine. You'll still use your foot pedal to speed up and slow down your machine as you FMQ, but the slider speed control sets the upper limit and the benefit is that you can concentrate on getting used to the hand motions without having to worry so much about what your foot is doing. You'll learn to recognize the sound the machine makes when you and it are working well together.
As you do more FMQ, try lowering that top tension some, I'm thinking that with it set at 7 you are likely to have thread breakage unless you're using a fairly thick and strong thread.
To check your tension, look at the back of your sandwich at places where you were fmqing straight lines--if you see the top thread poking through so that the bobbin thread is just laying along the surface of the backside rather than being pulled in, then you need to tighten your top tension. If you are seeing some eye lashing on curved areas but the straight areas look okay then the problem is more likely to be that you were moving your hands too fast for the machine to keep up as you went around the curves--in that case the solution is to slow down your hands, or speed up your machine or slow down your hands and speed up your machine.
If you find that you can't lower the top tension without getting more of the same tension problems, it may be time to invest in a 2nd bobbin case that you can dedicate to FMQ. That way you can loosen the tension on the bobbin case without having to re-tighten it when you want to do regular sewing.
Also, if you get tired of making quilt sandwiches to practice on I'm a big fan of using two pieces of felt sandwiched together. I keep the cheap craft store felt on hand for when I'm working out a new design or just feel like doodling. You don't need to put batting between them, just grab two pieces and go.
Rob
As you do more FMQ, try lowering that top tension some, I'm thinking that with it set at 7 you are likely to have thread breakage unless you're using a fairly thick and strong thread.
To check your tension, look at the back of your sandwich at places where you were fmqing straight lines--if you see the top thread poking through so that the bobbin thread is just laying along the surface of the backside rather than being pulled in, then you need to tighten your top tension. If you are seeing some eye lashing on curved areas but the straight areas look okay then the problem is more likely to be that you were moving your hands too fast for the machine to keep up as you went around the curves--in that case the solution is to slow down your hands, or speed up your machine or slow down your hands and speed up your machine.
If you find that you can't lower the top tension without getting more of the same tension problems, it may be time to invest in a 2nd bobbin case that you can dedicate to FMQ. That way you can loosen the tension on the bobbin case without having to re-tighten it when you want to do regular sewing.
Also, if you get tired of making quilt sandwiches to practice on I'm a big fan of using two pieces of felt sandwiched together. I keep the cheap craft store felt on hand for when I'm working out a new design or just feel like doodling. You don't need to put batting between them, just grab two pieces and go.
Rob
04-04-2016, 03:50 PM
#13
Super Member
Join Date: Feb 2016
Location: Bunker Hill, In
Posts: 1,912
Originally Posted by kellyer21
[ATTACH=CONFIG]546995[/ATTACH]
[ATTACH=CONFIG]546996[/ATTACH]
I was so excited when I saw the front, then I turned out over and wanted to cry. What did I do wrong? Maybe the bobbin tension? [ATTACH=CONFIG]546996[/ATTACH]but I had already sewn today, it was a straight stitch but perfectly fine. Feed dogs were dropped.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]546996[/ATTACH]
I was so excited when I saw the front, then I turned out over and wanted to cry. What did I do wrong? Maybe the bobbin tension? [ATTACH=CONFIG]546996[/ATTACH]but I had already sewn today, it was a straight stitch but perfectly fine. Feed dogs were dropped.
04-04-2016, 06:13 PM
#14
Super Member
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: Illinois
Posts: 2,140
The stitches don't look tiny in the photo. One thing that I do to help is to create a visual reference. I create a micro sandwich with part of a jelly roll strip and set my stitch length to 3mm with my walking foot. I keep that next to my machine as a reference for what a 3mm stitch looks like. It also helps -- at least a first -- to try a larger design & to draw it out on my fabric (for practice sandwiches you can even just use a Sharpie -- I would do that & then keep pulling out my stitches so I could reuse the sandwich). It also helps to practice on a 1/2yd piece of fabric so I have something to hold onto & can do a wider stitch pattern.
