free motion quilting woes

I know it's a case of practice practice practice, but having briefly had a
chance to try it on a different machine, I was also aware that some of the
issues were related to my machine, I've tried googling with the machine
name, but I only come up with shop references, so I just went by brand and
that was a little more helpful. It's a Janome 423S, btw.

The best tip I picked up was to not drop the feed dogs! I tried that and
there was an instant improvement.

Another problem I'm having is tension, but I'm not entirely sure whether
it's how I move/the speed, or whether it really is the machine and the
problems mostly seem to be bobbin related, so is it possible I have to
adjust the bobbin thread tension? I'd expected to only have to adjust that
is I have a different to normal thickness thread in there.

As for moving the fabric around easily, I've tried it just on the machine
bed and with paper taped over, the paper was worse. I think I've got my
hands in an ok position, but that seems to leave me with about a 4inch
square where it's ok to quilt, is that what you'd expect?

Anne

I do free motion decorative stitches, embroidery and stippling quite a bit.
I went through all kinds of *&^&* getting it to come out like I "saw it in
my mind". I don't have a Janome, I have a Viking but I'm sure they make this
foot for your machine. Have you tried using a darning foot? The kind with
the round or sort of horseshoe shaped foot and spring thingy on the shaft.
Everything came together after this suggestion was made to me. Took care of
what I thought was the wonky tension problem and gave me a smother more even
stitch without constant battles. I also wear surgical gloves while I work.
It seems to give me a little better control of the fabric. There's just
enough 'tackiness' to move the fabric without having to grip to push/pull
move it so I can lay my hands further away and create a bit larger
motion/work area. (I have a friend who gets those rubber finger caps from
the office supply and wears these on her three middle fingers.) I hold my
hands so the most pressure comes from my three middle fingers, I seem to
hold my thumbs and pinkies up a bit. Not up, *UP*, but just barely any
pressure on the fabric, my hands didn't ache and get tired, seemed very
natural this way. When I used even pressure from all five digits pressing
down with my whole hand and shoving the fabric around I just didn't have the
control, the lighter touch not only did better but I found I was more
relaxed and didn't have to keep stopping to unclench my teeth and work kinks
out of my shoulders. I also keep my wrists straight with the natural inward
bend of my arms, sort of like the position your hands would be in if you
were typing on one of those ergonomic key boards. This takes an enormous
strain off you, also just naturally gives you a bit larger work area.

I hope some of these suggestions help you.
Val


"Anne Rogers" wrote in message
...
I know it's a case of practice practice practice, but having briefly had a
chance to try it on a different machine, I was also aware that some of the
issues were related to my machine, I've tried googling with the machine
name, but I only come up with shop references, so I just went by brand and
that was a little more helpful. It's a Janome 423S, btw.

The best tip I picked up was to not drop the feed dogs! I tried that and
there was an instant improvement.

Another problem I'm having is tension, but I'm not entirely sure whether
it's how I move/the speed, or whether it really is the machine and the
problems mostly seem to be bobbin related, so is it possible I have to
adjust the bobbin thread tension? I'd expected to only have to adjust that
is I have a different to normal thickness thread in there.

As for moving the fabric around easily, I've tried it just on the machine
bed and with paper taped over, the paper was worse. I think I've got my
hands in an ok position, but that seems to leave me with about a 4inch
square where it's ok to quilt, is that what you'd expect?

Anne

Your bobbin tension is probably OK. If your machine sews a plain straight
stitch with a regular presser foot and gives no problem, then I wouldn't
start tinkering with the bobbin. Lots of times, the problem is user speed.
Most machines perform better if the thread pulls out of the bobbin case in
the "normal" direction. When you free motion, of course, you are going in
all kinds of other directions. Try slowing down in the odd directions and
see if this helps. Replacing the needle more often can also help, as well as
using the needle size best suited to your thread. I've never used a Janome,
so no experience on your machine.

You need to move your hands. They do indeed make only a 4" window, so you
need to get used to shifting without loss of control. (Practice, practice) I
use the gloves with rubber nubs when maneuvering big quilts.
Roberta in D

"Anne Rogers" schrieb im Newsbeitrag
...
I know it's a case of practice practice practice, but having briefly had a
chance to try it on a different machine, I was also aware that some of the
issues were related to my machine, I've tried googling with the machine
name, but I only come up with shop references, so I just went by brand and
that was a little more helpful. It's a Janome 423S, btw.

The best tip I picked up was to not drop the feed dogs! I tried that and
there was an instant improvement.

Another problem I'm having is tension, but I'm not entirely sure whether
it's how I move/the speed, or whether it really is the machine and the
problems mostly seem to be bobbin related, so is it possible I have to
adjust the bobbin thread tension? I'd expected to only have to adjust that
is I have a different to normal thickness thread in there.

As for moving the fabric around easily, I've tried it just on the machine
bed and with paper taped over, the paper was worse. I think I've got my
hands in an ok position, but that seems to leave me with about a 4inch
square where it's ok to quilt, is that what you'd expect?

Anne

"Anne Rogers" wrote in message
...
I know it's a case of practice practice practice, but having briefly had a
chance to try it on a different machine, I was also aware that some of the
issues were related to my machine, I've tried googling with the machine
name, but I only come up with shop references, so I just went by brand and
that was a little more helpful. It's a Janome 423S, btw.


