Monday, September 24, 2012

Threads breaking



I'm working on machine quilting a project made with the above lovely bundle.  I'm pulling my hair out. It's a large quilt, and the fricken thread is breaking over and over and over and over and over and over and over.   Get my point?

I've tried:
-rethreading from top to bottom.
-cleaning out all lint from the nooks and crannies
-adjusting tension
-denim needles
-microtex needles
-quilting needles
-a variety of brands of thread including Guterman, Connecting Threads, Serger Thread (gasp!) Empire Threads (British), and of course,Aurifil, the beloved brand of many.  I love it for piecing, but this project it is breaking every.darn.minute.  My last project I tried King Tut, which seemed to win the debate of Aurifil vs KingTut, but my local quilt shop is 1/2 hour away and I'm too lazy to fight traffic to get down there.

HELP!!!!  So my project gets quilting in 1 hour blocks, because the swear words are surfacing randomly and that's just not enjoyable.   It's also not enjoyable when it's my first quilting project back from my summer vacation hiatus.

Perhaps it's my quilting design? Am I too fast?  It doesn't happen on the curves...but on the straight aways.  Is my machine just vengeful at me for neglecting it so much?

Ah, it's good to vent.

This project is really cool.  I'm trying to think of a name.  This fabric,  Mama Said Sew by Sweetwater is blacks/greys/whites and reds.   My quilt is shades of greys, a few blacks and a hint of red.   I was thinking Shades Of Grey...but that's too E.L. James'ish and somehow erotica and quilting make me blush.   Then I started getting giddy...I do have a few spots of red in my quilt....Red Room of Pain?
enough.
Modern Greys?
Urban Shades?
I think it will be called greys black and red quilt.

12 comments:

  1. Nothing worse! I am by no means an expert but my quilting has improved 100% since I started to use a Topstitch needle. With 50# Aurifil thread, top and bottom, I use a 80/12 or 90/14 needle.

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  2. How about Black and White and Red all over?

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  3. Maybe your sandwich is too tight.

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  4. Did you take off the plate over the feed dogs and clean out the feed dogs? Have you taken the bottom off the machine and cleaned the lint out of the gears underneath? Is there a broken thread caught in the bobbin mechanism? Have you oiled the machine? Is the thread hanging up somewhere along the thread path? Have you delinted between the tension disks? I only use topstitch needles. What kind of fabric are you using the back of the quilt? You can email if you want and maybe we can figure it out.

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  5. are you long arm quilting or on the domestic machine? try a different kind of thread then, maybe the thread is a DUD? or new needle, or cleaning your sewing machine inside?

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  6. Take your machine in for some love, and a hard look at the tension. Bring it to the spot by me, pay the $10 extra for a rush job, and we'll visit.

    PS The owner of Mama Said Sew in Ft. Collins' names is Angela Grey. You could name the quilt after her (she's pretty awesome, BTW) since the fabric line was named after her store.

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  7. Hm . . . maybe Newsworthy? Or perhaps Blushing Zebra? LoL Now I've got jokes in my head! Hehe

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  8. Bless your heart, I've had those days too. Mine ended up being a faulty bobbin case, but who knew!?! I was out of quilting (not sewing, piecing, just the quilting part - different machine) for about 5 months. Hang it there...yes, I did all that you named, plus tears...no fun....
    hugs, pokey

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  9. Back away from the quilt and the machine.... Walk away, walk away.

    Then come back and talk sweet nothings to it....

    But seriously? I would be tempted to take mine in. One thing? Did you make sure there wasn't any stray threads wrapped around anything in the upper tension area? I have that problem frequently with my embroidery machine!

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  10. Check your throat plate for any nicks,it can cut the thread, same with the bobbins.

    Is it breaking on the top or the bottom? Speed shouldn't impact on straight lines.

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  11. karyn o 12:19 AM

    Black, white and red (read) all over....

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  12. Just had the same problem. Did not have the new needle inserted properly. Cost me $35 to find that out.

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