This is what giving up looks like...
I've tried on two separate occasions to free motion quilt this little baby quilt and both times, I ran into trouble. Whenever I try to curve the stitching, the tip of my needle catches in the fabric. Even though I'm using the same machine, and foot, and thread, and batting, and bobbins, I've used successfully a hundred or more other times, it won't work.
The quilt top has already been sitting since January of 2016 and I don't have any idea when I'll be able to free motion quilt again. (At this point I'm violently resisting the idea of taking my machine to the dealer since it hasn't been long at all since its last cleaning/checkup and on previous occasions its come home unable to do free motion quilting. Too much time and money risked for something that's not guaranteed to work.)
So I pulled out my walking foot and now the quilt is done. I'd rather that the quilting was a pretty meander, but it's not going to stay at my house and quilting with the walking foot is a completely acceptable way to finish it. So is machine stitching the binding.
I'm hoping now that this one is done I can tackle the free motion quilting drama with fresh eyes. Whatever happens with that, it feels good to have my first baby quilt finish in almost a year.
I love the top and backing. It's Bonnie Hunter's Lozenges, in the size that she intended for them to be. For the lozenge quilt I'm keeping, I'm making them much smaller. This one was fun to put together, but I think I'll be happier long term with the smaller pieces.
I like Walter and would love to see the whole back of him. It really looks like some cute fabric back there. Do you think your repair/cleaning person reset something in your machine to affect the free motion movement of your sewing? I would definitely be a little upset if this happened more than once after a spa treatment. I have never made any lozenges, but they look like fun with your scraps. You get a gold star for finishing your first for the year. Congrats.
ReplyDeleteCongrats on the lozenges quilt finish! It's so hard to keep trying to do something when it's not working out. You're doing better than me, though. I still have never quilted a quilt on my DSM, whether straight line or free motion. I'm so afraid I will mess it up after all the hard work/fun piecing it, I haven't even tried yet, and I have made many quilts. I'm practically paralyzed with fear! This seems so obvious but did you try changing the needle? It sounds like there could be a burr on it.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry to hear your story of FMQ woe! I'm glad you came up with a plan B and have a finish to share, though! I'm a straight-line quilter but just tried my hand at slight curves with my walking foot -- it was a blast!
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