Taking deep breaths

[notsewfast]

Hello everyone! I am just here to try and calm down and relax and read posts from all my quilt friends. I am not a great quilter, but I learn from each quilt I attempt to make. I love to quilt, but I am not the most patient person, so when something doesn’t go right, I question why I am even trying to quilt in the first place.

Today, I am having issues with the tension on my machine and at this point, I could easily shove my machine out the window (or off of a tall building) and not look back, but instead, I chose to come here and just relax with all of you.

Maybe I will try quilting again tomorrow, or maybe…I will just come here and read the forum and enjoy the pictures of the lovely quilts you post. Yeah, that sounds good. My unfinished quilt certainly isn’t going anywhere.

[stitchwishes]

Hugs and love, darlin! Been there, done that. I think that's what I'm enjoying so much about quilting though, is that if I need to switch gears there is always something else to do including just chatting about the perils of quilting. I'm no mechanic, but I love it when my machine balks because I like unscrewing the cover and poking about in it. Someone on the web has already posted info for how to fix it, and I enjoy learning how to do it (cheap machine though, I don't mind breaking).

If all else fails, I pull out fabric and pet it! Tomorrow we can start anew

[CraftHer]

Tension issues! Take a deep breath and walk away from the machine for a while. I put so much pressure on myself sometimes so I may be coming back for this same advice. Quilt on!

[MartinaG]

It sounds like this hobby is meant to teach you patience. Good plan to walk away and take a breather.

[Cathy F]

I think we've all experienced days like those, I know I have. Sometimes you just have to take a break and walk away to let your frustration settle. Hopefully when you go back to your machine you'll be able to fix the problem.

[Lightwriter]

Ummmm....know how you feel! Patience is not my forte either. I had one machine that kept tension problems. Had it worked on, no better. Finally took it to another guy knew what he was doing and he fixed it. Good luck deciphering your problem...it can be frustrating.

[Meghan Plamondon]

Oh you poor girl! I hate when this happens. I remember seeing a great tutorial from(?) Superior threads, or the needle guy , about when you have the wrong size needle for the thread you are using, it makes it seem like your tension is wrong. Threads will break and stitches wont come out correctly. I dont have the links in my little brain to post for you to watch, but maybe one of the more advanced quilters knows what I am talking about.
Also, one beginners trick I use for me is I will change my stitch to a straight or a zig zag stitch on a piece of scrap fabric, then run the machine a bit. When I come back to my good stitch, it seems to have healed itself. I dont know if any of this helps, but I wish you well.

[ceiliam]

Ok this is going to sound stupig take a deep breath rethread your machine and bobin. . i found sometimes this is issue also make sure no thread has broken. And is caugh in manchine.

[Carrie J]

AWWWW, don't feel bad, and you're not alone in that frustration. Take that deep breath, then return when the "throwing it out or over a tall building" passes. Just pretend you're setting it up for the first time, new bobbin, rethreaded, and try again. It'll work out, and trust me, we've all been in your shoes. My issue was REMBERING to make sure the tension discs were OPEN (e.g. FOOT UP) when threading, LOL! DUH!