When I was quilting the Plume Crazy quilt last week, I hit a section where the quilting went haywire. But it seemed to improve with cleaning and de-fuzzing everything. So yesterday, I went to finish up a small project----my test sample of the plumes. I turned it into a table mat.I began to outline the plumes and move on to some McTavishing style texture. Almost immediately, I hit an area and the stitches went bad again. I thought it was because I hit a seam or such. Anyway, I cleaned the bobbin and went to rethread the top. I made sure to "floss" the thread in the tension disk---that is the term for making sure the thread is seated between the tension disks on top.
I needed more thread length to reach the needle and used my thumb and forefinger to open the tension disk to pull the thread through. And out popped a knot of thread! It was not huge. It was a small knot of thread with about 1/4'' tail. Now where did that come from? I should have grabbed the camera, but I was so surprised to find that extra bit in the tension disk! That bit of knotted thread caused those poor stitches last week. So lesson learned....blow out the upper tension disk on those sit down machines for free motion quilting. I use Aurifil thread, and never thought to find a pesky knot included!
By the way, my friend loved the quilt, and almost started some teary stuff. I threatened to take the quilt back if she did! So extra hugs all around and we were both smiling.
The design wall is clear....time to move on. Here's the next test block....I will share my tests, and changes next time.
Happy stitching.
Glad you solved the problem! The first time I tried Aurifil on my machine, I could NOT get the tension right. Now I use it all the time.
ReplyDeleteGlad that you found the source of your troubles. I love Aurifil but it does have its issues at times, like thin spots that cause breakage when free motion quilting. Haven't had your particular issue so far, but another place to look when things go wrong.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the heads up on this possibility, Debbie. I did not find a knot in mine, but it was rather linty. I wish I could use Aurifil all of the time, but no one in my area carries a really wide range of colors, so I end up using Mettler a lot to match my fabrics. I find Mettler produces a lot of lint, and I had never thought to clean between the tension discs.
ReplyDeleteI am currently unpicking the second of two 2" feathered wreaths that were doing the "top thread laying flat" thing. Cleaned out that lint, did another test run, and with a slight twist of the upper tension knob, things seem to be going well again. : )
This is good information, Debbie! Thanks for letting us know.
ReplyDeleteYour table mat is gorgeous! And I appreciate the reminder too.
ReplyDeleteWow, I would never have thought of that, now I'll be checking the tension discs when I clean out the lint. The table mat is beautiful, as usual :)
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