Well today was the day I tried out my Juki machine and my quilting frame. My daughter had given me some off cuts from her dining room curtains, so I joined the strips together, found some old gingham fabric and some wadding scraps with the idea that I could make some place mats - and practice my quilting. Well it was a good job I didn't dive straight in with one of my quilt tops! Despite having my machine set up and checked by Martha (who I had bought the frame from) and using the threads she had given me.......I had trouble from the start.
Every few inches the thread broke. So I checked my threading, the tension etc. set off again and low and behold crunch....and broken thread. Changed the needle - but still no luck, other than one perfect row before the thread shredded again. Checked the internet for ideas.....and found advice saying that beginners to long arm quilting tend to have the fabric too tight (like a drum). Loose is the word, for tension apparently! So tried again, and admit to having more success. I managed perhaps four rows before the thread seemed to shred through the needle. What I noticed was that every now and then the thread seemed to fly off the spool and somehow twist itself into a knotted loop.....and of course when that reached the needle it caused problems. Not sure how to cure this. Perhaps speed has something to do with it. In the end I just wanted to finish and get this material off the frame. Only did wavy lines and laughed to myself because I could have managed this using the walking foot on my sewing machine! Anyway, the material is now cut into place mats so I now need to cut some binding.
