I Should Have Known Better

The Bailey was working so well on the practice quilt.  I was pretty sure that the tension problems I was having had to do with the batting, the frame, the carriage, the Sew Control, the needle, the bobbin winding, the needle, the bobbin case, the bobbin winding,  the needle, the hook, the needle, the frame, the carriage, the needle, the Sew Control, the carriage, the foot.   I addressed each of these issues several times. 

The last time I ran out of bobbin thread I decided to clean the darn thing.  I always clean the hook, the race and the bobbin case with each bobbin change.  It is a class 15 machine so I replace bobbins about every time I wind the quilt onto the take up bar.  Or more often.

This time I took the cover off of the gears and oiled the shaft behind the gears.  The cover comes right off.  See photo below.

  The gears were fine. There was very little lint on the gears.   I would be happier if the gears were both metal.  One is, one is not.  Go figure. 

I oiled and cleaned the shuttle driver shaft.  I just flushed it with oil, ran the machine and wiped away the spewed off dirt.  The second time I did it I found this.

The shuttle driver is clean now.  I flushed some more Tri-flow through there, ran the machine and wiped the spew until the Q tips were no longer dirty.

I also spent some time looking through my stash of hooks and found one that looks very similar.  It was noisier, I thought, so I polished the OEM hook (if you can call it that) that came with the Bailey and put it back in.  The thing is still noisy but the stitches are much improved and I am back to having some fun.

The Bailey needs a permanent home.  I have no room for the Behemoth anywhere in the house.  OK, it will fit in the living room but that would require moving the TV and the couch and a chair.  I am willing.  I think Steven might be, but I haven't suggested it.  For now it is in the guest  apartment.   Next time I need to move it for company I may have to reconsider.

 I pin a piece of fabric on each side so that I can quilt right up to the edge.  The bungie cord clamps help keep the sides taught and if I have enough extra border fabric on the sides, I don't have to do this. 

I found these magnets amidst the South River Parts stash.  I have found a good use for them, I think.

The little white things are L size Magna Glide prewound bobbins.  I am winding Signature thread bobbins.  I do like the Magna Glide.  They produce a nice consistent stitch.  You have a choice of colors too, black or white.

 

Here we go loop dee loo

I finished Molly's quilt today.  I am not unhappy with the results.  I had some serious tension issues at the beginning.  When I was half way through I resolved them, for the most part.  I quilted spirals and as I made the spiral I kept repeating "Here we go Loop Dee Loo."

Steven was in the studio fixing the toilet on Sunday.

"Honey, do you remember "Here we go Loop Dee Loo?" as I quilted a spiral, first one way and then the next.

And he sang :

"Here we go Loop Dee Li."

"Who did it?"  I asked.

"Mother Goose."

Of course You tube provides various versions.  

And Odetta in a medley...Wait for it...

It sure is a catchy tune. 

 I quilted variations of spirals in the squares. 

 I used red thread on the bobbin too.  I think it looks a bit odd on the back. I think the blue on the red looks more odd on the front.  I used some of this fabric in the border.  I did not change to red when I quilted it.  No photo available, sorry.

 

I cheated on the binding.  I just folded the back over and made a hem instead of making a real binding.  Even doing only that took me a couple of hours.  I had to trim the batting and press each side.  I chose to stitch each side as I finished the prep.

 It was hot today so I sewed in the house.  The 31-15 was perfect for this job.  I put up the side extension table and put the bulk of the quilt on a chair next to me.  Not only did I have a chance to use the 31-15 (which needs oiling, I might add) but I was forced to vacuum before I could even start.  So now the dining room is all set until Christmas.....

Next up is the baby quilt.  I think that I will quilt it with flowers.  I tired of spirals toward the end and tried my hand at flowers. 

Most likely I will quilt larger flowers all across the next quilt.  I will finish it more quickly that way.

