skipped stitches

[Teri L.]

It's possible, mmm, probable that the problem might be the spool of thread itself. Every once in a while this happens where a spool is just bad. Try a different spool if you can and lower the tension more. Really, you gotta trust me on this one. Right now I have a quilt that has been glued to death and then I spray basted it. I'll show the quilt on my blog when I can. I used invisible thread in the top and Bottom line in the bottom for a good deal of the quilting, I dropped the tension to zero and had no problem whatsoever.

Make sure too that the quilt is not tugging around the needle. Paula Reid says "fluff and stuff" fluff it up around the needle flatten it out with your hands and go to. This does mean readjusting hand and quilt position frequently however this gives you great control.

I can't stress enough to really lower that tension. Bob Purcell gave a tension demonstration on the show with Beth Ferrier or the one before and explained a few awesome things about tension, what the tension preset is and why to go lower, down to zero if needed.

Happier quilting!
Teri

[Teri L.]

Thanks Teri, I'm behind on watching the shows so maybe I can get caught up on those this weekend too. I definitely will change spools, this one is getting low, and doesn't seem "tightly wound" now. (of course, when Bottom Line gets low, that means there's probably a zillion yards left to go!) But I do have a brand new spool at home so it'll go on today when I get home. I do "fluff and stuff" -- tried that rolling & folding thing one time & thought my shoulders would break!
Will report back later!
Florence

[Teri L.]

I just read through this thread, good information. Florence I can't wait to see this quilt when you are done. Did you use the Shelley Swanland method?

[Teri L.]

yes, it's Shelly Swanland's... and it does work, but I just made this WAY too big for a first go at it! (quilt is big, windows are small.... LOTS of them!) And it weighs a ton! If I get this thread issue done, I might just finish on time, or at least close. This neice lives in NJ so I might not see her before her graduation anyway...

[Teri L.]

Shelly is a wonderful person, I have meet her several times. She use to live close to my father and became really good friends with my Step mother who is a quilter. I have a signed copy of her book and several of her patterns, but I have not made one of her quilts yet. I am looking forward to seeing yours.

[Patti P.]

Florence do you have the thread spool upright or on the horizontal feed? Try switching. Also this pinched nerve I've had incapacitating me for 3 months I attribute to tension in my back from trying to learn machine quilting (and driving in the snow). The day before my back went out I remember thinking, Geezsh I better be careful, it feels like my back's been tense for weeks!