Central Ohio Quilter

Help! Please!
i am trying to quilt my beautiful quilt on my domestic sewing machine and I am having a horrible time with it!
I used June Tailor Quilt Basting Spray to baste my quilt. My sewing machine needle is getting all gunked up from the basting spray and it is shredding my thread. I am having to stop every 4-5 inches of sewing and cut off a few inches of my shredded thread, clean the needle off and rethread my needle.
What can I do to stop this from happening?
I assume not to use basting spray any more? Or at least not use this brand of basting spray any more?
I have changed the needle to a new needle. I have tried a different sewing machine. I have changed thread. I even made an emergency run to buy new thread. Still the same results.
But I need to get this quilt in the mail in a couple of days, and it is taking me forever to quilt it because of having to stop so often.
Any ideas of what I can do to make this quilting process better, now?
Has anyone else had this problem?

bearisgray

Is this quillt for a gift?

Or is it something that has been commisioned?

If it is a gift, take a picture of where you are at - send it to the recipient with an explanation of what is going wrong.

Sometimes just being able to back off for a bit works wonders.

Don't have any suggestions for the thread shredding. How does the machine sew through similar layers - without the spray baste?

Barb in Louisiana

What a mess! I did some research and most posts indicate that you can pull the basted parts of the quilt apart and move them. If this were the case, I think I would pull this apart and put new batting and backing on and then try sewing it. The posts say they sprayed lightly. I have never used the stuff so I don't really know how much should be used. Best of luck!!!

jacqueck

Oh, my, how frustrating! I use that brand of basting spray all the time with all types of fabric and haven't had a problem. Perhaps it might be the size of the needle? I use a 90/14 when I quilt. Good luck, I know you are anxious to finish your quilt.

NJ Quilter

So sorry you're dealing with this. I don't spray baste either and was also going to suggest a larger needle. Sadly that probably won't help with the gunking issue but might help with the shredding. How long ago did you spray?? Maybe it just needs to sit a bit and dry out some??? Good luck.

Central Ohio Quilter

This quilt is for a benefit auction for a nephew to help with expenses for cancer treatments. So, it absolutely has to get out in the mail this week to ensure it is there by next weekend. 🤨

I let the quilt sit for two days after spraying, before I started trying to quilt it.

bkay

I used the June Tailor spray once, as it was a donation to the school. (The kids were making a quilt.) I don't care for it. That said, it worked fairly well. It did gunk the needle some and was really hard to clean up. Maybe you used too much.

I would switch to the larger needle, which has been suggested. I would also switch to 100% polyester thread. Double check your threading to make sure it's correct.

I feel your pain, but can't think of anything else that might help.

bkay

cjsews

You can try a nonstick needle. They don’t get gunked up as fast.

clwetzel

I have had similar problems when quilting something after using Lite Steam-a-Seam 2 for the applique. I stopped frequently to wipe my needle down with alcohol. I tried the non-stick needles, but it didn't seem to make any difference for me. Keeping the needle as clean as I could solved most of my thread problems, but it took forever to quilt. Trying to look for an answer, I found that I probably didn't apply the iron long enough to melt the adhesive into the fabric, but I don't know if that would apply to your basting spray or not. Maybe test on a scrap before using again?

bkay

Don't use June Tailor spray again! Throw it in the trash! We had to use acetone to get the overspray off the tables. Soap and water didn't phase it. I ended up providing my own spray just to avoid using the donated June Tailor. I use Dritz and have never had a problem cleaning up overspray or sticking to needles. There is another spray adhesive that is more popular, but I don't know the name off hand. From what's been said on QB, it may be even better than Dritz.
bkay

Second thought: Try ironing it and see if that helps (using clwetzel's suggestion).