Florence do you have the thread spool upright or on the horizontal feed? Try switching. Also this pinched nerve I've had incapacitating me for 3 months I attribute to tension in my back from trying to learn machine quilting (and driving in the snow). The day before my back went out I remember thinking, Geezsh I better be careful, it feels like my back's been tense for weeks!

Shelly is a wonderful person, I have meet her several times. She use to live close to my father and became really good friends with my Step mother who is a quilter. I have a signed copy of her book and several of her patterns, but I have not made one of her quilts yet. I am looking forward to seeing yours.

yes, it's Shelly Swanland's... and it does work, but I just made this WAY too big for a first go at it! (quilt is big, windows are small.... LOTS of them!) And it weighs a ton! If I get this thread issue done, I might just finish on time, or at least close. This neice lives in NJ so I might not see her before her graduation anyway...

I just read through this thread, good information. Florence I can't wait to see this quilt when you are done. Did you use the Shelley Swanland method?

Thanks Teri, I'm behind on watching the shows so maybe I can get caught up on those this weekend too. I definitely will change spools, this one is getting low, and doesn't seem "tightly wound" now. (of course, when Bottom Line gets low, that means there's probably a zillion yards left to go!) But I do have a brand new spool at home so it'll go on today when I get home. I do "fluff and stuff" -- tried that rolling & folding thing one time & thought my shoulders would break!
Will report back later!
Florence

It's possible, mmm, probable that the problem might be the spool of thread itself. Every once in a while this happens where a spool is just bad. Try a different spool if you can and lower the tension more. Really, you gotta trust me on this one. Right now I have a quilt that has been glued to death and then I spray basted it. I'll show the quilt on my blog when I can. I used invisible thread in the top and Bottom line in the bottom for a good deal of the quilting, I dropped the tension to zero and had no problem whatsoever.

Make sure too that the quilt is not tugging around the needle. Paula Reid says "fluff and stuff" fluff it up around the needle flatten it out with your hands and go to. This does mean readjusting hand and quilt position frequently however this gives you great control.

I can't stress enough to really lower that tension. Bob Purcell gave a tension demonstration on the show with Beth Ferrier or the one before and explained a few awesome things about tension, what the tension preset is and why to go lower, down to zero if needed.

Happier quilting!
Teri

Ya' know, a little sleep can do wonders... woke up this morning with almost that exact thought, plus thinking about that tension too... I'm at 1.5 but maybe that's still too much, pulling that thread tight against the top of the eye... I'm so used to tension being simply about keeping the loops between two pieces of fabric, and I definitely am NOT having loop problems! Of course, if this wasn't black on black (with a very black print backing) I might actually be able to SEE the threads...
ok, will give it a try... have to work part of the day but then may be in for a very quilty holiday weekend!!
Florence

I've been having a similar problem, and have noticed that it happens most often when I'm moving the quilt in such a way that the needle pierces the thread--moving the needle to the right, the quilt to the left, on my machine that threads from left to right. It's an old Singer 115 treadle machine. If I avoid that direction, the problem goes away, so am moving the quilt a little differently now, turning it a bit if necessary.

Pat in Rockport, TX

Teri, I'm running into another problem. I confess this was occurring a bit for the first hundred or so windows, but not too often--the thread is still fraying above the needle. BUT I tolerated it b/c I was using a 90/14 sharp/quilting needle, (actually, used a bunch b/c I kept changing them...) and didn't have any topstitch needles at home. Finally got out to the shop, got some topstitch needles, and now the fraying is WORSE...It's as if the top of the eye is just sharp & cutting or wearing into the thread Is this likely a result of the zillion layers of fabric? Is there a solution?
Florence

I'm thinking my mental filing system needs to be replaced with a written one, there's so much to remember!
Florence

I appreciate this thread - thanks for asking about it, Florence! I have a Bernina with the BSR and have also experienced skipped stitches. Never knew how to correct, and never asked anyone. I had the "new owner's class" after I bought it, but I do not think they told me about lowering the top tension when quilting with a BSR! My machine is not with me but I'm mentally filing this info away, and am anxious to give it a try! Good luck on getting your project done - go girl, go!

Florence,
I'm glad it worked out for you. It can be so frustrating when a machine doesn't work the way it's supposed to work. The only experience I have with a stitch regulator is on my longarm and that's a whole different animal.
Make sure you post it in the gallery when it's done so we can all ooh and ah
eileenkny

Not a hero, just another quilter who has had the same problems and shared some of the things she's learned through other quilters and through experience.

As each block passes you'll be that much more comfortable with the rhythm of machine quilting. And remember one thing...I'm going to tell an Alex story from either her podcasts or series 1...she told about taking a machine quilting class with Diane Gaudinsky and Diane kept telling her to relax and physically helped relax her shoulders. As you relax your shoulders (I have to tell myself this all the time due to table height) and breathe, don't forget to breathe, the whole quilting process will become second nature.

I'm glad this is working though!

Teri

Teri you are my hero!!

I haven't had much time tonight but did manage to give this a try & WHEE it worked like a charm! Now to develop a rhythm, I only have 394 more of the little windows to stitch down.... have I said this was big and have I said I wouldn't necessarily recommend this process and have I said it's for a mid-June graduation
Deep breath...I'll be like the little engine that could... and at least I've finally got the stitching right. You're the best!

Florence