OurWorkbench

For those of you suggesting moving the needle position, what kind of 1/4" foot are you using that you can adjust the needle position? The 1/4" feet that I have seen have the hole in the foot, rather than a slot shape for the needle. Which indicates to me that there is only one needle position for the foot.

origamigoldfish, which Confidence model do you have. The first results that I got were for the 7469, but it looks like there may be some other models.

Did you get your Standard working? or the Dressmaker 8102FA. Have you pieced with them?

Janey - Neat people never make the exciting discoveries I do.

joe'smom

Your problems sound very much like what I faced with my old machine (a Singer from the 80s). When I got a new machine, things were so much easier, and I couldn't believe how many tops I'd managed to make with the old one. Then, when I had to take my new machine in for servicing, I got the old one out to use in the meantime, and could not put up with all the aggravation. I had an advantage over you in that there was a straight stitch plate available for that machine.

What I did for a seam allowance guide was to build a wall with pieces of masking tape, placing one piece at a time until it was tall enough to keep my fabric in the right place. I would keep checking where my seam allowance needed to be with sample pieces, and then stick the tape wall there.

Can you start a savings fund for a new machine?

sewingpup

[QUOTE=OurWorkbench;8548281]For those of you suggesting moving the needle position, what kind of 1/4" foot are you using that you can adjust the needle position? The 1/4" feet that I have seen have the hole in the foot, rather than a slot shape for the needle. Which indicates to me that there is only one needle position for the foot.

As I said in my earlier post, I stopped using my 1/4 inch foot and started using my "1" foot or my "34 foot (clear version of the "1" foot and moved my needle position 4 clicks to the right. As my 1/4 inch foot is a straight stitch foot only, I can not move my needle position with that one. I also tried using a straight stitch plate with the 1/4 inch foot would also will not let me move my needle. Both my 1/4 inch foot and the single hole stitch plate leave most of my right feed dog off my fabric when attempting to make a quarter inch seam on my 9mm Bernina 590. That is why I switched to the "1 or 34" foot as that had a wider slot for the needle which allows me to move my needle to the right. When I do that, most of the fabric is riding on the right feed dog and it makes it easier to piece. However, as I could not use my single hole stitch plate and do this, I had purchased an optional 5mm stitch plate for my 590 and found that when I use this stitch plate instead of the 9mm stitch plate for piecing, it is a bit easier in that the points do not get as easily sucked down into the machine. Ideally, it would be nice if the makers of our 9mm machines would make a single hole stitch plate and piecing foot that would allow us to move our needle position to the right so our fabric would ride on the Right feed dog when stitching. If you have any pull with the machine makers let them know these would be a wonderful addition to the machines. I did have to find a new mark to line up my 1/4 inch seam. I am using just slightly to the inside of the right opening in the stitch plate for that. You would have to determine that point on your machine and maybe use masking tape or something to mark the spot.
Oh and on my 590. I tell my machine what stitch plate and foot I am using and the machine will not let me use a foot that will not work so I don't break needles. I like those safety features.

JanieW

[QUOTE=sewingpup;8548301]Some Janome machines come with three stitch plates, one of which is the High Performance. The others are single stitch and zig zag plate. The machine knows which plate you put in and the display tells you which feet to use. The machine will not operate with the wrong foot in place. The HP comes with its own HP foot. It moves the needle over to the far left. You can only do straight stitch when using The HP foot and plate. This feature gives a very accurate scant 1/4 inch and is the best straight stitch on a 9mm machine I have ever seen. You can also purchase an HP walking foot that is terrific, especially for putting on binding.

sewingpup

[QUOTE=JanieW;8548302]I went and looked at a video of the HP system. Yep, it is similar to what I was talking about except on the left side of the feed dogs instead of the right. I also noted that the configuration of the Janome feed dogs is different than the ones of the Bernina. Interesting! I don't think I could set up my machine (Bernina) on the left because the configuration of the feed dogs are different. I will have to look at my Viking Topaz 40 feeddogs the next time I have it out.

PurplePansies

1. There is no such thing as a “perfect 1/4” seam. What is perfect to one quilter won’t be to the next. Thread thickness and the measurement tool will vary the measurement. There will probably be enough give in the fabric to make up the difference. Rather than using a piece of masking tape as a guide, try something like this Guidelines Seam Guides. You can stack a couple of them and it will give you a raised edge to guide the fabric.
2. What size needle are you using? A too big needle will cause the machine to eat the fabric. Use a 10 or 11 for piecing.
3. Leaders — Use 2 pieces of cotton fabric at lease 3” square. Start stitching at least an inch in and have the quilt pieces butted right up to the leader. Don’t slow down as you reach the quilt fabric.
4. Ender — I don’t use an ender. I use a sewing awl to hold the ends of the fabric straight as they go under the needle.
5. The best advice I’ve ever gotten in 25 years of quilting is, “That Will quilt out.” Mistakes here and there won’t be noticeable in the end. Look at any prize winning quilt and you will see errors.

HAVE FUN!

berrynice

[QUOTE=OurWorkbench;8548281]For those of you suggesting moving the needle position, what kind of 1/4" foot are you using that you can adjust the needle position? The 1/4" feet that I have seen have the hole in the foot, rather than a slot shape for the needle. Which indicates to me that there is only one needle position for the foot.

With my Singer, I can use the foot and use any needle position. My foot doesn't have a small hole, it has a wide opening between the 'prongs' or 'forks'

b.zang

Let me say that you have a LOT of patience to go through so many different things while troubleshooting. Some of your frustrations sound very familiar and there are already pretty much all the suggestions I would make. For me, the important thing when making a quilt is to use the same 1/4" seam for the entire quilt. That means that once I do all my measuring and set up my guides I leave everything in place until I finish piecing, which can be a pain because I tend to want to do more than one thing at once. If I take it apart, I spend a lot of time replicating before going on to sewing more blocks.

Something else that was suggested was about sewing over those thick seams. I buy "That Purple Thang" tool by the handful. I love the versatility of them, and I don't worry about getting the end too close to the needle when using it to guide recalcitrant fabric under the pressure foot. Plus, they make great little gifts.

I find fabric wanting to shift sometimes, too, in spite of pins, pins, pins. I haven't tried it yet, but am considering gluing some seams together before sewing. You might try that.

SueZQ from MN

Sounds like a real mystery, but I am sure the problem solvers here will come up with a solution if they can. Do you use the automatic thread cutter on your machine when you sew? When I use the thread cutter on my newer Elna, I get a bird's nest of thread when I start sewing and the fabric gets pulled down the hole so I don't use it any more. 3 suggestions that have solved the problem for me. (1) I also hold my thread ends to keep tension on them when I start sewing. (2) I use a starter/ender to keep the start/stop stitches away from the edges of the pattern piece. (3) I always start stitching with the needle in the down position. (4) If I am not chain stitching or using starters, I begin with the needle down in the fabric 2 or 3 stitches from the outer edge, but still outside of any possible intersecting seam lines, and sew 2 stitches in reverse and then start sewing forward. Any thickness from the doubled stitches is within the the seam allowance and doesn't affect the final size of the piece at the seam line. Hope this makes sense.

dunster

I use the #57 1/4 inch foot with my Bernina. I can and do move the needle over 1 click to the right to get a good 1/4 inch seam.