KittyKate

Hello,
Newbie here. I started FMQ in 1998 when I realised if I wanted to get those quilts on the beds they would take forever to get there if I quilted by hand.
I also am not a fan of marking and for a long while only made traditional quilts with white backgrounds so I could see the line.
I did stipple a lot of my quilts but wanted something more challenging
I discovered different all over edge to edge FMQ that can be done on Domestic machines thanks to Leah Day.
My Bernina 1031 following a service, does a good job once I sorted the thread and needle combination. I am still trying to keep my rhythm steady ALL the time for regular stitches. There is a tendency to panic when in a corner resulting some toe hookers.

However,
I have a Singer treadle 66 vintage 1925 that I in herited from my favourite Aunt. It is in beautiful condition. She has resided in my living room, purely for good looks and personality. The cabinet has six lovely decorative drawers, lots of spare parts none of which I have tried. It was serviced in 1997 but now needs a dusting, clean and oil. I will post a picture later.
I quilted in the ditch on this following the service on a Prairie braid quilt I made for my late Father. The stitch was absolutely beautiful.

Imagine my surprise when browsing through the posts here I was amazed to find it is possible to FMQ on these old machines.
I opened her up and had a play. The stitch was still perfect and we managed a small cot size sample making slightly wavy lines. Not sure that my legs knew what was happening but like riding a bike it all came back to me.
More experimenting to FMQ......
I found my Elna Lotus darning foot fits my treadle but doesn't leave a lot of free motion. Fits rather snugly to the foot plate.
I released the pressure bar......not sure this is right as I found no difference.
Cannot drop the feed dogs or if I can I don't know how.
I covered these with my Supreme slider, didn't tape it down and sewed through it!!
Rescued it cos it was too expensive to abuse like that and am reluctant to use sticky tape.
I have been watching you tube and have seen there are some better side attached low shank hopper/darning feet that seem to work well.

Sew.....I would appreciate any advice as to how to make this happen.

What type of darning/hopper foot should I look for?
Do I need to screw the stitch length to zero?
I was going well with the slider.....but the bottom tension was off at times.
Using King Tut thread it broke a couple of times FMQ but was okay with regular stitching.
What needle should I use?
There are cover plates but finding one is another challenge.

I do need to clean and oil her properly as per Muv videos......which are very well done.
Belt needs to be tightened a tad, ( I did replace this when I first got her) and the bobbin winder needs to be sorted.
She has an electric conversion but I have never used this and am thinking of having it removed.

Looking forward to hearing from those with expertise and more in the know than myself.

J Miller

KittyKate,

Welcome to the Quilting Board.

I've got 8 Singer 66s, two of them active treadles, a third treadle head looking for a home, one electric in a cabinet and 4 portables.
So I know a wee little bit about them.

I can't answer many of your questions about FMQ with the 66s, but I can answer a few.

>You can't drop the feed dogs.
>You can put plates over them to use attachments such as buttonhollers and do machine embroidery so I suspect they can be used for FMQ as well.
>Oiling them and getting them ready for use is a piece of cake. Just follow the instructions in the owners manual.
>Getting rid of the electric motor is as simple as removing the big screw holding the motor bracket under the hand wheel. Just don't loose that screw as it's not a common thread. You'll have to remove the light if it's got one and maybe unhook some of the wiring to get it out of the way.

You can get parts from Cyndy Kitt in New South Wales, Australia
{ http://annebonnyslocker.com.au/ckp/index.htm }
or~
Sew-Classic.com here in the states; { http://www.shop.sew-classic.com/ }

I've done a bit of quilting with my 66 treadles, but no FMQ, only straight line quilting. One of these days I'll give it a try.

Joe

KittyKate

Thanks Joe,
I found the bottonhole cover plate.....never used as My aunt was not fond of sewing.
Sandwich moved better with the Elna darning foot,
The cover was sort of wobbly and the lower tension c**p!.
Fiddled with the upper tension and it went a bit better.
The thread frayed and broke.
So I changed it all back to straight stitching for fear I had wrecked it.
Changed the needle to a singer 14, then had to refer to the manual to work out stitch length.
Seems I had that turned the wrong way and what I thought was zero was in fact the longest stitch. Duh!!
I managed with lots of turning to do some very nice flames and the stitch is beautiful.

Then I went to sew classic and ordered two darning feet, deluxe metal and clear.
Cover plate and some felt spool covers that I am missing form other machines.
Postage was cheaper than Australian interstate postage.

Can't wait to try all these new parts. I am off to visit Grandchildren for two weeks for School holidays and will do no more until I am back.
I will tell all on my return.

Again, Thanks. I have friends in Big Rock and Hinckey Ill. Enjoyed my visit there in 2010.

So big thank you for your help and those links.

lovelyl

KittyKate,
Welcome to the QB! One of my best friends is named Kitty (first name) Kate (middle name)! She is not a quilter and gave me an "old sewing machine" she had in her garage - turned out to be a Singer 15-91 in a beautiful cabinet! I named it Kitty Kate in her honor.

Nagi

Welcome Kittykate!!You will love it here.

KittyKate

Back from visiting the Grandchildren and teaching 8YO Granddaughter to hand sew. Fun!!
Thanks for your welcome to this site Nagi and lovelyl.

Sew.....Day 2 at home, took the motor off.....easy as pie.
Thanks Joe.
The light was attached to motor. Saved the screw carefully and all is labelled and stored safely.

Cleaned and oiled the old girl and readjusted the belt to fit without the motor.
I am still waiting for my bits from Classic sew to arrive so I tried the Elna darning foot I have from my Lotus SP and had a play on a placemat size sandwich.
With the stitch length set to zero the tension was much better affording a more balanced stitch.
In my cleaning I had altered the level of the presser bar and the sandwich moved more easily.
The rhythm of treadling set a more sedate pace and the stitches were quite regular.
I am aiming for 10 to the inch. A work in progress!!
I need more practice as my flames looked more like stalagmites with rounded ends. LOL!
A bigger needle may help too as the thread, a variegated King Tut top and bottom, shredded after a while.
Doesn't happen with straight line quilting.
For the life of me I can't remember what I am using......will try a 90/14 topstitch as see how that goes.
Waiting now for my bits to arrive and give it another whirl.
Also need to grease the foot plate.
By late evening there was an awful screaming coming from down there and no doubt it was time to stop my straight line quilting and get to bed..

Yes. I love this site full of advice, tips and inspiration.

KittyKate

Just read my previous post, and I am using a singer 14 needle.
Will try a Schmetz Topstich 90/14 recommended by Superior threads.
Want to buy Superior's Titanium Topstitch needles in various sizes but....
Rome wasn't built in a day.

KittyKate

The new darning foot arrived from Sew Classic and it works like a charm. When I covered the feed dogs with the cover plate it was to hard to move the practice sandwich. I taped the Supreme slider to the metal on the throat space and this helped a lot. Good practicing and my quilting group where admiring the lovely stitches and were stunned when I told them it was done on my treadle. Now they want one. As for the needle change, she only likes singer needles. Other needles, of which i have tried a few, resulted in missed stitches or thread breakage.