Machine Stippling

[mad2716]

Thank you for your post! I love how encouraging you are. Reminding us that it's ok to mess up. A lot of times I am so afraid to try something new because I don't want it to have mistakes. Again thanks.

[mal1067ry]

I note you have a lovely little baby - bet she's grown considerably larger now! Thanks for the vid. Got to give this a go - reckon I'll back myself into a corner a few times with your technique. Cheers.

[wipforever1]

I greatly appreciate this video!!! And I love the tip about the gloves, they really help! My question is - my thread keeps breaking and I don't know why. Everything seems to go along smoothly and then the break happens. My darning foot isn't an open one. It is a full circle-type, so its not getting caught on anything that I'm aware of. Any ideas? The machine is threaded properly. Thank you in advance for your assistance!

[lcvday]

@wipforever1 - Have you changed your needle? What thread are you using?

I often find cotton thread to be too thick and weak for free motion quilting. It was just too frustrating getting it to work when it kept breaking all the time, so I switched to Isacord Polyester thread.

Look on the back of your quilt when this happens and see if anything is pulling to the back. Try to get as many clues to the problem, then try one thing at a time to see what helps.

I hope that helps! Leah Day

[57janetlee]

thanks Leah! Even though I didn't get very far at the time, what I was able to do did seem to go much smoother.

[57janetlee]

I am trying to free motion a quilt. I am using an open toe stippling foot. The main problem I am having is that my thread keeps getting caught on one of the ends of the foot. Then my thread gets tangled and I have to stop and rip out. I can't seem to make any progress because of this and feel like all I am doing is troubleshooting. Does anybody know why this is happening and what I should do about it?

[lcvday]

@57janetlee - Try quilting from left to right in a row (almost like you're writing on paper). This way you won't cross over your lines of quilting and your open toe foot shouldn't get tangled. Try to watch what you're doing when the tangle happens, and then train yourself not to make this action.

I hope this makes sense!

Leah Day

[Minaretfm]

Great, very useful! but what is that pressure foot called around the needle?

[lcvday]

@Minaretfm - It's usually called a darning foot, but can sometimes also be called a free motion quilting foot.

Cheers,

Leah

[Vettle]

I tried to do this over the weekend with a scrap piece of fabric but when I did it the stitching looked strange. It didn't make a nice stitch it almost looked like it was pulling the bobbin thread through the top and so it all looked loose. I have everything on the regular tension and just doing a straigh stitch. What could I be doing wrong?

Does this only work if you have a quilt sandwhich?

[lcvday]

@Vettle - Yes, you really should be using 2-3 layers (2 fabric with batting sandwiched in the center). If you have an adjustable foot, you could potentially do stippling without the batting, but even still, you will probably have some stitch issues.

Chances are the pulling up was caused by not using a sandwich or might have been due to your thread or needles. The best advice I have is to keep playing and eventually your stitches will start to come out right!

Good luck!

Leah

[Pianist702]

Don't you have to have the bobbin thread "on top" of the quilt? How do you get the bobbin thread up to the top. I need help with this? Can anyone assist me?

[lcvday]

@Pianist702 - I do usually pull my bobbin thread up to the top.

To do this, first position your quilt where you want the quilting to start and use the hand wheel on the side of the machine to lower the needle into the quilt and then back up again.

The bobbin thread will get pulled up by the top thread and you can pull both threads up and secure them behind your presser foot before you start quilting.

I hope that makes sense!

Leah Day

[angelodeluce]

Thankyou!! very useful and got straight to the point :)

[upwards11]

This is a great video-it looks so easy! Do I need to decrease my stitch length to "O" to do this? Thanks.

[brikendig]

Thank you so much for posting this! It was very helpful! I have always been a bit intimidated to try, but I'll be giving it a go (quilts it is my kids will be receiving for Christmas this year!)

[dnadjkovic]

Best quote ever - "Give yourself permission to mess up..." I practiced and practiced and practiced, and STILL had to FORCE myself to sit down with a quilt that I had made and "mess up". I was terrified. And within about 10mins of actually doing it, I was fine. My stitches were lovely, and my quilts are so beautiful I could cry. I can't lower my feed dogs, but I do use a darning foot. And I load up about 10 bobbins ahead of time, so I can just pop them in without wasting time. Great tutorial!

