hoagiesj

Thanks for the info. I can now do the batik kit of precut squares and not worry.
Sharon

quiltease

I agree, Sandpat. I even prewash, and dry, my batting. I remember years ago when I first started quilting, a friend at worked asked if I would make a small quilt as a gift for a friend. No problem, until I threw it in the wash to get out the pencil quilting marks. The batting shrunk and I ended up with an "antique" quilt (fortunately the colors were all muted so it looked right). I panicked until I brought it to work and waited for my friend's reaction. After all, she had paid for all the fabrics. Well..she loved it. PHEW!!!! But since then I prewash everything that's going into the project. If I could prewash the thread, I'd probably do that, too!!
Just sewing the appliques on the quilt now. Have the binding to go (anyone have any extra Robert Kaufman purple patina handpaint batik AMD-7016-6???) some embroidered names and dates, and it's ready to give. Hopefully I can post pictures if we ever get a camera that actually works.
bev. :]

NiceNCLady

I'm not sure if anyone has suggested this already, but here goes. In the Quilt University class on machine quilting, Carol Miller suggests top stitching needles for machine quilting on batiks. Because the fabric is boiled to release the wax they us to form the patterns, the weave is extremely close and may be more difficult to machine quilt. So maybe try a topstitching needle in your machine and see if that helps. Hope it does.

kd124

I use the same set up as you. Make sure it is leveled exactly. Measure both ends front and back. (along the top of the part where the wheels run. Even if you did it during set up, it may have been accidently moved. Even the slightest amount makes a difference. This happened to us. My sis measured, measured and remeasured until we had every area on the lower part of the fame level. Do you have anything on the top shelf other than the pantograph? If so remove it. The only time we had a problem with the shelf was when we had some stuff that had been put up there between quiltings. We never used the pantos, so I don't know how that would affect.

As for the batiks, we had problems with that as well. Some were fine and others caused problems. What Shelly said about the batiks is true. If you have a piece that you can put on the frame, with scrap batting and backing, you can experiment to see what works best.

GailG

So glad things are working out for you.

I prewash most of the time; but I fold it flat when warm from the dryer. I iron it before cutting.

quiltease

Thanks for the advice, kd 124. The back center of the frame wasn't meeting so the carriage would have to hop every time it hit center. I started taking it apart and found that the screw and screw hole don't match up. If you screw it in, it 's back to machine jumping, so it's out. I don't know if that's the reason for all the vibration, but it rides smoother now. Now that there's nothing on the frame, or anything about to go on the frame, I'll do your measuring and remeasuring trick.
Putting on the binding now...hoohoo, it's ALMOST done!!!!!!!!!
bev.

kd124

Bev, glad you found a source of the vibration and got your quilting done.
Please post a pic when you get the binding on.

JANW

Anxious to see

quiltease

Never posted pictures before so I hope I do this right.

quiltease

Damn, I did something wrong. How to you make pictures smaller so they can be posted?? I thought I did. I can email them so isn't that small enough? Maybe I should take them from an email. That sounds silly. Anyway, the quilt is finished and the pictures are waiting to be posted. Anyone know how to do this??
Thanks.
bev.