sewing speed on CQ

[annkathryn]

What sewing speed... inches per second & sew speed % do most CQ owners use? Also what stitches per inch do you like to use? The sew speed % has got me stumped. Just not sure what to set it at.

Thanks

Ann

[Sue E.]

Ann, I usually leave my speed at the default setting (in the software). On the speed control (%) on the head of the machine I stitch with it set at 100. When I want to see how the pattern will sew out - without the needle - I will increase the % of speed as high as it will go to speed things up. But be careful, if you forget to change this back to 100, you will get much larger stitches than what you had set the stitch length at and then you'll have to frog. Ask me how I know:P

I also usually use 11 stitches per inch, but sometimes go to 10 stitches per inch. If I have a design that is really dense or has lots of small detail, I will increase my stitches to 12 stitches per inch.

Hope this helps.

[Grammie]

I usually use about 80 but it is a smaller stitch and harder to frog.

I have used 100 a few times also. It a larger stitch but looks really good with alot of ETE patterns.

[Phyllis Wright]

When you re-size a pattern in CQ ,to fit a block say, does the stitch count change like in some machine embroidery programs, or does the stitch length get smaller or larger depending on how you changed the design?

just wondering,

Phyllis Wright, Millennium, Victoria, B.C.

compusewfun@shaw.ca

[annkathryn]

The stitch length is determined by me. With the different settings on the front of the machine. And when my machine not warmed up, the stitch will be longer then when it has had a chance to warm up.

Hope this is clearer than mud.

Ann

[Cherie Walters]

For general work I use the 1.5 in the software and 95% on the speed setting dial on the head. I ususlly use around 10 stitches per inch.

If my design is small and intricate I decrease the size of the stitch simply by reducing the % to around 75. (it makes the pattern look better.

Also, if there are a lot of sharp changes in direction on a design I run with the head moving slower so that the machine is not tossed around so much (less stress on where the tension block is attached to the wire).

Cherie in Australia

driving a millie with CQ

[Marlin]

Thank you for your posts to the CQ sewing speed. Everytime I try to stitch a pattern out the head goes faster than the needle. I end up with a hole in the quilt front and back. I will use this information to assist me in a remedy.

I will be in DesMoines and Carroll end the month, hopefull they can teach this old girl some wonderful tricks! Thanks again, Marlin - Miami Fl

[APQS]

Marlin

Changing the settings as described above will not help your problem. The changes need to be made on the System Set up Page.

If you would like to email me with the following settings as per your CQ I can give you alternatives to help the problem. I need to know the figures in each of the following boxes on the System Set Up Page.

Sew motor dwell, positioner dwell and positioner on time.

My email address is smo61581@bigpond.net.au

We should have you stitching again soon. I believe Stan and Dee Dee are back on Monday.

Best wishes

Sue in Australia

You can email me smo61581@bigpond.net.au. Let me know the following settings on your system set up page. (How to get there, go to page 88 of the manual for instructions) - Sew motor dwell, Positioner dwell and positioner on time. Changing the settings above will not help you.

When you

[annkathryn]

Marlin,

I just wanted to let you know that Carroll is a lot smaller then Miami or Des Moines. With lots of corn and bean fields. Have fun in Carroll.

Welcome to Carroll

Ann

Carroll, IA

[Jess]

We've been doing our testing for our designs & found that the general rule for stitching that we like to see is keep the program at 1.5 for sew speed, set the guage that would normally be for stitching without CQ attached to 7.5 if you were looking at the manual part of the guage (vs. the stitch reg if you have a Millie) & then for smaller designs/motifs we like to reduce the CQ speed dial at the front of the machine to around 70%. This gives us about 12-13 sts/inch. For larger (more open) pantographs we find that they look good at the same settings, except that we move the speed dial upto 90-95%. So general rule: small designs = slower sew speed with more stitches/inch & larger designs = faster sew speed with less stitches/inch. In addition to this please consider that the more curvy the design is the more you may want to slow that sew speed down to make very nice looking curves. As an example: say you wanted to draw a circle but had to use all straight lines...it would look better with more short lines connected together vs. a few long straight lines. This is how it is with sewing also. The thread itself is not curving. You as the quilter are making the lines look curved because you are putting in many short straight lines. This is why whether or not a person is running CQ or not their more intrique, curvy designs will look sewn out better if they increase the number of stitches per inch a little.

We have found these speed settings to work with many, many threads & battings. We have not done a really fat batt yet, but with the majority of batts that are 3/8" or lower in loft these settings should work very well.

Also think of the sew speed as a bit of a balancing act. If your thread won't take the speed that you have it on, but you want the stitches not to get really small, then you may want to reduce the sew speed dial, while also bringing down the manual speed dial also, just a touch. It doesn't take much to make a big difference on that guage to make a big difference in your sewouts (stitch length).