[mattswife1990]

has been working on learning how to quilt... i took a little "side-track" yesterday & today to make a quilt for a friend's baby shower. i attempted to do "stippling" (see this link) on the baby quilt, which bears a strong resemblance to the Pooh Corner quilts i'm making, since i used the same fabrics. once i find my ...camera (misplaced it at the baby shower), i'll post a photo. :) tomorrow, after getting some batting, i'll be back to our Pooh Corner quilts...

[montyollie]

Leah, I just added a video I made whereby I've taken a stab at larger scale stippling (meandering?) and there are a couple of shout outs to you in it, as really, it was this video that taught me the basics and I wanted you to see how far I've come and how much you've inspired me! It's a video reply to this one. :) -- Jo

[knighttabitha]

Where do you start machine stippling a quilt? Do you start on the edge or at the center of the quilt?

[lcvday]

You can really start anywhere. Most commonly I start on the edge and work from left to right.

Try it and see how it works best for you!

Leah

[Phelpzy]

I know this is a stupid question, but what about the feed dogs? is there a special component you need? or just pull agaisnt them?

[lcvday]

Feed dogs are the little teeth on your machine that feed the fabric. In regular sewing, these teeth feed your fabric so it stitches evenly.

In free motion quilting you can lower these feed dogs so you can move your quilt in all directions.

Some machines can't lower their feed dogs and many quilters also prefer not to lower them, in which case you just lower your stitch length to 0 or cover the feed dogs.

I hope that explains it!

Leah Day

[mntbike73]

Just lower your feed dogs so they don't pull against what you are doing.

[lgpars]

When you do this free-motion quilting on your quilt top, do you do this all over the quilt and not do any stitching in the ditch? I have a very large (80 x 96) quilt to do and this is my first quilt. Do you think I should stitch in the ditch on most of it and maybe do this stipling on just the border or what? Also, when stipling like this do you just use the straight stitch? Or can you also use your decorative stitches when doing this? Any help would be appreciated. .

[slwallwagner]

When I try free motion quilting my stitches are very uneven, do you use a very small stitch?  Is it just something to practice?

[lcvday]

If your stitches are uneven, try increasing the speed of your presser foot, or slowing down your hands. It's not all "pedal to the metal"! Sometimes you have to adjust your speed through the loops and curves, increasing and decreasing your speed as needed.

Try using quilting gloves too! I seriously swear by them.

[thegoldenkey07]

Thank you so much for posting this video. It will help me as I have been very intimidated by this part of quilting. Just worried about the size of my sewing machine....have no idea how I'm going to tackle a bigger quilt! :)

[sorceressknits]

wonderful! thank you! I'm going to attempt my first crib sized quilt and this was very helpful to me!

[pwh842]

Great video. Thanks so much.

[gmsale1970]

What a great video, thanks! I have the same machine as you but I find that the thread snaps all the time - I have never been able to machine quilt, only hand quilt because of this. Do you have any suggestions as to why this happens? I have adjusted the tension several times.

[lcvday]

If the tension is a real issue, you might want to take it to a repair man to check.

Also check that you're threading the machine properly and try threading the bobbin through the extra "eye" included on the top. This always helps with tension issue.

Despite what I say in the video, you don't have to turn your feed dogs off in order to free motion. You could leave them on or cover them, it's totally up to you.

[montyollie]

Excellent video, and yeah, I learned a lot too! That presser foot is awesome. Are they readily available for all brands of machines? I just have a basic model Singer. What's it called again? A darning foot?

[VeeVeeVeeV]

reply to: montyollie

the foot is called a

"free motion quilting foot"

ebay sells a few - my machine is a basic kenmore (the snobs cringe) for what i do - it's perfect... i found a fm quilting foot on ebay.... no prob - just have to check that it fits your machine

...in stitches....

[dewittemichelle]

@VeeVeeVeeV

For what its worth...I have a Kenmore also, I call him Morry, and it seems to work as good as the Babylock Grace model that I almost purchased, escept it was less than half the price!!!

I fell in love with it instantly!

[lcvday]

Your welcome! Make sure to check out my other videos and websites too!

[angelroompatti]

very good demonstration! learned a few new things! thanks!