eyelashes and loops
 

I have a Janome 1600P on a little gracie with a stitch regulator. I have taken it off and reframed it twice. Changed needles, changed bobbins, messed with the tension dial, and re threaded. I get eyelashes and loops everywhere. I'm ready to use it all for firewood. Any suggestions?

Follow Tartan's excellent suggestion. Then try putting it back on the frame and do a bit of free motion quilting without the stitch regulator. I have found that I do a better job at free motion without it. It's great when using acrylic templates, however. Also, if you are getting loops or eyelashes on the back, especially on curves, you are going too fast.

This video is a good place to start for tensioning a machine on a frame:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1mRh...664A7&index=13
It says for longarms, but it seems to work for all frame quilting machines.

What size needle are you using? When FMQing on a frame, you tend to need a stronger needle than when FMQing sitting down. Usually a size 16 or 18 needle is recommended; these are strong enough not to bend under the faster movement of frame quilting.

How tight is your quilt? A common beginner mistake is to have the quilt too drum-tight. A quilt in the frame should be somewhat loose. The rule-of-thumb is that you should be able to grab a finger that is poked up from the bottom of the quilt.

You may be moving the machine too fast. 1600 stitches per minute is fast for a domestic machine, but not for a machine used on a frame. You will need to move the machine slower than a longarm.

have you asked the dealer or distributor or help line for your janome? They've heard all the possibilities and can probably trouble shoot about that particular machine better than anyone else.

Get out the owners manual.

Common problems include:
Tension: make sure the thread is properly seated in the tension disks.
Cleaning: get a magnifying class and flashlight-be a detective
Oiling:
Is this a new or recurring problem?
Then call the help line.

I found it had nothing to do with tension but was about speed. If I went fast I had loops and eyelashes all over the place. If I went slower I had no problems. Also, I discovered if I did NOT drop the feed dogs it was more manageable. I'm taking a class from Leah Day on Craftsy and she also suggests keeping the feed dogs up.

What she said...

I have a 1600P also and have same problem a lot... Every time I think I have it conquered, it starts again. I have tried all the suggestions. Eventually something clicks (with the machine, not me) and it goes great for a while. I "think" one thing that seems to help is slightly looser tension on the fabric in the frame and keeping the fabric level with the sewing machine bed. But sure as I said that, it won't work for me next time. So good luck! Even with all the aggravation, I still prefer using the frame over trying to sandwich a quilt and do it the "normal" way.