Six tops quilted for Binky today. Waves, suns, spirals, butterflies and loopies.
I've been having thread breakage and tension issues. I've also been trying to make shorter stitches. I know I just need practice and I try to change too many things at once so today I decided to take notes. What I learned... I did not change the needle at all today, so the thread breakage is not a needle issue because... with the wave pattern, the thread never broke. I kept tightening tension bit by bit because I was getting loops on the back side of the quilt. With the sun pattern I had a bunch of breaks, all when I was sewing from right to left. With the swirl, I only had four breaks, all when I was sewing from right to left. With the butterflies, I switched the color of my thread (but same brand) and had only one break, again when sewing right to left. And with the loopies, no breaks at all! I'm sure a needle doesn't get better with usage, so with fewer breaks as I continued, I know it is not a needle issue. I think it is a directional issue and a straight line issue. Breakage was less as I sewed less straight lines. i'll keep taking notes to see if I can pin it down.... I should be able to quilt suns without breakage... I was able to make shorter stitches though. I just need to slow down a bit and not try to cover so much area so quickly. Of course slowing down may have helped with the thread breakage issues too.
