Need some quilting help.
 

I know this isn't the quilting section, but I am using a vintage machine :D

I've mentioned a couple times that I'm making a quilt for each of my aunts using my moms HOTHER. I've got the top done on one and 75% done on the other. When the tops are done then we'll put together the batting and backing for both since they are the same size. So once finished I want to quilt them with the HOTHER also. This might be easier said than done.

Last night to test the 15-91 I made a small quilt, put batting in it and muslin on the back side. Today using the Alpha Sew walking foot for straight stitch feet I used the HOTHER to try and quilt it.
Didn't work so good. Unlike the other walking foots I have this one just doesn't seem to want to pull the top with the bottom. And when it hits a seam or a lump it just stalls. I had better luck using the ZZ walking foot on my 66 treadle machine.

So, I removed the WF and tried an old fashioned solid quilting foot. That helped some, but it schootched the top layer to the point it wadded it up on the end. Scratch that.

Now what can I do? I want to use the HOTHER, it's a personal thing. But not being an experienced quilter I'm at a loss of what to try next. This small quilt was made just for this so if I have to rip all the quilting out and try something else, no big deal.

So those that use their vintage machines to quilt with, any suggestions?

Joe

Joe, did you lessen the presserfoot a little with the solid quilting foot.

Nope, didn't even think of it. How much should I lighten it up? Do you think that might help with the walking foot?

Joe

Walking feet can vary widely in quality... I tried several before I found one I liked. I loosen the foot pressure a little when I use a WF.
Even though I have quilted dozens of quilts on old machines, I still have to do a test sandwich beforehand.
If you have a Minkee back, then you will have to adjust more- same for denim. And each batting has different thicknesses, so test sandwiches are the way to go. How does it do with the regular foot?

What is a "Minkee back"? I haven't tried it yet with the regular foot. I'll do that in a bit.

This test quilt is made from the same materials as the big one as far as the top goes. We plan to use the same batting, a polyester batting, and rather than a muslin back we've got a big huge roll of what is either thick soft muslin or flannel. I think more flannel than muslin.

Joe

Oh, what brand of WF did you end up buying and liking?

Joe

Minkee is a supersoft modern fleece material. It is widely used for baby stuff. Most quilts I machine piece have either a minkee, sweatsuit fleece, or polar fleece back because it makes them more snuggly. So my backs are usually 1/4 to 3/8" thick.
I think I have this one- but it is outside in the studio, sleeting outside so I can't verify.

http://shop.sew-classic.com/Low-Shan...tch-P60400.htm

makitmama,

Thanks for the explanation of Minkee. My wife and I just learned something.

That is the WF I just got. I tried it again after loosening the foot tension and it didn't work much if any better.
I also tried the ZZ WF my wife has for her Bernina 930. No idea what brand but it works much better. The walking foot dogs don't match up with the SS feed dogs exactly, but enough that is really grabs and pulls the material. It also has more pronounced teeth on the dogs where as the one from Sew Classic are really fine.

Joe

Yes, unfortunately some brands or generic walking feet are just duds. I haven't had one that I hate, but I can imagine that these generics are sometimes hit or miss. :< I'm sure Jenny would take it back if you're not happy with it. But, I imagine you'll happen upon another machine that you can use it with.

Candace,

Somewhere I saw a listing for a Singer straight stitch WF. I'll be looking for that site. And I'll try the WF from Sew-Classic on a couple machines just to see what it will do. Perhaps it just isn't capable of doing quilts.

Joe

Any decent walkingfoot will do quilts. That's what they're designed to do. You may have just gotten a stinker. Is this the one you have? http://www.april1930s.com/html/walki...herweight.html

Yes, that's the one. Only I got it from Sew-Classic. The link is on the first page towards the top.

Joe

Maybe you just got a lemon-foot! That's the one I have and I've used it on my 15-91, my 27 and my 66 with no problems. I think I'd ask for a replacement and give it a try.

I got the same WF from Sew-Classic and mine is fine too. I have been using to sew purses and it works fine on a layer of fusible fleece, interfacing, and 3 layers of fabric. I agree, you may have a lemon!

