ffq-lar Posted January 11, 2015 Report Share Posted January 11, 2015 The Jinny Beyer quilt I shared recently came with a seriously tough batik backer. You had to force pins through it. I opened a new pack of glass-head pins because I thought my pins were dull. Nope. You could, with some force, push a pin through perpendicular to the surface. On a diagonal, as you would angle to pin through the quilt sandwich, I had to reach under the frame to elevate the fabric so I could get a pin through all layers. The needle popped through the layers as threads were broken on the backer. It was an unnerving sound. The batik felt normal and didn't seem to have any residual wax present. It draped and loaded well. The thread count looked high, but most batiks are in that category. My customer was unconcerned and happy with the result. The backer was a pretty mottled blue and lots of blue lint was evident when I cleaned the bobbin area. I've never seen or heard of this before. To compound the issue, the QD wool I used also had a tough scrim. Two thirds of the way through I started having missed stitches and thread breakage. After trying all the usual areas, I decided to check the timing. My needle depth was off. I think ( ) all the punching through of the batting and backer shoved the bar up far enough to affect the formation of the stitch. I know our machines are workhorses and can go for miles and punch through lots of fabric, but I hadn't jammed a needle or dinged a ruler. I can't figure out what else would have caused it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
delld Posted January 11, 2015 Report Share Posted January 11, 2015 Don't have a clue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DoryJM Posted January 11, 2015 Report Share Posted January 11, 2015 You had to re-time in the middle of the quilt?? Bleh!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ffq-lar Posted January 11, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 11, 2015 You had to re-time in the middle of the quilt?? Bleh!! I agree. It was a big quilt too! Den and I together had just enough near-vision to manage it. And were still married! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbams Posted January 11, 2015 Report Share Posted January 11, 2015 "Dalexnuh" spam reported. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbams Posted January 11, 2015 Report Share Posted January 11, 2015 "Jackemep" spam reported. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mscott2611 Posted January 11, 2015 Report Share Posted January 11, 2015 Linda You are a better woman than I. I would have just sit down in the middle of the floor and cried by the point. And the point about getting through the timing and still being married made me laugh. I love reading your stories it makes me know that even the best quilters still have problems. I like to read all of the stories on here because it gives me hope and inspiration. Continued successes in your quilting. Mary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
micajah Posted January 11, 2015 Report Share Posted January 11, 2015 Last spring, I had the same issue with a mottled blue batik backing fabric. On the frame, it was tough, skipped stitches, but later, when doing the binding, I could not get any of my domestic machines to sew through it. It felt like pushing a dull nail through the fabrics. This was the week I had 3 quilts to bind. My left hand still hurts so I have given up hand sewing...I'm still looking for a binding machine. I even tried spraying it with fabric softner - it made no difference. Debbie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dancing bear Posted January 11, 2015 Report Share Posted January 11, 2015 I have made it a practice to wash any batik backings before they get loaded onto my machine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RitaR Posted January 11, 2015 Report Share Posted January 11, 2015 Did any of you ladies try using Spray Silicone? When Lenni sees a bulky spot on a quilt, just a little spray of silicone and she dances right on thru. I can't help but think it would help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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