CaleyH

Somewhere someone mentioned one inch distance. I'm not sure where I heard it, but it seems I should try something a bit farther. Based on that, I do have some blue painters tape, two inch wide stuff that I will use.I'll just put the edge of the quilting foot on the edge of the tape, and that should give me nearly three inches between lines of thread, which I guess is close enough.

bearisgray

Follow the instructions for the batting you are using. It varies a lot.

If it says minimum 6 inches apart - you can "get away" with lines six inches apart. But you can have as many additional lines between as you want.

Way back when - the quilting had to be very close to keep the batting/wadding from shifting around.

CaleyH

I'm still learning about this machine of mine. I've finally come to the conclusion, after two similar happenings of the bobbin not wanting to work, that the reason is the needle getting dull. When I replaced the needle, the bobbin then worked like it should. Not really sure just how to explain things, but it seems that a new needle fixes the problem of the lower thread.

The consequences is that I definitely need to save for a box of 100 needles, if this happens every three to four bobbins of thread.

Right now I am about two thirds done with the quilting going in one direction. I'm taking a break because of the frustration of that lower thread problem.

I've found the most difficult problem of running the quilt through the machine being that the weight makes it very difficult to move it. I have to put everything in my lap, then scrunch some forward on the table, so there is some slack. Then I can run six inches to a foot through before I have to readjust everything to take the weight off the feed dogs.

This first one isn't going to have straight sewing lines. And it is possible that I may never have them straight with the terrible arthritic pain I have to endure pushing the fabric through the machine. Yes, it's that bad. Just the having to hold down the material flat, and move it through the machine is not easy for these poor fingers. But I will endure, and get it done. Yeah, my old military attitude.

Thanks for listening to me complain. Still having lots of fun, even with the problems.

Iceblossom

I did a lot of machine quilting with my old vintage machine, and I got pretty good at it. Then I had access to a long arm. Drool. I wish I had the space and budget for one of my own.

Now that I no longer have access, I just can't go back to wrestling that fabric. Other people do much better than I do, but I'm better at moving the head of the machine and dancing along than moving the quilt sandwich.

I think we all get worn out doing the machine quilting part. Muscles we never even knew we needed!

CaleyH

I discovered a very easy way to manage the quilt fabric when running it through the machine. Instead of putting it in the lap, and it having to still get over the table edge, why not use your shoulder?

What I did was roll the two sides, and clip them with the plastic clips I mentioned earlier in this thread. This gets the edges in a manageable state. I just then draped the whole setup over my left shoulder, and place the starting end under the walking foot. As the fabric was fed through, I leaned forward a little. Once I could not lean forward any more, I just shrugged my shoulder, and a little more of that bulk on the left shoulder moved down. And then I just fed, and leaned forward again, and kept repeating until that sewing line was done.

This sped things up about four times what it had taken me struggling to get it out of my lap. Try it. It really does work well, if you have a big enough shoulder, of course.

CaleyH

poco, Unfortunately I live in a very small house, 750 sq feet. I just don't have the room to add any kind of structures to assist me like you suggest. I moved into my bedroom to get everything out of the living room. With the 63 x 24 inch computer desk I got, it barely gives me the room to work. The one good thing about having it in the bedroom is that I have my bed as a second work surface.

I don't know. I may be able to figure out something (like your suggestion) that I can take apart and store somewhere when not using it. I pretty handy with woodworking, and many other things. Just not mechanical. So, if it is my sewing machine, I will have to travel about 200 miles round trip to take it to a shop to get looked at. But my guess is that the drag caused by the weight of the fabric is causing the needle to stress more than normal, and wearing it out more quickly. So your suggestion will probably help prolong the needle life, if I can come up with that attachment.

Rff1010

That wrestling with a whole lotta fabric thing is why I've never ended up doing anything super elaborate with my quilting. Its just so . I have a wonderful longarm lady but if I got all my quilts longarmed- I would go broke!

CaleyH

Finished the quilting part today. Here's a picture of the deed. I'm happy with it, though I need to figure out how to quilt straight. My tape kept peeling, which caused me to have somewhat wavy lines. Guess the disappearing marker might be better for someone like myself.

: Now I have to watch another video or so to learn how to bind the edges.

bearisgray

Looks good.

pocoellie

I think you did a great job, Caley.