That was my feeling when I was machine quilting this. I do not know what is wrong but puckering on the front was getting me down. I had to stop after outlining 8 blocks. In session 2 of quilting, I hoped it would be better. I did 14 blocks, it was slightly better but a couple of blocks were quite bad. Perhaps, I did not smoothen the quilt out properly during basting.
The only machine quilting that I did in my first quilt was sewing in the ditch. I had problems with puckering at the back but not the front. This time I decided to sew 1/4 inch in front of sewing line making an inner square and puckering/pleating was ocurring when I try to close up the square. I may have to rip off certain sewing lines. I still have 14 more squares. Session 3 of machine quilting must be better!
So now I know even more pitfalls to be aware of if I try quilting. Hope one of your commenters can give you some tips to prevent this problem.
ReplyDeleteThe colors are so pretty!
My Dear Wendy, You need to lay your quilt out on a table and hold it down all around with clamps to keep it nice and smooth. Then you put in lots of safety pins to keep it all straight while quilt it so you will not get any puckers. You could also baste it while you have it clamp down if you do not have safety pins and this will also keep it good while you are machine quilting it. I hope this helps. Hugs Judy
ReplyDeleteI understand frustrations with quilting with a machine. I am not a fan of, so I only do small quilts on sew machine. I usually hand quilt anything in sizes of baby quilt and bigger.
ReplyDeleteKeep on with perseverance! The quilt is pretty by the way. The colors are a wonderful mix!
Oh dear what a shame, I dont know what is wrong, it usually happens if you have two different types of material, but I cannot see you would make thaat mistake, sorry I cannot be of help.
ReplyDeleteMargaret
I have just had a thought, is your tension on the sewing machine too tight in places.
ReplyDeleteMargaret
Are you using a walking foot? it should not be bunching up like that :-( lots of luck
ReplyDeleteThat is why I stick to FMQ. Almost all my straight line quilting got puckers and the top got distorted.
ReplyDeleteHow awful for you! All that work of piecing and then the machine goes and messes things up. And do-overs are so frustrating, aren't they.
ReplyDeletei like your fabric combination. don't know where the fault lies bcos i haven't come to that lesson on quilting but surely it can only get better. :)
ReplyDeleteOh, dear! Are you using a walking foot? My youngest daughter has completed two quilts since June, one king-size and one twin. She machine quilted them both and is having so much fun. I do know that she is using a walking foot. They're kind of expensive, but I'm guessing it's worthwhile!
ReplyDeleteI am really grateful for all your comments and suggestions. I think I need to practise more on the machine (with a smaller quilt) but as I was on a deadline, I may have to leave it as it is.
ReplyDeleteI am not giving up yet on machine quilting. I must practise free motion quilting (FMQ) as Zarina suggested.
I did baste the quilt with safety pins about 6 inches apart and used the recommended walking foot. I thought about the presser foot tension but I can't seem to find the control for this Brother NV50 machine. Will adjusting the stitch length help?
My experience quilting a King size quilt on an old fashioned Singer meant using a walking foot, sewing about 6 inches and then checking again to be sure things were still flat. I had tables and chair backs and things spread out in all directions around the machine the same height as the machine cabinet so that the weight of the quilt didn't pull on the fabric. I also worked from the center out.
ReplyDeleteI think you have a point. My sewing table is the size of a desk so the weight of the quilt was hampering movement. Thanks so much for your suggestion.
ReplyDeleteAlso perhaps a hoop to clamp down the area I am machine quilting may help.
Just catching up.. been a while, huh?! Had to comment about machine quilting: In 1976 (USA bicentennial year) I redesigned a set of quilt blocks for a company called Cameo Paints - oil-based paints like a huge ballpoint pen. There were 12 blocks, 12" x 12", each with a man & woman from various times in US history wearing authentic period dress. I painted each block then set them with 6" strips between each (made a lovely HUGE queen-sized bedspread). Each side and bottom was 18". I machine embroidered around the couples of each block, did a 5-pointed star in the blocks where the 6" edgings came together, and did 5 different US flags, from the original 13 colonies flag of 1776, to our current flag of 50 stars plus stripes, and a continuous fill-in design as needed elsewhere - ALL in machine quilting - done with my portable Singer sewing machine on the living room floor, with 2 cats; two children ages 2 & 5 running around, and another on the way!! What a JOB!! Unfortunately, no photos. Keep up the GREAT WORK! ((HUGS!))
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