I have a speed regulator on my Bernina, but use it to keep from going too fast as opposed to worrying about going too slow. I know it will take practice, but right now, I barely have time to sew at all, so I will put this off for a little while longer. Maybe one day I'll get organized (and the sun will come up in the west, too) :D

PatriceJ,
I just stumbled on your post while doing a search on the Singer 7436. I was looking at it today and am considering buying it tomorrow! Just wondered how you're liking it. Does it have a the blanket stitch/ buttonhole stitch? How does the walking foot work? I saw that you were pleased with the darning foot. any feedback you'd be willing to give me would be so appreciated!

Laurie

I love it!!!!! Details are in a PM to you. My answer turned into one of my way-too-wordy essays. don't want to bore everybody else. again. they are soooo patient with me here. LOL

i forgot to answer your question about the walking foot. i have one on the other machine. almost never use it. a pain in the kiester to put on and there are plenty of ways to get a smooth quilt without it. ya just gotta be stubborn, curious, and willing to experiment.

check out singer's web site to see some of the other feet you can get. a ruffler - pricey, but i love mine. (skip those stupid so-called-gathering feet. what a pain to use and no neat little pleats.) they have a foot that trims away the excess fabric. the only reason i was toying with the idea of getting a serger. those two and the rolled hem foot are the only 3 you don't get by the time you add the bonus feet the the standard accessories. (the bonus feet are worth around $150 all by themselves.)

http://www.singerco.com/accessories/presser_line.html?singerco_product_id=1406

see? there i went again ... another essay ... to avoid an essay. ironic ... ain't it? :oops: :shock:

Wow, Thank you so much! Got your private message also. I am getting dressed and going to the store! I am so excited. I was afraid that this machine is not enough of an upgrade from the one I currently have, but it is simply because it comes with a 1/4 inch foot, walking foot, and darning foot specificly made for it. I am having trouble and much frustration trying to use/find these feet for my machine. My mom & I spent an entire day fussing with a darning foot to free motion. My time is worth the cost of this machine! I too have been trying to be patient and save up for another machine, but I think that overall, this has what I want (except the needle up/down, which I had actually not noticed it was missing and I've never had it before, so I won't actually be missing it!).

Thanks again. You are very kind to take the time to give me your thoughts and you are quite amusing also! Happy sewing! I'll give you a report after I get my maching and put it to the test! :lol:

I have a Pfaff Grand Quilter and the Inspira frame and I love it, but am wondering if anyone has one and if they have the Cruise control stitch regulator. It is very expensive and I am not sure if it is worth the money, it would be about $500. I also would like to know if it helps with straight lines and stitch in the ditch. I don't have trouble with my stitches on the pantographs, but when I do my own stippling and free designs, I find myself not being consistent.

Also can you disconnect it if you don't want to use it and is it hard to put on and take off. My friend's machine came with one and she said we could share it.

I would like any advice on the using the Grand Quilter and patterns for it.

Shirley

i've been watching this thread like a hawk because my freemotion skills aren't even good enough to call awful. the one thing i keep reading over and over is that finding the right speed is critical. then i looked at a photo of one of those cruise control attachments. can't remember which brand. i'm only going by a photo, so i could be completely wrong, but it looks as though all it does is control how much power gets fed to the motor - which is exactly what we're doing when we press down or let up on the pedal. we just have to "think about it".

i don't remember which topic it was under (might be farther back in this one) somebody posted the "system" she and her husband came up with. he kept an eye on the presser foot while she stitched. when he figured out exactly where she stopped pressing harder because she'd achieved the perfect speed, he cut a little block of wood and glued it to the power pedal under the plate. now, she can't go too fast. could be wrong, but i'll bet that little piece of wood and few drops of glue cost less than $500.

one of these days, i'm going to get a friend to help me do the same thing. i'll either use velcro to attach the wood so i can take it off when i need to speed stitch, or i'll buy a second power pedal just for freemotion. bet that costs way less than a regulator, too.

i'm such a gadget junkie i'd probably get a regulator, too, if i could afford one. unless or until ... i'm going to steal that couple's idea and mentally thank them every time i use it.

there's a special place in heaven for all the folks who come up with ways to make quilting easier, more affordable, and more fun. i just know there is.

:D

That's what I did. I unthreaded the needle and held the pedal in my hand to get the speed i wanted and then made a mark where i wanted it to stop, glued two match sticks there and let her rip.

I have something like a stitch regulator on my Bernina. Press that button and no matter how hard you press the petal it only goes at half speed. I wonder if this would work too? I need to check that out sometime in this lifetime. :D

explain that again in more detail, please. and where do the matchsticks go?

Loosen both the thread tension, and the bobbin tention, can you also loosen the pressure between the foot and the throut plate, that will help with the drag. Wear gloves they help to grip. If moving the fabric around with hands laid flat, try griping a handful on each side (comfortably) on each side of a small area to be quilted. This works best for those of us with arthritis, and hands that cramp up. Go at the highest spead that your machine will go, but move slowly and fluidly. Hope this helps.

Also, anticipate seam intersections, they will be double or quadruple thick, and they will cause "a traffic jam." Try to sew around those thick spots, or slow down your sewing machine, and really slow your hand motion down, and go over them slowly.
As a beginner, the sound of the machine will make you want to move equally as fast. DON'T DO IT! Put on some soothing music, and move to that rythem. If you do skip, from a "jeck" or a thick seam, stop and reverse stick to go over what you've just "skipped" and that will be a good solid quilt line (as you've just gone forward, backward, and forward again) and it won't show, unless you point it out to others to critisize.
Relax, go slow, let your machine work hard. Don't sew to long, you'll need to relax your arms and shoulders, and your machine will need to cool off. Clean your machine often, when machine quilting, whether free motion or planned patterns.

