General Discussion

Re: Quilter from Long Island

ckquilter — Mon, 28 Jan 2013 09:51:53 GMT

hi again

thought of one more thing that will cause jamming - because you have dropped the feed dogs, the machine is no longer moving the fabric for each stitch. that is something YOU must do. if you stitch more than onceor twice in the same spot, the machine will jam. you can make VERY tiny stitches, but you need to keep the fabric moving or you will cause the bobbin thread to jam.. ckquilter

Re: Quilter from Long Island

ckquilter — Sun, 27 Jan 2013 03:38:04 GMT

hi danielle

usually it is something simple - you just neeed to work thru the possible culprits !! don't cry - it messes up your contac lenses !!!!

anyway - first check - swap out your free motion foot for any regular swing foot with feed dogs up. do NOT change anything else. does the machine then sew ok?? if not - for a newbie to free motion- get it adjusted again to sew a nice straight stitch. (use a regular sewing thread that yo know works well in your machine - skip the skinny hreads, thick threads, and problem metallics for now ) now that you have the machine doing a nice stitch again,

- leave everything alone (ie - no changing needles, bobbin, thread, tension), except, replace the presser foot with your darning foot.

- drop the feed dogs.

- very important, when doing any free motion - hold the top thread firmly and take ONE stitch down and up. STOP. now use the top thread you are holding to pull up the bobbin thread to the top of the work. hold BOTH threads, and take a few stitches to anchor the threads. now cut both threads right at the surface so 1. you don't have to keep holding them and 2. they won't get tangled up in later stitches.

now you should be able to continue sewing free motion with no problems. you may need to adjust the tension - but don't mess with this til you get the first problem fixed. usually you will need loosen the top tension just a little (half a number) to get a really nice stitch - but that will always depend on what threads you are using. save the problem threads for later.

very important - ALWAYS hold the top thread, and bring up the bobbin thread when starting to sew free motion. this simple step may solve your problem.

it is always helpful to have someone experienced trouble shoot for you - do you have someone there you can ask for help?? being there in person makes it much easier to solve problems. if not, and you still can't get it figured out, schedule a time to take the machine into the dealer and ask for help (take ALL your own supplies - thread, bobbins, needles, feet, fabric to sew on.it is ok if they use theirs first - but then mkae sure they also get it sewing properly wth YOUR supplies. usually the problem is something simple, and once you figure out what that is, you will be fine. but occasionally it IS the machine, and it will need dealer adjustment or repair.

the other things i always double check (even if you think everything is ok) -take the top thread entirely off, and rethread from the beginning (sometimes the machine will have kicked the thread out of one of the guides).

-take the bobbin out and reinsert. make sure the holder is clean and lint free.

-clean the machine. make sure there is no lint in the bobbin area interfering with the process.

-recheck the top and bobbin tension. if you do all normal sewing, you probably have not messed with these much and they are probably fine. but. once you get into lots of free motion and specialty threads - you need to remember to set things back to default settings when going back to regular sewing. it is easy to forget to set things back - and end up with some pretty poor stitches, til you realize what's going on (i still forget to reset once in awhile).

-use a new needle, appropriate for the thread and fabric

hope that helps and you are doin lots of free motion sewing real soon ! ckquilter

Re: Quilter from Long Island

teamnewcomer — Sat, 26 Jan 2013 20:44:20 GMT

Can you help me? I think I'm going to cry out of pure frustration. I have settled in to learn how to free motion quilt and my lower thread just keeps tangling. I have the correct bobbin for my machine, it is correctly loaded thru the tension adjusting ring, and threaded correctly. Yet....it just keeps happening!! Grr. What am I not doing correctly?

Danielle

Re: Quilter from Long Island

ckquilter — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 01:42:26 GMT

hi newcomer

meow is machine embroiderers of oregon and washington. they have several groups meeting in both states. if you just google meow - you should be able to find their website within the first few listings. you do NOT need a computerized embroidery machine. i have never had one, and was a member for 10 years. instead they are into free motion methods and all sorts of art quilt and fiber methods. most groups meet monthly. and asa member you can attend any group(s) you want. they also used to hold yearly seminars - alternating between the 2 states. 3 0r 4 days of classes, with multiple choices for all days - and covering all sorts of methods from beading, polymer clay, all sorts of fiber art, and thread art. they dropped them 2 or 3 years ago - but i think they have restarted them.

fan is fiber artist norhwest . they may not have a website yet. they had 3 groups last time i met with them (2 years ago.), they are former mew groups which dropped out and then reorganized. they have a group in olympia, and one in oregon, and i don't remember where the third one is- south of seattle i think. they were also doing a yearly seminar , with multiple classes. in the spring.(may) and near olympia.

if you google them and still can't find them - i will check my folders and see if i can get you the site and a contact person. ckquilter

Re: Quilter from Long Island

teamnewcomer — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 22:07:40 GMT

Can you be more specific about meow and fan. I cant seem to find those groups.

Re: Quilter from Long Island

teamnewcomer — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 22:02:25 GMT

thks ck. I'm going to check these out today.

Re: Quilter from Long Island

ckquilter — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 09:45:10 GMT

hi teamnewcomer

the seattle area has many wonderful quilters. many are doing awesome art and embellished quilts.

have you checked out meow and fan. both groups are great for learning. or if you are on the west sideof the sound, try ffab in port gamble.

the kitsap quilt guild has its show the middle of february - and we have some good art quilters in our group.

thenthe first of march, the sew expo in puyallup is a great place to look for new tools and ideas.

there are also several art quilt groups around. ckquilter

Re: Quilter from Long Island

Muppin — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 21:46:24 GMT

Welcome teamnewcomer!

Congrats on the new subscription and can't wait to see what you make! Enjoy the forums!

Cheryl / Muppin

Re: Quilter from Long Island

teamnewcomer — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 06:20:48 GMT

Hi! My mom just gave me a subscription to this magazine for a xmas present. I LOVE the idea of embellishing my quilts. I have been quilting on and off for about 10 years (judging by the # of quilts I have completely finished- mostly off!). Kids are gettin older and I'm ready to make fabric magic :)

I grew up in Mt.Sinai, NY and went to Port Jefferson Highschool, but now I live outside of Seattle. I love NY and always will!!!!

Re: Quilter from Long Island

Muppin — Tue, 27 Nov 2012 22:22:40 GMT

Welcome dangerousminds!

Thanks for posting, and welcome to the forums!

Cheryl / Muppin

Quilter from Long Island

dangerousminds — Wed, 21 Nov 2012 16:24:19 GMT

Hi! I found this website quite by accident. But you have some lovely topics so I'm hoping to stay around for a while. I'm from Long Island, NY. Any other Long Islanders out there? Love to hear from you! I've been quilting about a year. Belong to all sorts of guilds and clubs. Hoping to exchange ideas and thoughts.