Quiltingboard Forums - Finished my OBW

This quilt just about got the best of me. I didn't have enough fabric the first time around so it went in the UFO pile. Found more of the same fabric and brought the project out of the closet. Then I had it on the design wall only to have the tradewinds knock it over and send pieces flying all over.

Then I got the darn thing on the frame a couple of weeks ago. I managed to quilt a couple of rows and then things went to heck in a handbasket! The top thread started shredding and breaking every 12 inches or so.

I spent three weeks troubleshooting the sewing machine. I have rethreaded that sewing machine until I can do it blindfolded. I've cleaned and recleaned it, oiled it, taken it apart and put it back together. I've tried a myriad of tension settings until I found one that worked. I changed out the needle 4 times and then thinking I got a bad spool of thread, I ordered a new one only to find out that the new spool shredded as badly as the original! Every time I tried something and it didn't work, I'd have to walk away for awhile, do some more research, and then try something else.

What was really confusing was that the sewing machine would work perfectly when I took it off the frame and tested it on a table (and I tried that several times). It just didn't make sense! After researching the problem on the internet, the only thing left was to change the BRAND of needles and I had several packages of Schmetz QUILTING needles, size 100/14, in my Bernina. I put one of those on and finished the quilt in 3 hours without any more broken thread!

"Wind" damage

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Finished quilt

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One of my favorite blocks

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