YOUR Questions–Open Line Friday

March 30, 2018
Warm and White Batting,

 

Spring Baby Bunny, More Free Motion Machine Quilting 1-2-3, Lori KennedyGood morning, Quilters!

Today is Open Line Friday-anyone asks, everyone answers!  We have more than 10,000 contributors to The Inbox Jaunt and we need everyone to share their experiences–whether you are a beginner or expert, YOUR knowledge is helpful!!!

I will begin with questions received this week.

Easter Eggs, FMQ, Tutorial

ONE HUNDRED TIMES???

Earlier this week, I shared a video link showing how our sewing machine creates a stitch–known as a lockstitch.

I wanted to make the point that each point on our thread goes through the bobbin and through the needle more than 100 times before it is laid down as a stitch.

This caused some confusion.–It is difficult to visualize!

I would like to take another stab at explaining.  (Read the comments too–several readers commented with similar explanations.)

Sewing Machine Free Motion Quilting

Imagine using a marker to draw a point on the thread just as it leaves the spool–above the take up lever.  Let’s call that position #1.

Now imagine the Lockstitch being created in very slow motion.  (Re-watch the video if necessary.)  To create the Lockstitch, a large length of thread (let’s just say 100 mm of thread) is pulled through the needle and into the bobbin area to create a loop.

The 100 mm loop goes around the bobbin case and catches the bobbin thread and is then pulled back up by the take up lever and one stitch is made–let’s just call it a 1 mm stitch...

Now our marked point is a little farther away from the spool–it is 1 mm away–or whatever our stitch length is.  Our marked thread point is now at position #2.

The machine begins the next stitch, pulling a 100 mm loop through the needle and around the entire bobbin case.  It catches the bobbin thread, and is pulled up by the take up lever and another 1mm stitch is laid down.  Now our point is at position #3.

This process is repeated more than 100 times–with our marked point, moving just 1mm away from its previous point each time— before the marked point becomes a stitch.

Does that make more sense?  Is it easier to visualize?

If not, please say so!!

If it is, let’s complicate things…

What if we increased our stitch length to 2 mm?  How many times would the thread go through the needle and the bobbin before it became a stitch?

YES!  50 times!

Warm and White Batting,

BATTING

I also received several questions about the type of batting I use…

I will write more about this topic soon.

In short, for all of my tutorials, wall hangings, and table runners–which I rarely wash… I LOVE Warm and Natural 100% cotton batting.  (Affiliate Link) This batting is very light weight and does not have a lot of “puff”.  It has a slight texture that grips the fabric and backing so I don’t baste small projects, I simply press the three layers.

For all of my bed quilts, I LOVE wool batting. (Affiliate Link)  I LOVE how wool batting responds to heavy quilting, but what I like best is how soft it gets with repeated washings.  It’s “like butter”!

Sewing Machine Free Motion Quilting

(Sewing Machine Tutorial HERE)

YOUR QUESTIONS

What about YOU?

Do YOU have a favorite batting?

Do YOU want to know more about how YOUR machine works?

Do YOU have any questions about YOUR machine, quilting, motifs….

Anything!

We’d LOVE to hear YOUR questions and YOUR thoughts!

And don’t miss out–we are shipping MORE Free Motion Machine Quilting 1-2-3!!  

With the step-by-step tutorial for The Baby Bunny!

Spring Baby Bunny, More Free Motion Machine Quilting 1-2-3, Lori Kennedy

May all of YOUR stitches be happy!

Lori

PS…All tutorials, images and information are the property of Lori Kennedy at The Inbox Jaunt and are intended for personal use only.  Feel free to re-blog, pin or share with attribution to The Inbox Jaunt.  For all other purposes, please contact me at lckennedy@hotmail.com.  Thanks!

More Free Motion Machine Quilting 1-2-3

Available now!

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