Lace.And, I believe I now know why I was having so much trouble with the bobbin. I believe the culprit was the thread seen to the right. This is some thread I bought when I first started longarming (I don't know where I got it). It is cotton and I have never seen anything as "linty" as it is.
Here you can see the lint both on the thread and attached to the bobbin itself. I was having to clean out the bobbin with each block and would come up with enough cotton lint to weave a sheet.
I even found some lint sewn into the quilting on the back of the quilt when I rolled the quilt.
I have taken some steps to make sure this doesn't happen again. Firstly I got a Bobbin Genie to put in the bobbin case. It is a DSM size but if it seems to help with tension problems, I will order the M size.
And secondly, I threw out the offending thread.
Now I just need to quilt the corner stones and the borders (with poly thread) and this quilting will be done.
When I get frustrated or tired from quilting I turn to the sewing part part of quilting. On the left you can see Block 6 of the Jelly Roll Sampler. I quite enjoyed making this block.
I also made up two more string blocks and finished appliqueing the flowers on the last border of the Eleanor Burns BOM (Egg Money Quilts).
My, my, I seem to have been busy, don't I?
8 comments:
Love that block, the colors are scrumptious! I hate linty thread. Bobbins are so tricky.
Love the perky fabrics in your jelly roll block. I'm glad you found out why the tension was acting up when you were quilting.
I use the Bobbin Genies but I have removed the metal thingie (technical term) from my bobbin cases. My tension is much better since I started using them.
Good luck!
Oh my...that thread was terrible! Maybe it's just for hand basting??
I have thrown away cones of nasty thread before....made me feel guilty for just one second! My quilting machine loves Superior Sew Fine so that is just about all I use. Makes keeping the tension right kind of easy.
Love your block!
I have some old linty thread, too. Rather than throwing it out, I use it for basting. Even some of the better brands of thread seem to be too linty for my machine. The other problem I have is that some thread is too thick. I bought a whole bunch of YLI cones only to find it is way too thick for my machine to handle. My favorite is Presencia but it's hard to find. Man, you sure have been busy. I love the quilt in your header!
I love your camera. And some of those fabrics? Gorgeous!
Hate linty thread & batting, are you sure it isn't the batting too?
I stick to Quilter's Dream batting for that very reason.
I just bought some bobbin genies & I am still experimenting..........
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