Hi everyone,
Over the weekend I managed to actually start quilting my baby quilt. I tested the stitches on a sandwich and adjusted and tested again and they seemed ok, ssooooo, I began to quilt..free motion...and all went well..for awhile. My thread started breaking, so I stopped and cleaned and oiled my machine. Since the flannel I was working on seemed to cause some lint, I figured that to be the problem. My machine was happy and so I continued on. On the third row, I discovered that my top thread was pulling way under the quilt. I mean WAY UNDER. Kind of looks like a new stitch, albeit an ugly one. Anyway, I am now going to have to remove a reasonably long row of quilting stitches. Fortunately, since the threads are so far out on the bottom of the quilt, part of it should be a little less challenging, I hope.
Now for my question. I have never seen anything on removing actual quilting stitches. Do other folks screw this part up too, or is this rare? I guess it's treated the same as any other stitches? I couldn't tell the stitching was messing up till I was done with one curvy row the length of the quilt. I was checking after each row. When I saw the threads all out of whack, I must have said something dramatic, because my daughter, who was in the other room with my 8 month old grandson said to the baby, "Uh Oh, that can't be good RJ. Grandma's working on your quilt." I'm sure it will all be funny once I have fixed the quilt. Does anyone else have any stitching stories to share? I can laugh then while I rip out stitches.
Kathy
I have had to rip out quilting stitches a time or two....LOL> I helps if you can get between the layers of the sandwich and rip the stitches between the backing and the batting.
Vinton, Virginia
Oh Kathy, can't tell you how often I have done this, The last time was on my new long arm. I had almost finshed a queen sized quilt (only my second one on the machine) when I got to the bottom it was sooo out of wack I could just not stand it. I ripped out the WHOLE thing, Took me three 8 hour days to do it!.
Oh, darlin'! I usually have more ripped out thread on the floor than I do in the quilt by the time I get through quilting a project. If your upper thread is loopy on the back, adjust your tension. As I have more and more arthritis in my fingers, I've found a #12 steel crochet hook is the best weapon for attack. It is very small (don't get a cheap one--they bend), and slips between the stitches nicely. Clip the upper thread every 4-8 stitches the entire length that needs to be removed, flip over to the back side and slip the hook in. Everything will pull out easily (she said with a sly smile). That is usually the case. If not, you have joined the "sisterhood of stitch rippers". I know how frustrating this can be. My machine needs to in for service, but I can't part with it for two months until they get 'round to it. Thankfully, I've found my other machine (mechanical versus computer) quilts beautifully with a hopping foot I bought years ago. (Hopping foot has a spring and usually a darning foot configuration).
Butterfly Bop had more pink and green thread ripped out that there is sewn into it. Happy ripping!
I think I have ripped out a ton of stitches too - I now continually check my tension to make sure it hasn't moved a wiggle - and after sewing each part I look at the back to make sure - and when I start each time I practice a little on the edge where I have extra batting and backing - I just put a piece of topping material and get warmed up.
I use my DSM - do not have a long arm so I can't look at the back till I am done with what I am sewing - but have found that if my tension is good that it works very well - new needle to start and a clean bobbin area are a must!
Oh, not going to be fun. I've not had to do this (yet), but I happened upon a couple Youtube videos about it. I would just say use caution, go slowly, you don't want to mess up the quilt top, backing can more easily be replaced. Here's the links.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6jaVst0zqw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GyDwPPU_1jw
I just finished taking the stitches out of two rows of quilting...there is a knack to doing it and once you get a lot of experience at it, like I have, LOL, it really doesn't take too long.
Funny that I never thought about having to rip out quilting stitches. Thanks for the welcome to the Sisterhood of Stitch Rippers. Here I thought graduating from dust bunnies to thread bunnies was going to be lonesome. LOL
I had heard of people ripping out quilting stitches and thought to myself, "Never! No quilt can be worth that."
Well, guess what I spent this evening doing? It's a gift quilt, and I actually thought of telling the recipient that she'd have to hang it on the wall so no one could ever see the back, but then reality hit me in the head, and I grabbed my seam ripper. Sigh....
On the banks of the Mississippi River in north central Minnesota (Brainerd lakes area)
MNnancy:I had heard of people ripping out quilting stitches and thought to myself, "Never! No quilt can be worth that."
Sorry about the frogging but I know exactly how you felt! Been there and done that way too many times. One thing though, after going through this you will definitely check the back of the next quilt often. I never trust the machine so I probably over check it. It is one of the more frustrating things about a mid/ long arm but when they work well, they are a real blessing. Hope the re-quilt goes smoothly!
Marge P
Like Althea says, practice a bit on the sides of the quilt to make sure your tension is okay - then every time you advance the quilt, check the backing to make sure it all looks good. When i do have to rip stitches out (and I have had lots of experience unfortunately), I always start on the backing side - using my seam ripper and cutting every 5-6 stitches - if the tension is really loose on the back, it is easy to pull the pieces of thread off. On the front you can pull off really long sections of thread once it is removed from the back. A couple times I have felt that I have taken out more thread than the finished quilt has in it. Just part of the big picture I guess!
MargeP
Oh boy I just had issues tonight while working on my quilt...long story but i ended taking out 3 - 24 in rows. I was getting frustrated very fast but i soon found out that if I pulled up on the tail of the thread it pulled the bobbin thread up a little and loosened the stich so it was much easier to take the stitch out.
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