Here is where I was when I had to stop:
Ms. Kitty has been making strange noises for weeks, but aside from some broken threads here and there, not much was happening, UNTIL...I finished all the thread sketching shown above and started doing a simple meandering motif (you can see some of it on the right side) as filler. I am going to be using this motif for my Bee Happy quilt, so why not practice a little ahead of time, right? Well, Ms. Kitty disagreed. She was clunking loudly, skipping stitches, and practically spitting thread. There were suddenly problems underneath. I picked out a large portion and tried again but no go. I re-needled, re-threaded, turned her off/on, and for a few moments on my test piece, she was fine. But, when I went back to my placemat, more problems and they were getting worse. And now my test pieces were looking ugly too:
Look OK to you? Perhaps a minor tension issue? Well this is what it looked like underneath:
The top 6 rows were at my usual tension for free motion. In the middle I turned it up a few numbers. At the bottom and side, I turned my tension all the way up (higher than I have ever gone before), but there was still clunking and skipped stitches. Ms. Kitty evidently needs a trip to the spa.
I was able to finish the backing for my Bee Happy quilt earlier in the week before all this happened.
I think LM was right in the earlier post, about the "gold" fabric, it is not great. Luckily, the front doesn't have much of it, but you know how I dislike leftover fabric. I HAD to use it in the backing, especially with so much. Close up, it is cute:
Very "Bee-ish". But take a few steps back, and yikes! Not for everyone. Perhaps if I start to think of it as Honey, it might sweeten my thoughts?
Hi Jen,
ReplyDeleteI like your Bee Happy with the honeycomb fabric. It looks really cool. Your little dragon flies are lovely. So sorry that Miss Kitty is having issues and not forming stitches properly. Did you try to adjust the bottom tension screw? I had a sewing machine leaving big loops on the bottom side, when the bobbin tension screw was so loose it had almost fallen out of the bobbin case. A couple a twists with a mini screwdriver and that machine was purring like a kitten.