Never touch the bobbin tension, they say

That was the advice from every sewing machine repair person, sales person to quilting enthusiasts. I’m here to tell you, pay them no mind.

I was finishing the blocks for a quilt top, with just two to finish, when suddenly I noticed my sewing machine acting up. I am not even sure what exactly I did when I noticed a difference, but it seems that suddenly something was terribly wrong with the tension on my Janome DC2014 sewing machine, a workhorse that has never caused me any problems. I started adjusting my tension and there was no difference until I turned the dial down to “1”. The stitches looked adequate, but barely. They were uneven and there were some skipped.

I started trying to diagnose the problem. I reasoned that it could be a worn out needle, since I had been sewing madly for the last couple days. I was finishing the last of 64 9-patch blocks which would complete the “Afternoon Delight” quilt top, a Sue Garman pattern that was the 2020 Block of the Month project from The Quilt Show.

9-patch block

After changing the needle, there was no difference. I took out the bobbin case and cleaned out all the lint. I added a drop of oil onto the bottom of the bobbin case. I re-wound a bobbin and popped it into the bobbin case making sure it was caught in the tension spring; re-threaded the machine, again, taking care that the thread wound around through the tension spring and take-up arm, as it should be. I turned the sewing machine off and on again, (that usually works with my computer). I even looked at my sewing machine manual. Nothing worked.

Finally, I put in a new bobbin, one with a different thread and different color than the 50 wt. white Aurifil I was using in the top. I set the stitch tension back to the middle. It worked. The stitches were a tad uneven, but at least the bobbin thread wasn’t just lying on top of the fabric. The stitch was actually formed and was fairly acceptable on both top and bottom. I reasoned that my problem could be a new set of bobbins I had just purchased.

So, I took the purple thread off the latest bobbin; there was only a little there. I rewound my ‘suspect’ bobbin onto the new (previously used) one and began to sew. There were about 3 stitches that were good and then again, the thread just lay on top of the fabric without catching to form a stitch. Again, I set the tension to #1 to get a stitch to work.

I checked out You Tube videos, Googled my problem, and did as much sleuthing as I could.

I decided that the one thing I would try, that I hadn’t, was to change the tension on my bobbin case.

I didn’t bother with a quarter turn, I did a half turn, set the top tension back to between 4 and 5, and started to sew. Voila, the stitch was perfect. In fact, it looked like it did the day I bought my machine. I happily finished up my last two quilt blocks.

I was surprised this fix was such an easy one. And, I’m grateful to be able to sew again without having to worry about being without my machine for weeks.

Now, for those setting triangles and borders…What a great quilt this is going to be. I just can’t wait to finish the top and begin quilting it. 

Orchid Flowers is officially a quilt top

I'd say a finished quilt top can be considered an accomplishment, especially when it was a bunch of pieces just laying around for so long.

I started this so long ago. Once I got back to it, I realized how much of it had been done already. I think there were only four more Dresden Plate blocks to finish, and of course the sashing. The sashing with its 25 9-patches and alternating strip sets was pretty epic considering I had never done such a thing before. Lots of pinning was necessary. I had it in my head though, that this was how I wanted to connect the blocks in Orchid Flowers.

I still plan to add borders, a small skinny white one, a lavender one and a huge deep violet one. The violet fabric is much darker than the sashing, so I'm thinking it will nicely frame the entire piece. I plan to machine quilt this quilt. I've never done an entire quilt in one piece before, rather than simply a block at a time, so this should be an interesting new experience. I love trying new things. If I hate trying to manipulate all that fabric on my sewing machine, I can always hand-quilt it. I do want to try though. I'm still daydreaming about the kind of quilt designs I want to use. (I'm open for suggestions.)

I will attach the borders after they are quilted, probably via the skinny, unquilted white border in the quilt-as-you-go method. Though it doesn't show in this photograph, each alternating block is white and off-white--both in a paisley print. (I absolutely adore paisley.) Perhaps I should make the joining strips alternating as well, although I'm not sure the design element would be worth the extra effort.

I'm taking another break from Orchid Flowers. My daughter is interested in some Halloween table runners, so that will take precedent. As long as I'm quilting, it's all good!