What about a FMQ foot? You can sew straight lines with them, in addition to free motion work. They hop up and down so the quilt sandwich isn't pushed around.
http://www.april1930s.com/html/slant...y___darni.html This is mine, though you don't need slant needle. April and Jenny both have low shank ones. I bet your local LQS carries one. Mine does, but I don't like it as well as this one.

Hi Joe,

I am sure this is the first thing you thought of, but is the foot fitted on to the sewing machine correctly with the black fork over the bit that holds the needle on?

Clare

irishrose,
I have an original black face Singer version of that. Never thought to try it. I'll add that to my list of things to try.

Littlebearquiltingboard,
LOL, yep I made sure the arm was on the needle clamp. Funny you should mention that because some time back with another WF I forgot and the first time the needle bar came down it went KLUNK and jammed up the whole thing. The thread clamp had pinned the arm under itself.

Joe

Hi Joe. So smart of you to do a test sandwich. It's much easier to fix pesky problems with that than once you're working on the quilt. Ask me how I know!

Two thoughts: I recently got that same SS WF for my 201 and it made a world of difference, so yeah you may have a lemon. It's worth talking Jennie about it. In addition, sometimes machines don't like polyester batting. It's slipperier than cotton batting and may lead to uneven feed. You may want to try another sandwich with a cotton batting, just to see.

As for the FM foot, personally I wouldn't go that way simply because FMQ requires practice to look good. I can't imagine that doing SITD or any straight line quilting would be easy with a darning foot. But then again, you may be a much better quilter than I am!

Good luck and keep us posted on your progress!

The only quilt I've made where I actually quilted it myself was the cover to my Singer 66 #2 treadle. We used the same batting, similar top material and fleece for the bottom.
http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o...ps83a2e3b8.jpg

http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o...ps4651fc1d.jpg

I actually quilted that on the treadle using that ZZ WF I mentioned earlier. It worked pretty good.
All the other quilted covers I made used pre-quilted materials. I just sewed them together.

I did realize one thing I've done wrong with the test quilt sandwich. When I made it, I stitched it around the edge. That makes it wad up on the edges even with the better of the WFs.

Joe

I do all my quilting on my vintage machines, mostly on a Featherweight. I have plenty of working walking feet, but I prefer to not use them; I get great results with 'regular' feet.
Since you are wanting to do SID, why not use a SID foot? That's what they are for. Also called an edge-joining foot.

Stephanie,

I don't believe I said I wanted to SID. My plans were to do a diamond pattern similar to my machine cover in the pics above. I have two or three SID feet if I need them. Although I've never used them either.

I'm almost finished with the two tops, just two more long divider strips on the second one. Then on to cutting the batting and back.

And I'm almost out of time. I need to get them to AZ before Christmas. Eeeeekkkkkk!!!!!!!!!!

Joe

Sorry, Joe. I also use the SID foot for stitching grids, so in my mind, I went right to SID.

Stephanie,

Not a problem. And it is a viable option. I have been considering it.

Joe

As you know, there is more than one way to do everything. A lot of people like to use a guide arm on a WF or other foot; I find that it is too easy to accidentally move the guide, so I prefer to mark the top and use the SID foot. Whatever works.

Both these quilts are the same design. Three blocks of 9 across and three blocks of 9 long with each block separated by a divider strip. There is a larger square in the center of the quilt with a large print of cats on it. Around that we put a trim of each aunts birthday colors. Basically all right angles to the piecing. I was wanting to use the diamond pattern to quilt it to add some dimension to it. I didn't want it to be all squares and straight lines. That's why I wanted to use the WF. But again I'll be trying several things.

Joe

Stephanie,

I didn't do a good job of describing these quilts. I have a pic of the first one when mostly finished. I wanted it a bit longer than it was so we added one more row to the bottom after this pic was taken.
Plus I'd forgotten the actual number of squares. These actually started out as lap quilts and just grew.
The second quilt has the extra row built in.
http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o.../Dquilttop.jpg

As you can see it's all straight lines. That's why I wanted the diagonal quilting.

Joe

Joe, you might want to use water soluble thread to lay down some straight lines to stabilize the quilt, and then do your diagonal quilting by whatever means you choose. Just an idea; your mileage may vary.

