First attempt at machine quilting!

[elettaria]

I bought a Husqvarna Emerald 118 in December, but so far I've only dared try it once. Unfortunately, both the manual and my quilting books assume you already know how to use a sewing machine. I made a pathetic phone call to the shop I bought it from, where a quilter on the staff walked me through a few basic things such as threading the machine and got me started. I practised for a while on my own, and was completely puzzled as to why most of the stitches didn't come out as they should, despite following the chart carefully in all ways. The straight stitch and zigzag were OK at least.

I then left it for ages because I was a bit scared of the thing, and so dopey from an M.E. relapse that I couldn't hit the bin with a teabag, as we say in this place. ghost_of_a_flea is away on a training course from this morning until Friday evening, giving me an ideal oppportunity to have my sewing stuff out for a few days, so I was brave and had another try. This time I ignored Presser Foot J and so forth, fished out a quilting book and leftover fabric and wadding scraps, and tried doing some proper quarter-inch seams. I'm veering off a bit at the start and end of pieces, but since I'm planning to keep piecing by hand anyway I'm not too bothered about that, I can practise. I successfully shortened my pyjama bottoms. The line is a bit wonky in places but it's black on black, no one will notice. Next I need to work out how to sew on stretchy fabrics so that I can shorten all those sleeves which are too long (the joys of being a short-arse).

After that I decided to try quilting, the main reason I bought the machine. This involved quite a bit of time trying to work out how to get the walking foot on, which I eventually figured out. The picture below shows my exciting experiments with straight lines. My books suggested two ways of stopping and starting: I seem to do best with putting the stitch length on 1 for 1/4" and then returning to normal. (Which incidentally is the same setting I use for ordinary straight stitch. I have no idea if that's correct.) I think I'm getting the hang of pivoting: stop, needle up, raise walking foot, needle down, pivot, lower walking foot. A couple of times I forgot to lower the foot before attempting to sew, and I really hope I haven't damaged my machine. After that I made a few desultory attempts at free motion quilting, and did at least work out how to lower the feed dogs, but realised quickly that I won't be able to do that until I have an appropriate foot. The universal Big Foot has been strongly recommended.



Problems I'm still having: occasional thread snarls on the back; going over seams; working out when the needle will stop when using the walking foot; winding the bobbin for my larger spool of quilting thread, when it went berserk and tried to wind far too low.

Things I'll need to buy: Big foot, more bobbins, possibly a cheap plain thread for the back of quilting, possibly quilting gloves, point turner, something for storing bobbins (two cases, one for quilting threads so I can tell them apart?), possibly magnetic seam guide, embroidery scissors with sharp points, velcro or something for fastening those cushions since I don't feel up to attempting zips yet.

Comments

Notes from talking to Pemberton

[elettaria.livejournal.com]

Always turn handwheel towards you, apart from very slight tweaking when unthreaded to thread the needle. Turn handwheel one complete revolution, or use needle up/down, and hold onto top thread with left hand while doing so. Pull on top thread and it'll pull bottom thread through. Hold onto both threads for the first 10 or 12 stitches.

Use same settings as for straight stitch: width on 0.

Plus/minus - should be in the middle.

Zigzag (stitch 2) is for heavy fabrics.

Stitch 3 is for overcasting light and medium weight.
4 is stretch blind hem
5 is normal blind hem
6 is overcasting or shell edging
7 is to join two pieces of fabric together (e.g. piecing, though Stitch 1 as well)
8 is for crazy patchwork, stitches to one side and other side when sewing down center
9 is a satin stitch

go to http://husqvarnaviking.com/uk and go to Sewing, then Sewing Room

Magnetic seam guide - not worth getting.


Free motion quilting

Drop feed dogs and replace free arm.
Thread machine and check tension by doing a practice piece.
Bring up the bobbin thread.
It's not the speed, it's the control of the machine, because I'm in charge of direction of sewing and stitch length. Balance of how fast machine is stitching and how fast I'm moving the fabric. Try and get a feel for the pedal. Use speed slider )arrows). Comfort is important, mustn't get tense, remember to breathe. http://quilterstv.com/, go to Quilters' Cafe, Magical Machine Quilting.

Walking foot - don't pull the fabric, just enough to control the direction. Don't let the weight of the quilt drag.

[elettaria.livejournal.com]

Bobbin thread coming through - top tension is too tight. Threads are meant to meet in the middle, if they don't they've got unbalanced. Exception is buttonholes or satin stitch, aiming for the top thread to be pulled through more to the bottom, so loosen the top tension. 4 or 5 is a good tension for quilting.

Tension should be 4-5 with any foot. Spoke to Roy, technical support. And I have just been on the phone to them for an hour, so I'm having a rest now!