Grrr, Wanting Something for Nothing & No Appreciation for Fine Hand Quilting....A Rare Speckledhen

[speckledhen]

I tried and tried free motion! Could absolutely not get the fabric to move at all through the machine, got all sorts of stitch lengths, it was a complete disaster. I want to do it so badly, but I can't get it to move, it's like it's just stuck there without the feed dogs to pull it through.

 

[DuckLady]

Did you remember to drop your feed dogs?


You could try stsiching with the walking foot a quarter or a half inch off the seam. For me this easier than stitch in the ditch.

Free motion takes practice. I have a stitch regulator on my long arm so when I do meandering quilting, it's even.

 

[LadyHawkeAvry]

I tried and tried free motion! Could absolutely not get the fabric to move at all through the machine, got all sorts of stitch lengths, it was a complete disaster. I want to do it so badly, but I can't get it to move, it's like it's just stuck there without the feed dogs to pull it through.

I do it by sound. I stitch slowly, move when the needle raises (when the foot is also up and out of the way), and stop when it falls - following the Ka-Chunk sound of my machine. Since you don't have the dogs engaged, you have to do everything manually. They make frames you can hold onto to make it easier to slide the fabric, but I haven't tried one out yet. I just hold the fabric tight by hand. By moving to a rhythm, you can get a much more even stitch length. It also takes a bit to get used to being able to stitch in any direction. Essentially, you just move the fabric around and the stitching follows. Having sewn for years before I got into quilting, it really felt counter-intuitive at first. The circular free motion foot didn't have any of the landmarks I was used to seeing on my regular foot, so I had to figure out where my needle was going to hit, and learn how to keep it on target. Eventually, you will hit a speed that feels just right, and your stitches will no longer be all over the place or suddenly randomly heading off at some strange angle (I have made some pretty strange looking stitches!!)

 

[speckledhen]

Did you remember to drop your feed dogs?


You could try stsiching with the walking foot a quarter or a half inch off the seam. For me this easier than stitch in the ditch.

Free motion takes practice. I have a stitch regulator on my long arm so when I do meandering quilting, it's even.

Terrie! So happy to have you on one of my threads again!

Yes, I did drop the feed dogs and the quilt just sits there, it's like it just doesn't want to go anywhere and I can't control it at all, what with trying to shove it through the machine and "draw" with the needle at the same time.

I agree that a quarter inch off the seam would probably be much easier than in the ditch. Remember, this is that little Brother CS-6000i you guys gave me a few years ago. I know it's mostly me, not the machine, and I try to remind myself that I didn't develop my hand quilting skill overnight, either. I'm not giving up yet.

 

[LadyHawkeAvry]

Did you remember to drop your feed dogs?


You could try stsiching with the walking foot a quarter or a half inch off the seam. For me this easier than stitch in the ditch.

Free motion takes practice. I have a stitch regulator on my long arm so when I do meandering quilting, it's even.

I would have so many less tops awaiting quilting with a longarm!

 

[speckledhen]

I do it by sound. I stitch slowly, move when the needle raises (when the foot is also up and out of the way), and stop when it falls - following the Ka-Chunk sound of my machine. Since you don't have the dogs engaged, you have to do everything manually. They make frames you can hold onto to make it easier to slide the fabric, but I haven't tried one out yet. I just hold the fabric tight by hand. By moving to a rhythm, you can get a much more even stitch length. It also takes a bit to get used to being able to stitch in any direction. Essentially, you just move the fabric around and the stitching follows. Having sewn for years before I got into quilting, it really felt counter-intuitive at first. The circular free motion foot didn't have any of the landmarks I was used to seeing on my regular foot, so I had to figure out where my needle was going to hit, and learn how to keep it on target. Eventually, you will hit a speed that feels just right, and your stitches will no longer be all over the place or suddenly randomly heading off at some strange angle (I have made some pretty strange looking stitches!!)

Thank you for that description. I guess it will just take time to get used to a completely different skill. Would it help to try it with just two layers of fabric without batting to get a better feel for it? I don't have a lot of batting I can use for practice but I do have a good bit of fabric.

I would have so many less tops awaiting quilting with a longarm!

Sure would!

 

[LadyHawkeAvry]

Thank you for that description. I guess it will just take time to get used to a completely different skill. Would it help to try it with just two layers of fabric without batting to get a better feel for it? I don't have a lot of batting I can use for practice but I do have a good bit of fabric.

Sure would!

You can totally skip the batting since it's really just the motor skill you are getting used to!

 

[speckledhen]

You can totally skip the batting since it's really just the motor skill you are getting used to!

Okay, just tried that. Nope. The darning foot is nowhere near the fabric, too much space under it even with the presser foot down and when I tried to run the machine, the thread just tangled up in place-and I did just clean it all out and put in a new bobbin. Trying again with a little square of batting I found. I'm beyond frustrated with myself. I HAVE to learn to free motion quilt or I'm stuck doing things the long way around every single time.

Here is what I am still doing after numerous tries. I cannot, cannot get the fabric to make a smooth curve or get small stitches. These are loooooong, uneven stitches. I can't even follow a line I drew with a chalk marker. It's like a runaway horse.
Feed dogs down, darning foot on, set at 01 so that the needle position is centered, stitches at 3 mm

 

[LadyHawkeAvry]

Okay, just tried that. Nope. The darning foot is nowhere near the fabric, too much space under it even with the presser foot down and when I tried to run the machine, the thread just tangled up in place-and I did just clean it all out and put in a new bobbin. Trying again with a little square of batting I found. I'm beyond frustrated with myself. I HAVE to learn to free motion quilt or I'm stuck doing things the long way around every single time.

Here is what I am still doing after numerous tries. I cannot, cannot get the fabric to make a smooth curve or get small stitches. These are loooooong, uneven stitches. I can't even follow a line I drew with a chalk marker. It's like a runaway horse.
Feed dogs down, darning foot on, set at 01 so that the needle position is centered, stitches at 3 mm

Looks like my first few attempts! Do you have a free motion foot?

 

[speckledhen]

Looks like my first few attempts! Do you have a free motion foot?

Yep, that's what I'm using. This one:


Where is your tension? I think it's supposed to be high, right? Mine was definitely too low, made those little hitches on the back along the seam so I picked all the stitching out of that swatch, raised the tension and will try again, but it may be tomorrow since it's so late now. Thank you for your patient help and advice! I appreciate it!