I use Machingers gloves. After having tried other quilting gloves, garden
gloves, finger cots, the horseshoe shaped thingy, etc, I find they are the
best.

I don't notice any difference in keeping the feed dogs up, so I don't.

I use the spring darning foot that came with my Janome 1600, but I've also
used a Big Foot on other machines with good success. Some machines are
better than others, but I like my Janome better than the Bernina or the
Pfaff, as far as free-motion is concerned. (The Bernina walking foot is the
best, however!)

I use lingerie thread in the bobbin. It blends in with the backing and
almost never shows on the front.

It really helps to have a large flat area around the machine. I have mine
set in a big table that allows me to open the drawer to my left and fit in a
temporary top piece. This gives me an L-shaped work area that really helps
in controlling the weight of a big quilt.

And don't forget the practice, practice, practice!!! You really do get
better. I can free-motion "in the ditch" almost perfectly now, and I never
thought I'd be able to.

Iris

Hi Anne, I also am working on my freemotion quilting. I'm far from
happy with the results. I have a Janome 5700. I always turn the
tension to 0 and stitch length to 0 before working. Somebody advised
this and ti seems to work better.

What did you mean about not dropping the feed dogs? Is this something
I missed? Unless I drop the feed dogs, then the fabric will just keep
hanging, I think. Can somebody fill me in?

Sunny

I have had to do the opposite with my machine as Sunny has but I have
a computerized babylock embroidery machine (not sure if yours is
computerized)

I found that no matter what speed I am moving the fabric at or what
speed I am running the machine at I need to have my stitch length set
to 3.5 and leave the tension set to auto. For some reason if the
stitch length is set to anything else the tension is totally off and
the stitches do not form properly at all.

I also use the machingers gloves and found that they stop hand fatigue
tremendously!

I also have another completely manual machine that says in the manual
can be used for free motion but I'll be damned if I can get the
settings all right to stitch properly so I just use it for piecing and
general sewing.

I do free motion decorative stitches, embroidery and stippling quite a bit.
I went through all kinds of *&^&* getting it to come out like I "saw it in
my mind". I don't have a Janome, I have a Viking but I'm sure they make
this foot for your machine. Have you tried using a darning foot?

I haven't tried a darning foot, I bought one and it was wrong, so I took it
back, but didn't get a different one, thing is, I can't see why it would
make an difference, my machine is one with a low shank anyway, so when I put
the "presser foot" down, the shank is almost on the fabric and not far from
the needle, so it keeps the fabric down and sort of serves the same purpose
as a foot would, it's just not around the needle.

I wonder about the gloves, it feels to me as if the issue with moving is
that it's not moving smoothly over the underneath, but I wonder if I had a
better grip on top then it might not be such an issue.

Anne

"Sunny" wrote in message
ups.com...
Hi Anne, I also am working on my freemotion quilting. I'm far from
happy with the results. I have a Janome 5700. I always turn the
tension to 0 and stitch length to 0 before working. Somebody advised
this and ti seems to work better.

interesting, I've played a bit with the top thread tension and the stitch
length, stitch length at zero definitely seemed to help, tension I'm not so
sure about, I've changed it, but it doesn't seem to make the difference one
would expect and it seems random whether I get too much bobbin up top, or
the bobbin thread bunching up completely on the bottom.


What did you mean about not dropping the feed dogs? Is this something
I missed? Unless I drop the feed dogs, then the fabric will just keep
hanging, I think. Can somebody fill me in?

i found it online and one person specifically mentioned that they had a
Janome and it helped, so I tried it, it made absolutely no difference to how
the fabric moved, I guess without a presser foot from the top, it's not
going to have nearly the same effect as when you do have a presser foot. It
did seem to make a difference in the stitching though, I just don't know
why!

Anne

Your bobbin tension is probably OK. If your machine sews a plain straight
stitch with a regular presser foot and gives no problem, then I wouldn't
start tinkering with the bobbin. Lots of times, the problem is user speed.
Most machines perform better if the thread pulls out of the bobbin case in
the "normal" direction. When you free motion, of course, you are going in
all kinds of other directions. Try slowing down in the odd directions and
see if this helps. Replacing the needle more often can also help, as well
as using the needle size best suited to your thread. I've never used a
Janome, so no experience on your machine.

the odd thing is, that after this session of quilting practice, when I went
back to piecing I did get bunching of the bobbin thread underneath and I
have occasionally had that before, for no apparent reason, the machine isn't
misthreaded or anything, rethreading sometimes sorts it out, sometimes
doesn't.

I replaced the needle to do this practicing, 80/12, which as far as I can
tell is the best one, it takes generic needles, so I can't see why it would
need a different size. I've even tried a specific quilting needle.

I rather suspect getting the machine serviced would be a good idea, I'll
have to decide whether to try and find a Janome servicer, or just use the
guy that picks up from the Viking department at JoAnns.

Anne

If you are sewing with a regular foot that is your problem, especially
with the feed dogs up!
An embroidery foot or a darning foot will press the fabric down just
at the point when the machine is forming the stitch then it will 'let
it go' for a moment allowing you to move it freely, therefore, free
motion.

You really need to find yourself a quilting, darning or embroidery
foot and give it a try again. Bring your machine into the shop and
have them try it on there instead of making a hundred trips before you
get the right one.