I got brave and turned on the longarm. I got up to the third section of approximately 15" before the problem started. I was actually thinking about what I would load next because it was going so well. About 5" in, the thread shredded. It's not unusual to have that happen once or twice in a big quilt so I rethreaded and checked my bobbin. It was pretty low and there was a little piece of lint under the arm on the bobbin case. I took care of that and started up again. The thread shredded again, I checked the needle, adjusted it slightly and started quilting again. In the rest of this section and most of the rest of the way down the quilt, I can only estimate the thread shredded at least 20 times. I changed the needle thinking it might be a bad one, changed to a different spool of thread. I finally got it to stitch almost all of the last 6" with it only shredding twice in the last 2 passes. Anyone who thinks a longarm is carefree and fast, well it is part of the time, not all of the time.
I chose organic straight line quilting because the Marcia Derse fabrics seemed to call for it.
Sometimes the lines were fairly straight.
Some lines had some bends in them, mainly because I'm walking along with the machine as I move it and that causes a little jerk now and then.
I'm pretty happy with the quilting but it took me over 4 hours to do what would have been 2.5 hours if everything had gone well.
I use my DSM for quilting and really like those organic straight lines. Will give them a try soon. Like the way your quilt turned out!
ReplyDeleteYour quilts are so inspiring,I really enjoy my morning visits to your blog! I have been longarming for others for 18 years and yes when it goes well it’s great but sometimes for who knows why things go sideways as yours did on this quilt. Longarming looks easy and smoothless and simple by the looks of a lot of Instagram reels however it can be quite humbling as well.
ReplyDeleteThose wavey, organic lines fit just perfectly with those fabrics--sorry you had such a hassle quilting it!! Must be frustrating...
ReplyDelete31.2 degrees this morning and not budging up any so far--we have a cold wind out of the east that makes it feel like 26 degrees--brrrr
hugs, Julierose
I'm working on a project and having the shredding issues too. I also have done the same steps you describe. It's frustrating.
ReplyDeletesorry you had so many issues with the quilting this time - the quilt looks great though and I love how you quilted it.
ReplyDeleteYour Gridlock is stunning. I like it so much. Of course, I've never met a Gridlock I DIDN'T like! I've made four myself and prolly am not done yet . . . .
ReplyDeleteI like how your blocks with the centers go from dark to light. That's very interesting and inspiring. Kudos for getting it all quilting and persevering through all the issues. Well done. ;^)
ReplyDeleteMy new longarm comes Thursday! I spent yesterday in class mostly learning about tension, how to adjust. and how to trouble-shoot. I'm not looking forward to that part of the process but I'm determined.
ReplyDeleteHow frustrating! Glad you persisted. The "organic" quilting is just right.
ReplyDeleteI'm certainly not an expert on longarms, but when I was having shredding problems, Don would check with his magnifiers the hole in the bottom coverplate. He would take a tiny piece / strip of fine emery cloth and very gently smooth the hole. It seems to develop small burs there. Usually it solved the problem. One other thing specific to Nolting - turn the needle very slightly to the right. I put a stright pin into the thread hole on the needle so I can tell where the hole is pointing. It is probably less than 5 degrees off exact center, but it sure helps. I do know that having lots of troubles makes me want to never quilt again. Hopefully you can get it straightened out.
ReplyDeleteI was doing some quilting about a week ago, it was going OK. Then the shredding started, I noticed the thread once again jumped out of the guide and the tension was off once I got it all corrected. UGH. Getting it straightened out will have to wait until I finish the binding on the king size quilt for DS & SO though.
ReplyDeleteSorry for the issues you had on this quilt. I'm glad you didn't gloss over it. It's reassuring to us beginners that things go wonky no matter how long one's been quilting.
I like the straight-ish line quilting on this quilt!
Anyone who longarms knows your frustration. Usually I can resolve a shredding issue by fiddling with the tension. What I don’t get is why you’re merrily quilting along and then all of a sudden things go south. Makes no sense. Anyway, your quilt is very colorful, and the quilting turned out beautifully! SueR at northwindsquilting
ReplyDeleteWhat day you had with your long arm. Reading how others have had the same issue does not sound like fun to me.
ReplyDeleteBut I sure like the uneven lines you created from it.
JJM
I changed the needle in my quilting machine yesterday and spent nearly 45 minutes getting it into perfect alignment to prevent shredding and skipped stitches. These are the things the show demonstrators never mention to those interested in buying a longarm. I do LOVE the look of your quilting on Gridlock - absolutely the right design for those MD fabrics.
ReplyDeleteThat's exactly my experience trying to FMQ on my domestic machine! It's so frustrating that I rarely even attempt it!
ReplyDeleteI've actually been thinking about this quilt recently. I'm thinking it might be on my upcoming list of quilts to make. I need to read the pattern and see how much help it gives in arranging fabrics.
it's beautiful! Sorry it was such a pain to get quilted!
I quilt on a Bernina Q24. Generally I'll use a size 14 or 16 needle and Mettler 50 and 60 wt. silk-finished cotton thread. I also like 50 wt. Aurifil Mako, and have sometimes used Glide. None of the Superior threads worked for me. I generally quilt with 10 spi and use a moderate speed over hand-guided pantos. I've found that synthetic threads are more prone to shredding, particularly when sewing over thick intersections. Maybe some of this will help, but I'm certainly no expert! You've been longarming for quite awhile, so this new problem is a mystery. Your quilts are beautiful. --Annette in Omaha, stormatsea@centurylink.net
ReplyDeleteAdded to say that the needles I use are Schmetz top-stitching. Annette in Omaha, stormatsea@centurylink.net
ReplyDeleteOh, boy do I know how that goes! I quilted two quilts with virtually no trouble, waited a couple of days and started on another and it was constant problems. Fortunately that one got done, too! And as you WELL know, the longarm is still so much better than the domestic regular sewing machine. I am thankful to have one!
ReplyDeleteI love the quilting you've done on this one, it is perfect!
Such a shame that you had these troubles whilst quilting Gridlock - which looks amazing!! I loved this pattern when I first saw the one Liza had in the Kaffe book.
ReplyDeleteThe quilting looks great; love those organic lines! Sorry to hear about the issues. I recently had a quilt that had constant problems with the thread shredding or breaking. I chalked it up to the crummy thread I was using, but now I can't remember which quilt it was I had the problems with. It took so much longer to quilt with all the stopping, starting and trimming threads! I am glad you fought your way thru the issues and got it quilted.
ReplyDeleteYou are right. Longarm ownership can be extremely frustrating at times!
ReplyDelete