Little balls of bobbin thread from free motion quilting

Hi! I am new to the group and am thrilled to be getting so many great
tips from reading all of your posts.

I have a question about free motion quilting. When I stop the machine
to reposition my hands while free motion quilting there is a tiny (a
few stitches worth) that is a little more dense on the back of the
quilt than on the front of the quilt. On the front of the quilt you
can't really tell where I've started or stopped. It's just driving me
nuts to see these little "spots" on the back of the quilt that show
where I've repositioned my hands.

Has anyone else had this problem and does anyone have advice for how to
fix it? (I'm using a darning foot with the feed dogs down.)

Thank you so much for your replies,
Micimacko
(My name is Stephanie, but my nickname is Micimacko--which is Winnie
the Pooh's name in Hungarian. My husband is from Hungary and that is
his nickname for me.)

It's a hand-eye thing. You only get those build-up spots when you keep
sewing and stop moving. Practice on a piece of batting sandwiched between
scraps: take your foot off the pedal at the same time as you stop moving the
quilt, and be sure to keep moving through turns and corners. After a while
it becomes second-nature and you will get many fewer of those spots.

I see the same thing on beginner's longarm quilting: it's a sure sign that
the person doing the work isn't a seasoned pro....one of my students showed
me a quilt she paid a fortune to have quilted that had dozens of those blobs
wherever the quilter stopped to change direction. The student was really
pleased with the quilting, so I didn't say anything, other than "I'd check
out other prices before you have the next one done."

--
Kim Graham
http://members.shaw.ca/kigraham
Nanaimo, BC, Canada
THE WORD IN PATCHWORK


"Micimacko" wrote in message
oups.com...
Hi! I am new to the group and am thrilled to be getting so many great
tips from reading all of your posts.

I have a question about free motion quilting. When I stop the machine
to reposition my hands while free motion quilting there is a tiny (a
few stitches worth) that is a little more dense on the back of the
quilt than on the front of the quilt. On the front of the quilt you
can't really tell where I've started or stopped. It's just driving me
nuts to see these little "spots" on the back of the quilt that show
where I've repositioned my hands.

Has anyone else had this problem and does anyone have advice for how to
fix it? (I'm using a darning foot with the feed dogs down.)

Thank you so much for your replies,
Micimacko
(My name is Stephanie, but my nickname is Micimacko--which is Winnie
the Pooh's name in Hungarian. My husband is from Hungary and that is
his nickname for me.)

I have been having the same problem, Now I know what is happening. Is there
anything you can do with those spots once they are in your project.
Thanks Happy New Year everyone!!!


"KI Graham" wrote in message
news:yhhtf.221931$Gd6.68973@pd7tw3no...
It's a hand-eye thing. You only get those build-up spots when you keep
sewing and stop moving. Practice on a piece of batting sandwiched between
scraps: take your foot off the pedal at the same time as you stop moving
the quilt, and be sure to keep moving through turns and corners. After a
while it becomes second-nature and you will get many fewer of those spots.

I see the same thing on beginner's longarm quilting: it's a sure sign that
the person doing the work isn't a seasoned pro....one of my students
showed me a quilt she paid a fortune to have quilted that had dozens of
those blobs wherever the quilter stopped to change direction. The student
was really pleased with the quilting, so I didn't say anything, other than
"I'd check out other prices before you have the next one done."

--
Kim Graham
http://members.shaw.ca/kigraham
Nanaimo, BC, Canada
THE WORD IN PATCHWORK


"Micimacko" wrote in message
oups.com...
Hi! I am new to the group and am thrilled to be getting so many great
tips from reading all of your posts.

I have a question about free motion quilting. When I stop the machine
to reposition my hands while free motion quilting there is a tiny (a
few stitches worth) that is a little more dense on the back of the
quilt than on the front of the quilt. On the front of the quilt you
can't really tell where I've started or stopped. It's just driving me
nuts to see these little "spots" on the back of the quilt that show
where I've repositioned my hands.

Has anyone else had this problem and does anyone have advice for how to
fix it? (I'm using a darning foot with the feed dogs down.)

Thank you so much for your replies,
Micimacko
(My name is Stephanie, but my nickname is Micimacko--which is Winnie
the Pooh's name in Hungarian. My husband is from Hungary and that is
his nickname for me.)