Carla Ann,
Thanks for all those terrific suggestions. I especially like the one about putting on some music. I can hardly wait to try that. My problem has always been to move the fabric too fast. That sounds like a great way to relax and move a little slower. A little waltz and not a Creedence Clearwater! :lol:

you are obligated to smoke a little dope before listening to Credence. it's a law. (waaaaaaaaaaaay down there in the fine print.)

therefore, i salute your intent to not try to quilt while it's on.

LOL :wink:

A little glass of wine to help my applique was one suggestion I've recently received. Now you say a little dope... my wouldn't that relax the old shoulders...

We're going to be named the "happy quilters" soon. :lol::lol::lol:

Think I'll stick to my Diet Rite and taut shoulders! :lol:

i haven't smoked any credence in a long time..may have to pick that back up, only thing is, it sure is hard to tell if you made a mistake ...ROFLMAO

hey! if it means i won't notice all my mistakes any more, i may finally have to give that stuff a try. LOL

Free motion quilting has more to do with rhythem than precision or spead, you'll get better each quilt you do, and even in the same quilt. Most people move to fast at first and will cause many "toe catchers" (very long stitches). The machines that come with a stitch regulator are usually the "long arm" machines. They will speed up or slow down depending on how fast or slow you are moving the machine over your quilt. The home machine, cannot sense how fast or how slow you are moving so it will set a speed and you need to learn how fast or slow you need to move to get the best stitches. I press down completely, getting the maximum speed for my machine, and I still have to move slower than I want to. I also have a machine that will stitch 1,000 stitches per minute. My point is, learn your own machine and rhythem, don't sweat mistakes (you can only get better with practice), and a finished quilt is always better than one that isn't.

Remember, when first starting a line of freemotion stitching, bring your bobbin thread to the top, and then take 3-4 stitches in place before moving the fabric to lock the threads, and another 3-4 stitches in place when you end, again to lock the stitches in place.

A great practice exercise, and fun too! Is get a piece of fabric, a fat quarter to a yard of easily decernabl :P :P :D e design (Batiks are out.) Use holiday prints, or florals, sandwich them together with batting in the middle and freemotion over every single line on that fabric. By the time you are done quilting that yard of fabric, you will have learned your spead, learned several new shapes, and relaxed enough to do an actual quilt.

Have fun!

First off, let me say I gave up smokin' that stuff 34 years ago. That said, it might be a trip being in the same room with you all when you are all high as kites.

I suspect it makes the Creedence sound better, but it probably won't do much fer yer quiltin' skills.

BTW - I can only assume the comment about a finished quilt being better is accurate. I might find out some day.

tim in san jose

you're funny.

Hi girls! I just wandered onto this site looking for info. about a ruffler foot for my Singer Ingenuity. I purchased one at JoAnn Fabrics yesterday. I am having trouble getting it on my machine. I'm wondering if it's the right one. It does not go on easily and it came with NO directions. I looked on the Singer site and it somewhat explains how to put it on; however it's not lining up correctly. Can anyone help? I know it's difficult without seeing but any info. would be appreciated. Thanks!

When I first started to freemotion quilt it was awful. I thought that I would never get the hang of it. But with practice and lots of it I think it's passable now. The big problem I have is that when I have got a rhythm going I tend to relax and loose tight concentration and then the machine starts to go faster and my stitches get smaller and more uneven. I think the key is concentration and relaxation along with smooth even movement. My quilt also use to catch on the edge of the table or cabinet or whatever surface I was working on. My husband fashioned a large extension table and put some long pieces of pcv pipe over it so my quilt just rolls over it and doesn't catch anymore. My advice is to keep at it and use every tool and piece of advice at your disposal and you will eventually become a pro or at least as good as you want to become. Oh ya and a darning/quilting foot, the kind with the spring on it, helps a lot. :P

Mistakes aren't a problem, it's remembering if you made one or for that matter remembering if you started your sewing machine.
Now did I thread the machine? Hmmm can't remember.

I was told to use only thread that is expensive and comes on those horrible spendals that dont work on a normal machine without some sort of attachment.
After many trys at using this stuff, I went back to coats and clarks all purpose thread and now I no longer have any trouble with breaking or loops.
I have quilted several lap quilts and have had no problems with thread.
My sewing is terrible, havent gotten the hang of it yet but practice makes perfect or so they say.
For sewing in the ditch on binding, I cant do without the stich in the ditch foot, no wandering off like with the walking foot.
I like that idea of pvc pipe, my quilts are always catching on the edge of my plastic table. Yes, the darning foot is the best.

even with a bernina you cannot always escape loops and bottom thread coming up to the top ,the stitch regulater machine is great but so is the money you pay out for it,just go slow and keep checking and have a light weight thread in the bottom and pray

I am also a beginner at machine quilting. I am gettiing ready to try a real quilt (not just practice) My question is about setting the stitch length, does it matter where it is set?

I keep mine at regular setting and then just try to keep stitches even

The little C-shaped mouth looking piece must fit over the needle bar while the attachment screws onto the presser bar with the thumb screw. You may have to completely remove the screw to fit it in place. When the needle bar goes up and down, it pushes the fabric under the needle forming a pleat. Love mine. Hope this helps.