I get so frustrated with machine quilting.

At the moment I am "trying" to machine quilt a twin sized quilt for my son. I have three more UFOs that are all stalled because of the machine quilting.

The one I am working on at the moment is a blue and white eight point star alternating with a red and white nine patch for a nautical themed room. The backing is a dark to medium blue bumpy minke. I sew with a Husquevarna 425 Fresia so there is no bobbin tension for me to adjust. It was very recently sent to get cleaned and adjusted and hasn't really been sewn with since I have been doing hand applique latey.

The biggest problem (if you have gotten through all that) that I am currently having is getting "nests" of the top thread on the back. I am quilting staight lines currently so am using the walking foot. I get a similar problem when free motion quilting but suspect that in that case I am just moving the quilt too fast. Also, I seem to get the problem almost exclusively in the last third of the bobbin.

Any thoughts on what I am doing wrong? I don't like to waste a third of a bobbin every time.

TIA
Tara

maybe you need one of those bobbin washers? if it's just on the last 1/3 of the bobbin, sounds like it is a bobbin problem.

Been there, done that. I long ago decided that life was too short waste wrestling a big quilt through the throat of a small machine. AND that it was absolutely NOT fun, that quilting was a hobby, and the day it stopped being fun, I was done with it. So now I make my tops and quilt by check. (ie, send them to a long-armer). Makes things MUCH happier!

But if you truly do decide you have a masochistic streak, good luck. Oh, you won't have the nests if you pull your bobbin thread to the top at the beginning, and hold both ends of the thread as you start.

Another cause might be that the bobbin is not threaded correctly, or the thread has slipped out of place, or that the top thread is not threaded correctly. Also, replace your needle regularly.

If at the present you are only doing straight line quilting unthread the machine and rethread it. Some times the thread is not in the tension discs correctly. I have had that happen to me Also have you changed the needle lately

My machine was doing that as well. I had to shut off the machine, give it a 10 second rest, rethread the top and also the bobbin...worked okay after that.

are you doing Free motion quilting or regular quilting??
if FMQ you need to lower your feed dogs but dont' forget when you start sewing to make sure your needle shaft/foot lever is in the down position. it's easy to forget and that will definitely cause a mess underneath.
Ah, re-read your post. I would rethread the top and remove the bobbin and clean your machine well. then reinsert your bobbin and try again. sometimes it's just as simple as fuzz that needs to be removed.

I agree. Try the washer.

It sounds like you may have static building up in the bobbin. A couple of things contribute to this... Long periods of time operating... the constant spinning of the bobbin can have static build up. The second contibutor is poly or poly cotton thread in the bobbin. The spinning coupled with the poly will can have a signifcant amount of static.
I would try , test a bobbin with just 100 percent cotton thread and then the bobbin washer to see if it continues.
This may be the issue , not having seen the issue first hand this is worth a try to trouble shoot.

I'm going to try to answer all of these.

What is a bobbin washer? My bobbins are plastic if that makes a difference.

The needle was replaced just before the last bobbin fill. I just got a tangle so I completely rethreaded the entire machine as per suggested. It has also just sat for 40 minutes because of this combined with putting my three year old down for her nap. We'll see if sitting has helped shortly. While rethreading I also made sure to brush away any fuzz that I could see.

The only thread that I use is Guttermann (sp??)100% cotton.

As for the longarmer, the quilt that I am currently doing by hand applique is going to be going to one if I can find one. My thinking up to now was that I wanted to do the whole quilt by myself but I am getting UFOs stacking up since I am not really enjoying the quilting portion while loving the rest of the process. But I was also told that longarmers won't take trimmed quilts and the UFOs I have are trimmed down to the correct finished size.

The next time I get a "good" nest I will take a picture and post it. It shows up really well since my top thread is white and the bottom thread is dark blue for the dark blue minke on the back.

Tara

I had this problem with my machine and it turned out I was using the wrong size bobbin. :oops:

I had this problem with my machine and it turned out I was using the wrong size bobbin. :oops:

All right, got a "good" nest

I have this happen occasionally even when sewing Is your top thread catching on the spool? It may not have anything to do with the quilting but just something going wrong in your sewing. Does your machine have a trouble shooting guide. I would check that out with all the suggestions.