??Water soluble thread?? That's one I've never heard of. I'll tell my wife and see if she's heard of it. Thanks for the tip.

Joe

i don't have advice about the foot, but i'm wondering two things. 1 - did you have the layers basted sufficiently, either with safety pins or thread? typically i would hand stitch a gridline about 4" apart to anchor things. and 2. you mentioned on the sample you stitched the edges first - there isn't any foot that's going to prevent wadding up if the edges are stitched first. even with a walking foot & basting your layers may move some. with multiple layers you always want to first baste it thoroughly and then start in the middle and work out. the bigger your project is, the more important it is to start in the middle.

for the diamond straight stitch pattern you've got, i'd literally start in the middle of the sandwich and go to one edge, then return to the middle and stitch the straight line to the opposite side. i'd probably do a couple of lines like that to get everything anchored thoroughly in the middle, then i'd switch to going the entire way across in one line, checking as i went to make sure nothing's gathering up. i'd do all of one half before returning to the middle and working out from there to quilt the opposite side.

i have a really good walking foot on my 503a and i always baste first and start in the middle.

does that make sense?

Yep it do.

I put the sample quilt together late at night when I was quite tired. Had I been thinking I would have never stitched around the edge.

Safety pins ...... I hadn't thought of that. Sounds a lot easier to undo than thread..

Joe

I agree 100% with Oregongirl about the basting. Personally, I use both spray and hand basting, and always work from the center out, both with the basting and the quilting. With the water soluble thread (not recommended for swimwear), you can stabilize and then remove most of the basting, which can get in the way sometimes. WS thread is not a necessity; it just sometimes frees one up a bit. There are lots of ways to baste; my best advice is to leave the thread 'sans knot.' If there is a knot, it will not remove as easily, especially when it gets caught in the foot (major bunching).

ps: using the WS thread is an accompaniment to basting, not a replacement for it.

Neither me nor my wife has ever heard of water soluble thread. Where do you get it?

Joe

Joe, that is one lovely quilt! I'm sure they will love them both, no matter how they are quilted. Still, it would be nice to not have such complications, huh?

Joe, I think I found it on Amazon.

Or:
http://daystyledesigns.com/washawaythread.htm
http://www.redrockthreads.com/misc-t...ble-thread.asp

i haven't used water soluble thread or done spray basting, although i have a can of the spray to try sometime. those are intriguing ideas! i'll have to try. if you use thread you can literally do 4" stitches, so it doesn't need to take too long.

if you go the safety pin route, you can use regular safety pins - about 1.5" long, or buy ones with a curve to one side specifically made for quilt basting. there's a quick pinning technique that's cool where you poke the pin down, then as it comes up use the bowl of a spoon to catch the open pin end and close the safety pin. it's very easy and quick to do.

this morning i was also thinking about your comment about using polyester batting. depending on what you're making, and i'm thinking you said something earlier about making quilts for your aunts, inexpensive polyester batting on the roll from places like JoAnn's can really cause problems. are you familiar with bearding? if the batting isn't "bonded" meaning that it is kinda "felted" to itself creating one unit, you can get bearding. that's what it's called when bits of batting either get pulled through the top/bottom by your needle or work their way out through using the quilt. it's awful. my sis-in-law, cousin and i made a beautiful red & white irish chain quilt for my mom probably 15 years ago. tons of work went into it with the piecing and handquilting. but my sis-in-law used inexpensive polyester batting and OHMYGOSH - that poor quilt had a layer of fuzz over it most of the time from it bearding through the fabric. i had the quilt for a while and even though we barely used it, i was forever trimming off little fibers that poked through.

if you're making something utilitarian like a sewing machine cover that you don't care so much about, then it doesn't matter. but if you're making something that you care about, it's well worth it to invest in quality batting from a quilt store. i do use Hobbs, which is a polyester because it's so easy to hand-quilt. but cottons and wools are great too. i *think* that cottons and wools are less likely to beard. you can buy quality quilt batts at places like JoAn's too, but look for a brand name like Hobbs or Heirloom.

also, if your fabrics are mostly dark you can buy dark batting so if any fibers do work through they don't show as much.

Warm & Natural is my favorite batting, although I tested the bamboo batting by pellon and found it worked well, too.