Martina

Welcome from Texas :-)

Debo

I've bought it at Target and it doesn't have a smell.

ForestHobbit

Hello and welcome from Northern California. Everything gets easier with practice. There is so much to learn and you've come to the right place to get your questions answered. The quilters on this site are extremely generous with advice and knowledge. There are also tutorials here to help you.

raptureready

Andi, there is really no shame in mistakes. Wait till you're sewing along and sew your hair into your quilt. My vision isn't what it could be and sometimes my hair gets under the needle and sewn into my quilt. I try to keep it pulled back and away from the machine but . . . Got it caught in a circular saw once too.
No, I don't lay my head on my machine, my hair is mid-thigh length. :lol:

zz-pd

Hi and welcome to Oregon. Penny

MadQuilter

OMG you are hysterically funny. Yes, it does get easier. When I first got started, I think it was during my second class when the teacher said that you should change your needle at the beginning of a new project. I said: "You're supposed to change the needle?" Funny - that rough sound and the big holes disappeared - - - as if by magic.

Welcome to the QB and greetings from CA.

zz-pd

lol :lol: :lol: to funny

raptureready

Isn't it funny how tiny little things like a good cleaning, a few drops of oil, a new needle and a tightly wound bobbin seem to smooth things out? I was in class one day when one of the ladies said, "Your machine sounds funny." I said, "Well, other than being an old Singer which isn't a quiet as your Janome, it probably needs cleaned and oiled." I took a few minutes to do that and VIOLA!!! It was almost as quiet as hers.
Well, and my machine is also noisy because I sew like I drive--just a teensy bit fast.

Andii

I've had my Singer for years but haven't used it alot so it's never been cleaned. I was coming in here to sew to get away from the cleaning do you mean it will follow me in here? Cleaning, bah :thumbdown:

raptureready

Never??? Oh my! Even if it's been sitting around totally unused it still needs to be oiled. So even if you don't clean it PLEASE oil it now and then. I use mine so much that I oil it about once or twice and month and clean it two or three times a week. My machines that I don't use often I oil before before I use them. It makes about as much difference as squaring up your blocks before setting them together. Cleaning isn't hard or time consuming, just take a small (about 1" sq) piece of polar fleece and a pair of tweezers and run the fleece around where you see lint built up. The lint will adhere to the fleece then just throw the lint, fleece, and dirt all away.
ps: take the plate off and clean the feed dogs and bobbin area too----not just the outside that you can see. LOL