Tara, do you mean that you have already trimmed the batting and or backing for your quilts? If they aren't already quilted, it may be worth it to get a new backing. But you may be able to find someone to do them trimmed. I would start a thread asking that question. I know it can be done, because my LAQ'r put one of mine back on her frame after it had been trimmed to add to the quilting. Good luck! I know how frustrating it can be, that's why I gave it up! LOL

I had that happen repeatedly and did the re-thread of top & bottom but it didn't work. Finally, I used a different bobbin and that problem disappeared.

Try a different bobbin. If that doesn't work, try a different brand of thread. You'll have to eliminate each step of the way for your machine.

Hope these suggestions help!

Here's a link to the washers we are talking about:
http://www.clotilde.com/detail.html?prod_id=6966

They are thin pieces of Teflon that are shaped just like washers (the little discs that go between wood and a screw's head to protect the wood from the screw). You place a washer inside your bobbin case before inserting the bobbin. They cut down on static and prevent the bobbin from "whipping" the thread around, something that can cause a bird's nest.

Here's an additional link with more information:
http://www.daystyledesigns.com/magicgeniewashers.htm

haha.. i was thinking this was a special device to wash your bobbin in (like with soap & water) i am such a dork ;-)

I NEED one of these as I get those darn nests too.

I see that it is all the top thread that is doing the mess. When you sew on a sample piece of fabric does that happen too? Could it be the minke that is the problem? Having never used this fabric, I don't know if you need to use a special needle with it, or if you need to make some other adjustment. Try sewing on a cotton scrap to see if it works OK then sew on a minke scrap.

If it's just in the beginning, use a starter piece of fabric, just a scrap and sew onto that then onto your regular fabric. Some people always do this when they just get nests from time to time.

Is it just when you start, or in the middle of your seam? I don't think the minkee is the problem, I use it quite a bit and don't have nests. But they do form at a place that you are starting if you don' t hold those threads

All right, so I'll absolutely admit that I was thinking of a soap and water type washer for the bobbin as well. I'll have to try and figure out if they have to be ordered online or if there is somewhere that I can get them here. I'm willing to give anything a try.

I am also working on quilting a baby quilt UFO that is just a cotton backing and I get the same problem.

I'll just be sewing along just fine and all of a sudden I get a nest. No rhyme or reason for when they occur as far as I can tell except that it seems to happen in the last third to quarter of the bobbin.

Oh, and as to what stage of trimming my current UFOs are in... well...ummmm.... in my defense I only found out recently that at least the QP say you shouldn't do this and I still have no idea why it matters if you are doing the quilting yourself but...

Okay, I'll admit it. All four of my UFOs ONLY need to be quilted. Literally. All four have the binding already sewn on. One of them only needs the FMQ on the border. I only learned to FMQ about a year ago and only actually did any FMQ on a "real quilt" versus just a practice sandwich a few months ago. I have this twin that I am working on right now, two cribs and one a bit smaller to get done and I am pushing myself to do a bit every day so that I can get them off my plate and away to their homes. The twin is for mysix year old son's bed and he really wants it.

Tara

Just a note : remember when your bobbin is getting lower , the more/faster rotations it has to make , thus often building more static than when the bobbin is full.

Tara, I'm not the quilt police for sure! usually quilts are quilted first, then trimmed and then bound. The reason being that quilting draws up the quilt, sometimes not in a uniform way. Trimming after quilting gives you a nice edge to bind. That being said, NO ONE will come to your house to see what YOU are doing...so carry on! Minkee can be tricky. Maybe you can try another kind of thread, just for kicks. I have never used Gutterman to quilt with...used star, some kind of coats and clark machine quilting thread. Now I use Aurifil, SO Fine and Permacore pretty exclusively.

Sorry, didn't mean to insinuate that anyone here was QP, just meant to indicate that other than QP, I wasn't aware of why the binding was supposed to be last.

I am in a fairly northern and yet largish western Canada city and the only place anywhere near me at all that carries most quilting supplies is my LQS which only carries Guttermann for solid colour thread. Many of the supplies that I read about on here just aren't available that I know of here. We fairly recently got a SuperWalmart fairly close to me but they do not carry any type of sewing supplies at all. We do not have places like Hobby Lobby or Joannes I think they are called.

Heck, the supplies I CAN get are so much more expensive up here than you guys pay that it just makes me sick. I have averaged one quilt a year since I started seven years ago including my four UFOs what with two pregnancies in there and therefore also the years of young babies but I likely wouldn't have been able to afford to do too many more quilts than that due to the simple costs involved. I don't have a stash at all, just scraps from the quilts I have completed. I could never afford to make anywhere near the kind of numbers of quilts that I see people on here make!