I don't know whether this would work in this situation; but, when I have
little 'sticky-out' bits on the back I have sometimes been able to push
them back 'inside' with the eye end of a needle (into the hole they came
out of - if you see what I mean!).
..
In message , Audrey
writes
I have been having the same problem, Now I know what is happening. Is there
anything you can do with those spots once they are in your project.
Thanks Happy New Year everyone!!!
--
Best Regards
pat on the hill

Welcome Micimacko
I am a big Winnie the Pooh fan g)
My only thought was the answer Kim has given about stopping. I had to
get used to stopping a tiny bit sooner, because my machine always
finishes the stitch it is on. However, if you are quilting with the
needle set in the 'finish down' position, the machine might go on that
tiny bit more, ie not stop instantly, and so the extra little stitch on
the back - you are right that you can see nothing on the front.
..
In message .com,
Micimacko writes
Hi! I am new to the group and am thrilled to be getting so many great
tips from reading all of your posts.

I have a question about free motion quilting. When I stop the machine
to reposition my hands while free motion quilting there is a tiny (a
few stitches worth) that is a little more dense on the back of the
quilt than on the front of the quilt. On the front of the quilt you
can't really tell where I've started or stopped. It's just driving me
nuts to see these little "spots" on the back of the quilt that show
where I've repositioned my hands.

Has anyone else had this problem and does anyone have advice for how to
fix it? (I'm using a darning foot with the feed dogs down.)

Thank you so much for your replies,
Micimacko
(My name is Stephanie, but my nickname is Micimacko--which is Winnie
the Pooh's name in Hungarian. My husband is from Hungary and that is
his nickname for me.)


--
Best Regards
pat on the hill

The 'balls' occur when the needle is still sewing and the fabric is not
moving, soooo slow down a bit before you stop. Practice, practice,
practice, etc. Like everything new, the more you do, the easier it gets.
Nancycog in MD

Can't help as I'm still a beginner at machine quilting, but welcome to the
group!

--
Wendy (also a Pooh fan)
http://griffinsflight.com/Quilting/quilt1.htm
De-STUFF email address to reply
"Micimacko" wrote in message
oups.com...
Hi! I am new to the group and am thrilled to be getting so many great
tips from reading all of your posts.

I have a question about free motion quilting. When I stop the machine
to reposition my hands while free motion quilting there is a tiny (a
few stitches worth) that is a little more dense on the back of the
quilt than on the front of the quilt. On the front of the quilt you
can't really tell where I've started or stopped. It's just driving me
nuts to see these little "spots" on the back of the quilt that show
where I've repositioned my hands.

Has anyone else had this problem and does anyone have advice for how to
fix it? (I'm using a darning foot with the feed dogs down.)

Thank you so much for your replies,
Micimacko
(My name is Stephanie, but my nickname is Micimacko--which is Winnie
the Pooh's name in Hungarian. My husband is from Hungary and that is
his nickname for me.)

yep! Seems to be no rhyme or reason to it - just happens now and again.
We've had lots of discussion about "rat tails" on the back and everyone has
an idea about how to fix them. I just live with them.

--
http://community.webshots.com/user/snigdibbly
SNIGDIBBLY
~e~
"
/ \
http://members.ebay.com/aboutme/snigdibbly.
http://www.ebaystores.com/snigdibbly...ox&refid=store
"Micimacko" wrote in message
oups.com...
Hi! I am new to the group and am thrilled to be getting so many great
tips from reading all of your posts.

I have a question about free motion quilting. When I stop the machine
to reposition my hands while free motion quilting there is a tiny (a
few stitches worth) that is a little more dense on the back of the
quilt than on the front of the quilt. On the front of the quilt you
can't really tell where I've started or stopped. It's just driving me
nuts to see these little "spots" on the back of the quilt that show
where I've repositioned my hands.

Has anyone else had this problem and does anyone have advice for how to
fix it? (I'm using a darning foot with the feed dogs down.)

Thank you so much for your replies,
Micimacko
(My name is Stephanie, but my nickname is Micimacko--which is Winnie
the Pooh's name in Hungarian. My husband is from Hungary and that is
his nickname for me.)

Use a backing fabric that will hide the stitches.

joan

Thank you all so much for your replies. I'm quilting on some
"practice" material now that will become the inside of my 3 year old
daughter's winter coat--so this is perfect material to practice on.
The back of the quilting will be on the inside of the coat. (My kiddo
is allergic to polyester so I'm making her a cotton coat with a nylon
shell. We live in Michigan. Brrrr....)

I'm going to go and practice some more and I'll let you know how it
goes!

Thanks again. ;-)