Frustrated!!!!
 

I was moving right along on my newest quilt endeavor. Everything went really well for the top and then the gluing of the top to batting and back to batting. Then I started quilting the sandwiche. I couldn't quilt a straight line to save my soul! Then my thread kept getting bunched up. Finally, I figured that one out....the thread had come loose from the top of the machine and I had lost tension there. Next, the thread kept sticking and jamming the bobbin. Took the bobbin out and switched it with another one. That worked. I guess the bobbin maybe wasn't wound right. Then I got in a groove again and had sewn from top to bottom the entire middle portion (the hardest to get in the throat) -- or so I thought. I watch the bobbin all the time to make sure I don't run out of thread...but this time I ran out of thread from the top!!! I wasn't even paying attention as I was trucking right along and all was going smoothly.....Am I the only one this happens too! I feel so silly just sewing without the top thread. I have put it aside until the weekend to take a break, plus I need more thread! LOL

Trust me I know the feeling! I had a quilt a few weeks ago that in every stage of the process from cutting to binding something went wrong. Cut the wrong sizes, did like the colors, sewed a few blocks backwards, backing kept wrinkling, thread kept snapping...it was terrible! What made it worse was it was a charity quilt, and I had to have it done by a specific day. Drove me nuts,

Sometimes you just need to step away from the machine, even if only for a few hours, to break the bad juju that is going on, lol. Seriously, tomorrow will be a better day. :)

Oh my... I swear I live my life this way. I know that I'd be diagnosed with some form of attention deficit disorder if I let anyone get close enough to me to examine. :shock:

Things like this have been happening to me for a month or so. I get so sick of a project before I'm finished...but I'm not giving up.

You're not the only one - I do my best sewing when I run out of thread...no mistakes. :thumbup:

Cathyvv - you know, that is true for all of us! I do believe you have found the key to perfection.

Those frustrations come for everyone! Whether quilting, piecing or even cutting when that ruler slips.

Just wait until you've ripped something out and sewn it exactly the same WRONG way again LOL .

I feel for you. These things are the reason why we learned certain words in high school ....

When things go like that, take a little break from your sewing. Have a cup of soothing tea, relax, read on the quilt board. Then get back to it. All will be better. We all have those days when nothing goes right. Good luck to you.

I don't think there is a quilter out there that hasn't experienced a day just like this. All we can hope for is that it is only a day and not longer :-)

I have sewn without top thread, bottom thread, and once even without a needle. Last week I hand embroidered a flower on my new table cloth in the wrong color! Nothing is sadder than ripping out hand embroidery stitches.

You name the goof and I have goofed it!

I think we are all sisters. I have done all of the above, except forgetting the needle. Oh well, tomorrow is another day.
Sue

OK - I don't know about y'all, but I do my best sewing when my thread/bobbin runs out. It is the only time I feel like I really matched, didn't miss points, etc.

Ha, Ha, I totally agree!

EVERYONE can relate!

too cute Cathyvv! you gave me a good laugh!

Oh boy the only thing that helps me is to walk away and regroup!

Frustrating, but a very funny story! I understand completely.
peace

I have been through some frustrating experiences.:hunf::p After double checking, locating and fixing the problem, I walk away from the studio. Then I tell the machine that I am the boss and that it WILL behave itself. Usually works,:D.

ME TOO my son has given me some of those looks that suggest I may need counseling - but can still run pretty fast even if its only to my car...

I'm sure that if Murphy had been a quilter he could have fixed us up with a few of his well known laws. However, we as a sisterhood know that some of his general laws fit us. Yesterday I was having problems with my thread breaking (an Aurifil #28)-the problem: a burr in the needle. So, I changed the needle and was on my way again.

Geez, I am so glad to hear someone else has these problems. Not that I want you too. I guess that is normal and we just need to walk away and come back to it later. Why is it, sometimes you sit down to sew and everything falls into place and wala your done. Then other times it is like the machine is out to get you and just make your sewing time miserable. I had just finished a quilt in time for my friends birthday yesterday, and didn't give it to her because in one area the tension thread was so loose, I could of cried. No time to fix it, and yet everywhere else on the quilt it was fine. So today is a new day, got some time today to maybe take a look at it. Just take a deep breath and try again.

Yeah, I hate when sewing along and seams are matching sew perfectly, only to get to the end and realize you didn't have any thread. :( ...... trust me it happens to a lot of us

pyffer3,

Not exactly but very close troubles at my sewing machine. Thank you for the humor this morning. To all of you posters to this thread; yes I have done that too.

Could not have said it better. LOL

OH yeah... some days it seems like everything that can go wrong does... and then some extra that you never dreamed possible! LOL

I feel that I need to have the bobbin somewhere on the top where I can see it. I've lost count of the number of times that I have sewn on happily with no thread in the bobbin. As you've already been advised - step away and take a break.

As you can see you find yourself in good company. It happens to us all and it happens all the time. :D

Been there done all of that before, more than once, and always when I am in a hurry!
Pat

Sometimes it is best to just walk away for a while!! My big machine lets me know when it is out of thread - either top or bottom. My new little machine doesn't and I sewed about 10 seams before I realized it was out of bobbin thread. When I have problems with what I'm doing I do just shut my machine off, then I will do a little clean up in my room so when I come back it isn't in a big mess. Makes it easier to sit down and sew again.

NOPE. Trust me, I know the feeling. I was trying to finish up the last few blocks for the family reunion quilt I need to finish this month so I can send it to my niece so she has plenty of time to quilt it before the reunion. Like you, I'm truckin' right along, look down and no thread, doesn't matter top or bottom it happens to me a lot, especially when I'm on a roll. Maybe it's a part of the right of passage for quilting.

Or a cup of something stronger?

There are some days it doesn't pay to get out of bed.

It has happened to me before also! Especially the tension.

Susan

i had one of those days today !! last night i was working on a quilt and i couldnt do anything wrong ! today i went back towork on it and figured i got so much done with no problem last night i could finish it up today hahaha everything i did today was wrong i spent most of my time ripping out mismatched seams !! i walked away from it and will try again tomorrow!

here i was thinking i was the only one to have a 'bad quilting day'(days). had this grand idea to put two quilts together for my great nephews----first top went together no problem but i found out i had cut the backing wrong and nearest quilt store it 30 miles away. second top was the nightmare from you know where. every step there was something wrong. i even quilted and ripped it out four times. both quilts are now in the ufo bin.

Break the Bad JUJU !!!!! lol Beckalou you made me laugh . I will have to remember that when I am playing tennis and things aren't going well !!! lol It is frustrating when I keep sewing the wrong side squares to each other when making 1/2 sq triangles . Beckalou is right WALK AWAY !!!! LOL

I'm going to bed now this a good time to stop reading maybe I'll sew tomorrow with thread! LOL

BarbsCA

I don't run out of bobbin thread without knowing about it because my Pfaff 1171 has a tiny red light that comes on above the needle when it is time to refill it. What a handy thing to have on my machine. The top thread is a whole other matter. There is a lid that I can shut on top of my machine so I can't always see the thread. I guess I think the thread on the spool is going to last forever. Hope you have a better time with your machine this weekend. :):):)