Wednesday, March 05, 2008

Not having fun

I started to free-motion the Puss in Corner quilt... and about 5 inches later disaster hits the backing. The kind that you don't notice until you've been sewing for a little bit and wonder why the flow feels "off"...

Ugh!! Actually, it wasn't that bad to rip out, just really frustrating to see. I guess that's what I get for plunging in when I haven't free-motioned anything since the beginning of December.

My patience is too short to deal with it tonight, I'll tackle it tomorrow. AFTER I practice on some scraps first. I suspect I have the upper tension off - it was on #4 on the dial, and usually I free-motion around #1 or 2.

I just hate how these kind of things put fear in me - I'm afraid something might be wrong with my sewing machine... but it's usually just user error. But until I know for sure, it makes me a little worried. I don't feel like replacing my sewing machine! :P

Leah

6 comments:

dot said...

Oh my, it certainly is disheartening when that happens. That is exactly what happened to me last week end and I had to rip it out.

Tracey in CT said...

Not fun...I hate when that happens. If you are looking on the bright side, that type of mess is easy to rip out :-)

~Joan said...

If your picture is the back of your quilt, the top thread tension needs to be tightened. It's getting pulled to the back because it's too loose.

~Joan

Jeanne said...

Isn't it a pain when that happens? Why can you be quilting along fine and all of a sudden the tension is off? Glad it's easy to get the thread out.

Shelina said...

I hate it when that happens, but as you said, that kind of mistake is so easy to rip out. An easy fix for sure. Good luck with your next attempt!

Wendy said...

I have a Bernina with the stitch regulator...it takes a lot of tweaking of the settings to get it just right. Looks like the tension needs to be tightened...I usually put mine at 6 or 7 when quilting. Also, check your speed...if you go pretty fast, shorten up your stitch length to 1.6 or so...also, try winding a new bobbin...I feel for you...been there, done that!! Visit my blog www.therunningquilter.blogspot.com