WHAT I LEARNED TODAY:

Ok, so....I'm done with the top of my Quilt of Valor and it's all sandwiched and ready to quilt. I'm learning to use my new machine and it's time to FMQ. I had a senior moment (you know what I mean) and couldn't remember if I wanted to set my thread tension or stitch length to ZERO (according to Leah Day), and I wasn't sure which was which on my machine because it's not "manual" like my Pfaff was, and I changed the WRONG one. (still not sure which I changed). I was AMAZED at how my FMQing just sailed along, no thread breaking, no skipped stitches....it was going swimmingly!!! (I don't really know if that's a word, if it isn't I just made it one!) I sailed through WELL over half that quilt. I was like "Yeah baby! I'm doin' it NOW!! This machine ROCKS". DH was doin' a little happy dance in the living room cuz....Mama's happy. My machine was humming to the beat of my heart. We were one my machine and I. This is really livin.....

I decided to take a break, check my work, finish tomorrow. Now....this is where the "what I learned" comes in. Remember on the tutorial Jenny's daughter did about FMQing? And....remember when she said "take a few stitches, and turn your work over and check the back"? Remember? You heard it. I remember hearing it. I sure wish I'd followed her advice, because when I looked at the back to see if it looked as incredible as the front...you guessed it...."eyelashes" (you know, right?) HALF the quilt. And you know what I did with my morning coffee today? Pick. Pick. Pick. Rip. Rip. Rip. HALF the quilt.

"Take a few stitches and turn it over and check your work" Lesson. Learned.

Aww..Libby, so sorry

Hey....it's OK! I learned. I was in my sewing room (my most favorite place) and it was fixed and done right before the end of the day. All's well that ends well, right?

Awe Libby,that just stinks. I have yet to figure out how to keep that from happening. I can do fine on practice sandwich, but the min I start on real quilt..., well let's just say I am glad my DGK's are not anywhere within ear shot. LOL

Thats i just so painful! What do you think caused that? I fixed my FMQ problems by putting the tension on manual instead of auto

Oh Bugger - What a time consuming way to learn a lesson - better luck next time

OMG been there, done that......mine was embroidery on a quilt. If I have something like that happen - I can't leave it I have to pick it out. I saw a machine embroidery eraser....I think I'm going to order it and see how it works.

Live and learn huh. Don't we all live and learn?

I am so sorry :( That is a lot of "frog sewing" (rip it, rip it) At least when I have had that problem it seems like the eyelashy stuff is easier to remove since it is so loose - but still awful!! I hope all goes better today :)

Libby....How disappointing and aggravating. (((Hugger)))) Barb

Doesn't it always seem that when everything is going a little to "swimmingly" and we get a little too happy and amazed at our sewing..........then wham......you find out what was going wrong or what you forgot or....... :) Thank goodness for seam rippers!

I have done that same thing.. REMEMBER---take a few stitches, turn and check the back...

Been there and done that too many times. I have learned that there are many reasons that create eyelashes on the back of quilts. The most important one for me was to NOT lower feed dogs but to lower stitch length to 0 (zero) and yes, take a few stitches and check the back. Have you adjusted your darning foot as suggested by Leah Day? I have done all three of mine and it really makes a difference but it took several attempts with the elastic to get it just right.
Dena

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Jean Sewing Machine

Thats i just so painful! What do you think caused that? I fixed my FMQ problems by putting the tension on manual instead of auto

---

Oh Jean....it was totally a tension issue! Once I put all the settings back to where they were....everything worked GREAT! I love my new machine, it'll do whatever you want it to.....you just have to LET IT!

I know this sounds really awful, but I honestly chalk it up to a learning experience. While ripping it out I thought about what I was going to tell all you quilters about my snafu! Seriously, whenever I make a mistake like this, and I'm able to figure out where I went wrong...it's like "well, now I know how to do it right"....and I move on! I've been frustrated to tears before, don't get me wrong. Which is what motivated DH to buy me this new machine! There's a learning curve to anything that's worth doing, quilting is something I love and want to improve on. I want to live up to what recipients of my quilts think of me! Make sense?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by EnumclawGramma

I know this sounds really awful, but I honestly chalk it up to a learning experience. While ripping it out I thought about what I was going to tell all you quilters about my snafu! Seriously, whenever I make a mistake like this, and I'm able to figure out where I went wrong...it's like "well, now I know how to do it right"....and I move on! I've been frustrated to tears before, don't get me wrong. Which is what motivated DH to buy me this new machine! There's a learning curve to anything that's worth doing, quilting is something I love and want to improve on. I want to live up to what recipients of my quilts think of me! Make sense?

---

I'm glad you got it all working....I'm looking forward to seeing your finished quilt :)

Glad to know you got it done right. It is always frustrating to have things go bonkers. I when I start to do my quilting I will remember to look. Thanks.

Oh what a mess.. that is really annoying.
So you've put the tension down to zero... I am sure, that won't happen to you again lol

btw, I have a question. I know that Leah Day advises to put the stitchlength down to zero when FMQing. But the stitchlength ist normally controlled by the dogteeth/dogfeet (sorry, I always forget the word :( ). If you want to FMQ, you put these dogfeetteethwhatever down so the fabric is only moved by your hands.
WHY on earth have I then to put down the stitchlength??? in FMQ I control the stitchlength by moving the fabric faster or slower.
That is something I reallyreally don't understand. Could anyone be so friendly and explain that to me?
Thanks s lot.

Thankey for sharing your experience Libby! I'm sure gonna check mine when I start FMQ.. Gosh, I've had to learn things the hard way too, so often... But at least we learn, and living is about learning!