Saturday, April 21, 2012

Learning New Things on my New-ish quilt machine...;-)

Put a new practice quilt on my frame - time to play w/stitch regulator and learn how to quilt with it:



At first, I thought it was me and my lack of experience, but after working with it for awhile, I came to realize my x-axis was not engaging properly and was causing all kinds of problems with irregular stitching, stops and starts, and just a plethora of issues.  I noticed the same issues when trying to use the stitch regulator on my last practice quilt - the whole-cloth stenciled quilt, which is why I quilted 90% of it in manual mode free-hand.  However, once I figured out what the actual challenge was, I was able to compensate well enough to get some fairly good stitching in, just can't SID cross-ways ;-)

Freehand stipple quilting w/stenciled hearts and crosshatched diamond borders

Improvement is Good!

The blue marks are chalk marks from pouncing in the stencil.  I was able to use my SR while quilting in the heart stencil pattern and for the diamond cross-hatching and the corner stones, but I had to go back to manual mode for the stipple quilting, since the x-axis was causing too many erratic stitches.

SR Stitch irregularities really show up on cross-hatching - notice the 2nd & 3rd diamond's large stitches :-(

Hopefully my software upgrade will arrive next week and will 'fix' my SR problem - we'll keep our fingers crossed...

Starting to 'like' how this is turning out...;-)

In spite of all the challenges w/SR, this was still really FUN and I learned I like ruler work so...like I always say...time to get back to the FUN!


Finished quilting - need some binding!

UPDATE 11/27/2012:  This Hearts of Blessings quilt will be shipping to a Hurricane Sandy survivor through a Bonnie K. Hunter connection. Please follow this link for more information: http://quiltville.blogspot.com/2012/11/more-quilts-for-sandy-survivors.html

Have a Great Weekend,
~Deb

4 comments:

  1. I really like that heart stencil design. The Tin Lizzy encoders have rubber "O" rings that need to be replaced about once a year - I've discovered this last week that it's time to replace them.....
    One feature I really like with the TL, if you press the SR 'button' while turning on the machine, that when you hit start the SR will very slowly move the needle - it helps eliminate those 'pause jump stitches' when slowing or changing directions. Anyway, now that I've been longwinded - I really like what you did with this quilt.

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  2. Thanks Miss Katie!

    I really enjoyed 'learning & experimenting' on this practice quilt and surprisingly, it turned out much better than I ever thought it would ;-)

    I've heard the Tin Lizzy is a really nice machine. Sounds like you'll be back in the quilting saddle with a little maintenance - guess we all have to do it, don't we?! But it's sooo worth it when they're working properly. So far I LOVE my machine and once everything is upgraded I'm going to be one happy camper I do believe.

    Thanks for stopping by - Please do come back again and often...

    Happy Quilting!
    ~Deb

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  3. It is looking great Deb! I hope when I finally order my machine my quilting will look as good. Paper for now, it is!

    Amanda

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  4. Thanks Amanda!

    The stitch regulator (SR) is my new secret weapon and will be yours, too - allows you and your stitches to look great right out of the box on the first day ;-). Now that mine's fixed, I'm NEVER going back without it - what a maarvelous invention...

    Keep practicing on paper or whatever - it does transfer to the machine! I practiced my first pantograph for well over a week and when I finally got a quilt ready for it, quilted like I'd done it all my life and that was on a 9" Viking MegaQuilter. No one would believe me that it was my first panto with NO SR!

    You are going to LOVE your new machine - keep us ALL posted on your progress ;-)

    Happy Practicing!
    ~Deb

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