Ever make a bad purchase sometime in their life? Well, here's mine. Yep a quilt frame that uses a home sewing machine. Sounds perfect, especially if the budget is slim, and one cannot afford a longarm setup. I thought this would be the next best thing, and would be better than quilting a big quilt with just the home sewing machine.
All sounded good, looked easy enough, would speed up the process, and I would be cranking out all my quilt tops faster than one could blink! Ha! Ha! Not so...
In doing my first quilt on this frame, I chose a BOM that came from the same local quilt shop as this post (you can read about it here) , and again the materials were not the same throught the quilt, and was something I didn't think fit in the stellar column. Perfect for testing and practicing on the frame. So, I made leaders, pinned the quilt to them, rolled it up on the roller bars, and started the quilting. Yeah right! What a disaster......argh!
1. The thread broke a lot. I mean a lot. Especially if I didn't use the correct speed. If I went too fast the stitches would be too long, and the bobbin thread would pull up to the front of the quilt, and at some point very quickly the thread would break. If you went too slow, the bobbin thread would snarl and become a rat's nest on the back, and the thread would break. This meant, that I had to roll the machine back to one end or the other, rethread, and reload the bobbin, and then roll it back to where I had left off. I could only quilt a small area, and then I would have to stop and do all the steps to rethread the machine again..
2. The stitches were uneven and jerky, which I am sure is because home machines do not have a stitch regulator, and the mechanism that operated the foot pedal was inconsistent, thus causing the unsightly stitches. See number 1.
3. Quilting with my home machine only let me quilt about 7 inches, which is the "depth of the machines throat" by the width of the quilt. Then I had to stop and roll the quilt forward.
4. I needed to have more bobbins wound, because after going one and a half widths of the quilt, the bobbin would run out. I only had two empty bobbins to use on the project,so after three rows, I had to take apart a section of the frame to get to the machine in order to wind two bobbins.
It could also be a possibility that I might not be smart or patient enough to operate the frame! I know it was put together correctly, because hubby did that part, and he's very good and smart in thaat area (he even reads the paper directions!).
I did about a fifth of the quilt, and several days (did I say days?), yes days, I gave it up. Stopped. Quit. Done. Put it on Craigslist and couldn't get it out the door fast enough!
Here is a picture of what I considered a disaster.
Here is a picture of what the top looks like, just note another row of basket blocks over the fence.
Here is a close up of the basket block. I am a big fan of basket blocks, so I think rework this one someday. It would make a great charity quilt. I think? Maybe? Sigh.....
All sounded good, looked easy enough, would speed up the process, and I would be cranking out all my quilt tops faster than one could blink! Ha! Ha! Not so...
In doing my first quilt on this frame, I chose a BOM that came from the same local quilt shop as this post (you can read about it here) , and again the materials were not the same throught the quilt, and was something I didn't think fit in the stellar column. Perfect for testing and practicing on the frame. So, I made leaders, pinned the quilt to them, rolled it up on the roller bars, and started the quilting. Yeah right! What a disaster......argh!
1. The thread broke a lot. I mean a lot. Especially if I didn't use the correct speed. If I went too fast the stitches would be too long, and the bobbin thread would pull up to the front of the quilt, and at some point very quickly the thread would break. If you went too slow, the bobbin thread would snarl and become a rat's nest on the back, and the thread would break. This meant, that I had to roll the machine back to one end or the other, rethread, and reload the bobbin, and then roll it back to where I had left off. I could only quilt a small area, and then I would have to stop and do all the steps to rethread the machine again..
2. The stitches were uneven and jerky, which I am sure is because home machines do not have a stitch regulator, and the mechanism that operated the foot pedal was inconsistent, thus causing the unsightly stitches. See number 1.
3. Quilting with my home machine only let me quilt about 7 inches, which is the "depth of the machines throat" by the width of the quilt. Then I had to stop and roll the quilt forward.
4. I needed to have more bobbins wound, because after going one and a half widths of the quilt, the bobbin would run out. I only had two empty bobbins to use on the project,so after three rows, I had to take apart a section of the frame to get to the machine in order to wind two bobbins.
It could also be a possibility that I might not be smart or patient enough to operate the frame! I know it was put together correctly, because hubby did that part, and he's very good and smart in thaat area (he even reads the paper directions!).
I did about a fifth of the quilt, and several days (did I say days?), yes days, I gave it up. Stopped. Quit. Done. Put it on Craigslist and couldn't get it out the door fast enough!
Here is a picture of what I considered a disaster.
Originally I was just going to throw the whole mess out, but my Husband talked me out of it. I came across it the other day when I was reorganizing my sewing room. I pulled it out and began taking out all that messy stitching. Yes, I use a razor blade, rather than a seam ripper. I had it ripped out in no time!
Here is a picture of what the top looks like, just note another row of basket blocks over the fence.
Here is a close up of the basket block. I am a big fan of basket blocks, so I think rework this one someday. It would make a great charity quilt. I think? Maybe? Sigh.....
No comments:
Post a Comment