Pictures 1,3 & 5 Expanding Possibilities quilt - Working on my FMQ
Pictures 2 & 4 QAYGFMQQAL - Sea Glass
Pictures 6, 7, 8, 10 & 12 Wonky/Improve quilt for Leah Day's QAL
Picture 9 My new Pfaff Quilter Expression 4.0 (Miss Frances)
Picture 11 Urban Nine Patch - My only actual finish for the month
On to QAL Wednesday
I didn't stitch out "Tree Roots" this week because I think my "bare branches" from last week look more like "tree roots". So I focused on July's Sew Cal Gal FMQ Challenge. To say that I struggled with this was an understatement, not because of the design, but because of my ability to use my new machine.
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| Front |
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| Back (thread jams and half a dozen broken needles) |
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| Front of a practice piece |
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| Back of the practice piece |
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| Isacord thread (note the loop in front of the first thread guide) |
WIP Wednesday!
In-process: (10)
Wonky/Improve QAL quilt - (Continue to quilt)
Purple heart wall hanging ( needs borders, backing, quilting and binding)
Expanding Possibilities quilt (Continue to quilt)
Storybook quilt # 2 - All embroidery is done
Quokka Quilts QAYGFMQQAL quilt (bind)
Geneva Public Library quilt - join and quilt (maybe make a block or two to even it out)
Sew Cal Gal's March FMQ Challenge - Need to bind.
Sew Cal Gal's April FMQ Challenge - Need to make into a pillow.
Sew Cal Gal's May FMQ Challenge - Need to make into a pillow
Sew Cal Gal June FMQ Challenge - Need to bind.
New projects: (0)
No new projects this week!
Finished (0)
I'm linking up with Lily's Quilts for Fresh Sewing Day, Freshly Pieced for WIP Wednesday and The Free Motion Quilting Project for QAL Wednesday
Color Me Quilty!
Pat
Gorgeous mosaic and bummer about the tension issues on your new machine.
ReplyDeleteAh machines... we have a love/hate relationship with them, hey?! Hope your's settles down soon!
ReplyDeleteI have a Pfaff Creative 2.0 and the Isacord thread works beautifully in it for FMQ, but when I tried Madiera thread, it looped just like yours and the thread kept breaking because I didn't notice it and kept quilting. It finally worked when I replaced the thread spool holder thing (at the top of the spool) with a bigger one. I think I also might have stood the spool up straight. The Madiera thread worked fine in my older Pfaff, though.
ReplyDeleteCan't wait to see what she says! I have had similar problems from time to time and sometimes everything goes great. I use her mat and am thinking of getting the teflon bobbin washers. I just want to keep things flowing smoothly.
ReplyDeleteOh, I HATE it when there are technical issues like this. It just ruins the experience for us. I hope somebody can help you figure out what the issue is so you can move into FMQ in peace!
ReplyDeleteHow frustrating!! I hope you figure it out. Bleh. It's definitely a cool design though.
ReplyDeleteSuch a spool wants to unwind from the top - try one of the new SUperior Threads thread holders - I bought one for my Pfaff (a much older one) and it was wonderful. :)
ReplyDeleteMachine issues just make me want to throw a three-year-old temper tantrum and CRY! Hang in there - and hopefully soon you will be FMQing easily again.
ReplyDeleteTry finding Superior Thread on Utube. They give lots of pointers on thread issues.
ReplyDeleteThis is something we can't seem to control....The pink piece looks great.
ReplyDeleteYou have a cone on a horizontal spindle. It needs to be put on a cone holder behind your sewing machine. Cones need to stand upright!
ReplyDeleteMy Isacord spools run great on their sides. I have a Brother NX-800, but the spool feeder looks almost identical to what you have shown. I wonder if you have tried leaving the feed dogs engaged? I have had no tension issues since leaving them up (I do set the stitch length to zero so they can't fight me). I read that machines can "deal with" tension differently when the feed dogs are down--throwing a monkey wrench into adjustments.
ReplyDeleteI hope you find a solution soon; these issues are so frustrating!
When I got my new(ish) machine, it stitched beautifully at the dealer's shop. Got it home. Then, i had tension issues. Was scratching my head for a couple of days. Then, i decided to re-thread for about the 10th time. Ah-ha moment. All the time, I had forgotten the first thread guide. It telescopes up on the top of the machine. Finally...the beautiful stitches I had experienced in the shop! Hopefully, it's something just as simple for you. I know how *&$%#@) mad it can make a person! Must be how the term "crazy quilter" came to be;)
ReplyDeleteOh, the back of that quilt makes me hurt a little bit. I hope you get it sorted out! Thanks for linking up to WIP Wednesday!
ReplyDeleteYour mosaic is looking fab! I hope you get your machine sorted soon :)
ReplyDelete