Machine quilting on a frame involves a tremendous amount of preparation. Each time you roll the quilt you must fiddle with this and adjust that.   I still believe that it is easier than pinning a quilt sandwich.  I have done that and it is tedium DEFINED.   Nor do I like hauling a huge quilt around underneath the needle.  Practice helps.  After all, how do you get to Carnegie Hall?

Mount Everest

I feel as if I have been clawing my way up this learning curve with the Bailey 17Pro on the GMQ Frame.  There are times when I am happy; other times, not so much.  There are so many variables to consider when using a domestic machine on a quilt frame.

First of all, we are asking the machine to do something that it isn't designed to do. Domestic machines are designed to sew in one direction, forward.  True if you remove the feed dogs you have make the machine go anyway you want it to, but the design remains the same.  It is a forward stitching machine.  So the stitch quality changes when you move the machine backward and sideways.  If you are FMQ on a table, you are moving the fabric and the machine continues in its forward stitching.  Fewer variables.  But try to move a big quilt around on a table, it isn't that easy.  Bulk gets in the way.  I have FMQ a queen sized quilt.  It wasn't an enjoyable experience. 
  

 I have quilted  on a smaller frame,  I used a Jeans machine (class 15 front loader).I liked that. 
 But not a lot of space between needle bar and pillar.  Not a big deal.  The quilt I made was small

Tension tweaking was the biggest problem and once I had the tension right, I had a blast. 

I put a Singer 66 on that same, smaller frame and found that it worked well, too.  The 66 offers a bit more room but still, not a lot.

It worked very well and again, only tension tweaking was needed.  I did not have a stitch speed regulator on either machines.  I had no problems.  HMMMMM.

I wanted a larger frame and I found one used.  I wanted a larger machine and I found one at a price I could afford.  The Bailey

We  have many variables to consider when running a domestic  machine on a frame: needle flex, fabric flex, stitch speed, top thread tension, bobbin tension, fabric tension on the frame, take up bar height,  backing bar height, quilt top bar height.  I don't recall having nearly the issues with the smaller frames, that I have been having with the larger frame and the Bailey.  But maybe I have just forgotten.  Seems like all I had to do was tweak tension on the smaller machines and I was good to go. 

Since I started this process I have damaged 10 or 12 needles. All due to jamming the needle.  At 85 cents a piece, this is expensive education.  The manufacturer (Chuck Bailey) recommends using Organ Titanium PD 100/16 large eye needles.   I found two  packages of 10 in my Bailey stuff.  I have about 6 needles left.  One package had four faulty needles; burrs on the points.  GRRRRRR.  I have now switched to Schmetz Jeans Needles size 100/16.  I tried a 90/14.  Needle jam.  I think there was too much flex with the 90. 

Thread, of course is important.  I am using Signature long staple cotton machine quilting thread.  I am happy with it. Some Bailey users report thread breakage.  I have not had that problem.  I run out of bobbin thread pretty quickly.  The class 15 doesn't hold a heck of a lot of thread.   I wind several bobbins at a time.  It is important to obtain a consistent tension on the bobbin.  Tighter is better.  I have yet to find, among my many machines, a perfect bobbin winder.  The search isn't over.  The 15-91 is up next to audition.    I have heard that some quilters use prewound bobbins.  Color choice is limited.  But it may be worth it.

I practiced on a single piece of fabric and an old sheet before I started working on this quilt.   I had hoped to produce something more polished but it isn't going to turn out that way.  That's ok.  I am still learning.  I think I will go back to practicing on plan fabric before I attempt another real quilt.

There is a bit of play in the Bailey handles.  I have a carriage with handles but it is designed for a smaller machine.  The handles are just IN THE WAY.  I rigged up some metal strapping tonight to help stabilize the handles in hopes I could reduce the flex and increase the responsiveness of the machine.  It seems to have helped.  I didn't jam the needle and managed to quilt quite consistently with the new rig. 

Oh Yeah, I was using a blue that almost matched because I wanted the fabric to show, not the quilting.  I gave up on that when I decided this was going to be practice.  Once I could see the thread, I could see what I was doing and was then able to improve the designs. 

Like I said, Mount Everest.