Here's the best beginner tutorial I know of for stippling: http://freemotionquilting.blogspot.c...-wiggly-u.html
I like that Leah Day had her husband try to learn quilting that year & she posts all of his attempts. He is now pretty good in his own right, but here was his first attempt (note the itty bitty stitches):
http://freemotionquilting.blogspot.c...-u-shapes.html
You're doing great! Just keep practicing. As other have said, if you can slow down your machine speed with a dial/button/slider, do that. If you have an old machine like my 1970's Singer, I taped a tiny wedge of cardboard on the back of my foot pedal so I wasn't able to fully depress the pedal. I also quilt barefoot. The other thing that helped me control the pedal better was to create a fake pedal for my left foot -- also good ergonomics -- using a book & a doorstop. But it's all just a matter of practice & you're off to a great start!
Here's the best beginner tutorial I know of for stippling: http://freemotionquilting.blogspot.c...-wiggly-u.html
I like that Leah Day had her husband try to learn quilting that year & she posts all of his attempts. He is now pretty good in his own right, but here was his first attempt (note the itty bitty stitches):
http://freemotionquilting.blogspot.c...-u-shapes.html
You're doing great! Just keep practicing. As other have said, if you can slow down your machine speed with a dial/button/slider, do that. If you have an old machine like my 1970's Singer, I taped a tiny wedge of cardboard on the back of my foot pedal so I wasn't able to fully depress the pedal. I also quilt barefoot. The other thing that helped me control the pedal better was to create a fake pedal for my left foot -- also good ergonomics -- using a book & a doorstop. But it's all just a matter of practice & you're off to a great start!
04-04-2016, 08:15 PM
#15
Super Member
Join Date: Feb 2016
Location: Bunker Hill, In
Posts: 1,912
Originally Posted by Bree123
The stitches don't look tiny in the photo. One thing that I do to help is to create a visual reference. I create a micro sandwich with part of a jelly roll strip and set my stitch length to 3mm with my walking foot. I keep that next to my machine as a reference for what a 3mm stitch looks like. It also helps -- at least a first -- to try a larger design & to draw it out on my fabric (for practice sandwiches you can even just use a Sharpie -- I would do that & then keep pulling out my stitches so I could reuse the sandwich). It also helps to practice on a 1/2yd piece of fabric so I have something to hold onto & can do a wider stitch pattern.
Here's the best beginner tutorial I know of for stippling: http://freemotionquilting.blogspot.c...-wiggly-u.html
I like that Leah Day had her husband try to learn quilting that year & she posts all of his attempts. He is now pretty good in his own right, but here was his first attempt (note the itty bitty stitches):
http://freemotionquilting.blogspot.c...-u-shapes.html
You're doing great! Just keep practicing. As other have said, if you can slow down your machine speed with a dial/button/slider, do that. If you have an old machine like my 1970's Singer, I taped a tiny wedge of cardboard on the back of my foot pedal so I wasn't able to fully depress the pedal. I also quilt barefoot. The other thing that helped me control the pedal better was to create a fake pedal for my left foot -- also good ergonomics -- using a book & a doorstop. But it's all just a matter of practice & you're off to a great start!
Here's the best beginner tutorial I know of for stippling: http://freemotionquilting.blogspot.c...-wiggly-u.html
I like that Leah Day had her husband try to learn quilting that year & she posts all of his attempts. He is now pretty good in his own right, but here was his first attempt (note the itty bitty stitches):
http://freemotionquilting.blogspot.c...-u-shapes.html
You're doing great! Just keep practicing. As other have said, if you can slow down your machine speed with a dial/button/slider, do that. If you have an old machine like my 1970's Singer, I taped a tiny wedge of cardboard on the back of my foot pedal so I wasn't able to fully depress the pedal. I also quilt barefoot. The other thing that helped me control the pedal better was to create a fake pedal for my left foot -- also good ergonomics -- using a book & a doorstop. But it's all just a matter of practice & you're off to a great start!
thanks for some great tips!
04-04-2016, 08:40 PM
#17
Junior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: May 2014
Posts: 189
Grame/pat, did you stick with it? I'm pretty sure that fmq is not for me. I figured out the tension thing I think! But then when I got into a groove with tempo between moving my hands and machine speed, I found that I kept bumping my hands into the presser foot. So I decided to put a regular sized quilt under the needle to see how that would be, and that made up my mind to sick to straight lines! (But I hate giving up)
04-04-2016, 10:21 PM
#20
Super Member
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: England Alton Towers
Posts: 6,674
When you practise after the tweaks use a larger than normal sandwich so you can practise going in circles or feathers or what ever pattern you are using. The curves show a speed change as well as tweaks.
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