Once again, I can’t begin to thank you enough for all your thoughtful, supportive comments and helpful tips. It was nice to know I was not alone in this experience!! For those of you who don’t know, I recently had a little “hiccup” in my quilting flow. My much loved Bernina and I were having some issues!! I’m happy to report we are back to a really peaceful place and I’m giving her a little rest this week!! Many of you were curious what the problem actually was and I am just now getting the chance to fill you in. Sorry for the delay.
Okay, so……
Mr. Cubbage, our knowledgable and amazingly available sewing machine repairman came less than 24 hours after calling him (yes, he makes standard house calls, that’s his business, yes, I find it amazing and feel really lucky)!! Tool box in hand, he was ready to make it all better and he did!! I’m sure I just about threw my arms around him for a great big hug, but at the last-minute decided on a very sincere thank you instead!! 🙂
Problem #1
My bobbin was ever so slightly bent or disfigured in some invisible way (it’s now in the trash), and my bobbin tension was off. So what I learned is that the Aurafil I’ve been using A LOT of lately is a bit thinner than my other threads, and therefore, over time it gets the tension “messes” with the tension. So I need to tighten my bobbin tension just a hair when using Aurafil and loosen it a hair for thicker threads! Great lesson!!
Problem #2
My needle was bumping up against my plate!!!! EEekk- now that had me worried!! He was able to adjust it back to where it was supposed to be. We discovered that likely the reason for this is that I have been….. *aaahhhem* a bit too forceful when putting larger quilts through my machine. Over time this has caused the needle to move to a position where it is hitting the plate and causing all the breakage of thread and skipped stitches!! Talk about being relieved and also I must say, humbled!! I have so much to learn about sewing machines and quilting!!
Talk about being relieved and also I must say, humbled!! Even after four pretty solid years of quilting and sewing, I have so much to learn about sewing machines and quilting! Thankfully, he was able to fix it all up and I learned a hugely valuable lesson or two!! One is that I can’t force my large quilts through my machine, and two is that I really need to start saving money for a second quilting machine. He was in agreement that a Juki, straight stitch, mechanical machine with a larger throat would be a great choice for me. It’s the brand I’ve had my eye on for a while and after seeing Rachel’s post about it, I was sold. I love my Bernina (but also want a machine that doesn’t have a computer) and want to use it for multipurpose sewing/quilting for many years to come. That’s why I think, for as much quilting as I do, it’s time to invest in another serious machine. I need to start filling my piggy bank however, and doing some research on just which model, so it may be while.
How about you all, do you have that one much loved machine that you know how to fix yourself and you’re completly loyal to, or are you a collector of sewing machines and you never have to worry about one breaking in the middle of an important project? Also, has anyone else experienced this needle and plate issue? It seems random to me but maybe it’s more common than I know??? Just curious!
Anyway, I hope that satisfies any curiosity about what the problem was. I’m off to tend to the massive amounts of laundry that have piled up while I was ever so slightly obsessed with my Box of Rain Quilt. Thanks so much by the way, for all your positive and kind comments. I’m so happy with how that quilt turned out and just as happy to have it behind me.
Happy Monday!
~~~karen
I agree that sewing machine problems can be extremely frustrating and although I have several machines I would really love one with a deeper throat as I learn to do more and more of my own quilting. Mr. Cubbage is a lifesaver but I also think that Art and Jenny’s do a great job if you have the time to take it to Ventura.
I’ve experienced quite a few machine issues by trying to force too many thicknesses through my machine – especially while making bags. My trusty old Elna can handle almost anything though so I’m glad I’ve kept her around.
I will be interested to hear about your research on the Juki! Let me know. Your Box of Rain Quilt is stunning!
The newer Berninas can be extraordinarily cranky. You certainly cannot push a big quilt through them, they need coaxing to avoid misaligning all sorts of sensitive things. Use a walking foot, go slow, think ahead when you’re about to make a turn. My latest love is a Baby Lock Unity with an 11 inch throat. But I usually don’t do much quilting.
Thanks for the tips! I have noticed that the higher quality threads change the way the tension runs… I also know where the bobbin case tension screw is (the one they swear you should never touch) and I have gotten over my fear of tightening and loosening (it’s so freeing!! I felt like a renegade…!). I’ll try not to pull my biggest quilts to roughly – that’s a problem I have sometimes and explains a LOT.
I had a lot of thread breakage before I switched to Aurifil for machine quilting. I seem to have found the sweet spot with Aurifil…no problems with tension. I use Essentials thread for piecing but gave up using it to quilt. The Sweet Sixteen quilting machine is my object of lust and I’ll be interested to hear what you eventually decide to buy. Thanks for the detailed post!
I have three machines, all vintage ones bought at auction so not as crazy extravagant as it sounds. I mostly use a Morse Fotomatic 4300, made in the 60s by Toyota. They made the prettiest machines, and it runs beautifully. Mine is a two-tone blue-and-cream that reminds me of a 50s car. I’ve also picked up a Singer 15-91, which is a straight stitch workhorse from somewhere between the 30s-50s that I plan to use for quilting. And I also have a 60s era Dressmaker, which I have mainly as a backup machine. Surprisingly enough none of them cost more than I think $35 even though they were all in good shape when I got them, just had to do a thorough cleaning and oiling.
I have a Viking Lily 550 which I love! beautiful stitches! I also have a Janome, Jem Gold, which is so light and portable. It has a great straight stitch and a wonderful 1/4″ foot. I use it for all my piecing.
I love reading your posts and looking at your pictures of what you have sewn and quilted. I always want to quilt but there is always way too much other stuff to deal with. I keep trying. Inspired by the way you do your quilts, I have worked on something similar on my last project. Mind you, I didn’t get it all done yet, and I only got one out of six parts almost done. Those are curtains for the living room, using old fabric, cut into big squares, each square quilted separate, then later to combine those squares, and somehow make a curtain panel out of that, I am still at the last stage, and then I have to get another 5 panels done yet. .. .. So I quilted each square just by straight lines, side by side, it goes quick enough, and never mind that nothing is straight or even, it looks good in the end. Each square has a cotton type material on either side, and a piece of bed flannel as a filler. That generates a lot of fuzz. So each time I wind up another bottom thread holder thingie, I take the brush and clean out the general area, and boy does a lot of fuzz come out each time. .. .. As to sewing machines, I gave up on buying a new fancy machine. Cost way too much money which I don’t have and the machines can’t handle what I want to get done. I kept trying out older machines, found at the dump and passed on to me, or given to me by others (I in turn passed on 5 machines that I could not use to a school teacher looking for sewing machines). I ended up with one that seems like a work horse, it must be 40, 50 years old that machine, and once I had fiddled on the right setting, it now runs and runs and runs. I got another machine that way that I want to put on the quilting frame, I made some test runs to see if I could work with that one, and just need to get a quilt in there and start doing, but that has to wait until winter again. I need a machine that can run forever with little maintenance, other than cleaning out regularly, a bit of oil, and then go again. I need one that can go through thick layers, as often I sew/quilt from discarded blue jeans material. It seems, to me, those old machines can do way better, as compared to the new fancy modern ones. But then, I can’t afford a machine that costs a lot of money, and the old el cheapos most times do what I need them to do. .. .. So keep showing us your work. You inspire people. I usually work with recycled materials, mostly heavy jeans fabric and that type, and try to do quilt projects that way. I like to reuse the old and to recycle what comes our way.