Tara

Wrestling with a machine that won't stay threaded, a bobbin that has a mind of its own, is the very reason I have chosen to hand quilt!

I've found that when mine acts like yours, the thread has slipped off the take-up arm, usually. The rest of the time everything needs to be rethreaded, correctly.

The rule is, if the problem is on the bottom of the fabric, the solution lies in the top thread path. If the problem is on top of the fabric, the solution lies in the bottom thread path. Whatever is wrong is somewhere in the top thread path.

Nesting is always a top tension problem. Check how the machine is threaded.

Then when you start to stitch, pull the bobbin thread to the top. This will avoid knots on the back. Do this by taking one stitch and pulling the top thread until the bobbin thread comes to the surface.

You can tie off the tails, or later come back and thread them on a needle and hide them between the quilt layers.

Tara - Baste some wide muslin strips to your backings on your trimmed quilts and the longarmer should be willing to do it then. Good luck. And one other thing that wasn't mentioned with your thread nests is not having door of bobin compartment closed......ask me how I know this....lol.

Are you using the right needle? Also did your bobbin wind correctly.....

Make sure the foot is up when you thread the machine, so that you are sure that the thread is sitting between the tension discs which are open when you raise the foot lever. Also check that the thread is not catching on any little, rough spikes around the spool of the thread. If the bobbin is inserted correctly and the race is clear of fluff, with foot lever down - you should not have trouble. Make sure that you pull the bobbin thread up to the top of the fabric before you start quilting. Good luck.
Gutterman is OK to quilt with - I have never had a problem with it. Aurifil and Mettler are OK too.

I agree with all of the above - plus some bobbins are different sizes. My machine manual advises the size of bobbin to use, and I always stick to that now.

Now I can't remember what the result was but the solution was in the winding of the bobbin. Let it make a few turns and then trim off that little tail of thread . Finish filling the bobbin. That tail was getting caught as it got to the end of the bobbin and that gave me trouble.

Tara
I know the Freesia fairly well and I would suggest that you check the top tension dial and run a piece of paper money through there. I think you might have something caught in the tension disc or lint is building up in there. Also if you are sewing along and get really fast at your speed and then slam on the brakes by taking your foot off of the foot pedal the thread continues to unwind and may be coming out of the take up lever. Just some suggestions. If this doesn't work try another spool of thread it may be that one particular spool is causing the problem. I have seen some really strange things.

My checklist would be this.
First raise the pressor foot and rethread the machine, top and bottom.
Make sure the bobbin is in the right way and that it's clean with no pieces of thread stuck down there.
Check to be sure there are no "nicks" in your bobbin cover plate and in the bobbin holder. Even a tiny burr can cause problems.
Try a different bobbin - you might have a slightly "off" one.
Make sure you are putting the pressor foot in the down position when using the darning foot.
If you are getting nests in straight line quilting still, then adjust your upper tension up.
If you are only getting nests when you go around curves, then speed up your machine.
Beyond that, I'd take it in to the service guy.

I had terrible problems trying to quilt a lap quilt with metallic thread and a flannel back. Once I bought new thread and changed the back to cotton, it quilted like a dream.

Usually if the upper thread is looping on the bottom, it has to do with lack of tension on the upper thread. The next time this happens check to see if the upper thread has changed:the arm that goes up and down directly above the needle, that you have to thread the thread through, did it fall out of there?
when you rethreaded the upper thread last time, was the presser foot up? It has to be up when threading, presser foot up = tension discs open /presser foot down = tension discs closed, when you rethread it next time kind if give it a tiny tug back and forth like flossing it into the discs
Because it doesn't happen right away, it sounds more likely that it fell out op the thread "uptake arm" (just rememmbered what it was called).

I've read about bobbin washers but haven't purchased one yet. The description says prevents those nests.

Tara! I have a Pfaff 2040 Tectronic and when I first started winding my bobbins, I noticed that the thread was not flat and neatly wound and I was having problems with it. So I solved the winding problem by putting a finger on not of the bobbin as it fills. This has minimized the "wobbling" of the bobbin causing the afore mentioned problem. Since I started this, I have not had bobbin problems. BTY, I love Guetterman thread. Also, you must remember to put the presser foot down. I know it is hard to remember, but if you don't, there will be bunched up thread on the back until you lower your presser foot. Been there and done that. Good luck. Let us know how you solve your problem. Yolanda Wood River

ah ha! i think this is my problem.