I started having some trouble with my free motion work. At first, I was working with shredded thread. You may know the drill: stitch for about three minutes or so, and then screech to a halt, tie off some ends and begin again.
That got old, and I consulted Leah Day's site to find that I probably should switch out my needle for a fresh one. Done!
Then this happened on the back:
Ain't it lovely?
I hope you appreciate the fact that we have total honesty here at the Lilypad --- I show you my epic failures, as well as my successes!
I went back to Leah's site and decided to try her next suggestion . . . change threads. (Side note: Thank you, Leah, for all of the posts and tips on your site. I am in awe of your work, and having fun trying to improve my own!)
I found a gorgeous variegated green King Tut spool in my stash and decided that now was the time for all good threads to come to the aid . . . well, you get my drift. I ripped off the plastic and put that bad boy to work.
(Bowing) Hats off to Superior Threads and this wonderful King Tut product! Look how much better it's going:
I really like how the light and dark sections of thread look -- I'm all happy with variegated thread now!
It adds interest to the quilting without screaming "Look at me!" and distracting from the rest of the project.
I'm linking up with Leah today, for the UFO party --- and I hope to finish this one soon, and take it off the UFO list!
Love,
Oh I am so with you on that one girlfriend! I have had those loopy loops many times. I now only use Aurifil as my machine seems to like it, haven't tried anything else as..... I can't stand the thought of all that ripping out again!!!
ReplyDeleteI have been there, to the point where I wrote a blog post about Gutermann's poor customer service as they didn't reply to my complaint. Some big manager saw it, told me to email him, I did and no reply. Again. So the blog post stays up...
ReplyDeleteThing is it seems to vary from spool to spool, thread just isn't consistent but I only discovered this after screaming and shouting and changing the needle and the tension a billion times the day before Christmas, and I needed to have the quilt finished and washed for a gift! I'm with Sunnybec- I've never had a problem with Aurifil but it is a little more expensive.
Oh my! I hate it when thread does that...it can happen if you mis-thread your machine too...like when you hurry. I may be guilty of that...plus old thread has done badly with fmq. I adore the variegated you are using too!
ReplyDeleteOh....I hate that!! Looks great now though.
ReplyDeleteOh that would make me cry!!! I hope it didn't take very long to unpick all of that :( The new variegated thread looks perfect though!!!!!
ReplyDeleteThose loopy loops on the back are so annoying....you can go for a while before you discover them!
ReplyDeleteI've had the same problem and talked to the lady at my lqs about it. She told me to change the type of batting I was using, but never mentioned thread. Thanks for showing us your failures because it really is helpful!!!
ReplyDeleteGotta love King Tut threads
ReplyDeleteGlad it's working better for you! There is nothing more frustrating than messed up tension while quilting! Especially if you don't know it for a while and you chose really matching thread that's invisible when looking at the fabric!!!!!!! I speak from experience! LOL
ReplyDeleteWhat a pain in the butt, however; by changing the thread you've got something even better! It's looking gorgeous :)
ReplyDeleteThank you for showing us your bad times as well as your solutions! I too like aurofil for piecing and king tut variegated for quilting. Good going on finishing your UFO!
ReplyDeletei call mine jack the ripper we are very good friends
ReplyDeleteOh dear...I know thread can be a problem sometimes, I'm glad you fixed it.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great idea to go and check out her site...isn't the internet great? Leah is awesome!
ReplyDeleteLooks like you worked out all the kinks! I am a huge fan of Superior and of Leah's work. I would love to be as good as her someday. Good for you powering through!
ReplyDelete