Machine quilting with my new Horizon, a learning opportunity

Well, I can't say it's all been a piece of cake, learning this machine.  It's certainly been easy sewing regular fabric.  I put the borders on my quilt top and then started to machine quilt.  My main purpose for purchasing this machine has been to use it to machine quilt.  The wide bed was my main draw to purchase, and that has generally worked out well while using on my Hinterberg table.  It gives me more bed space and less hassle having to stop and roll the bars.

The new challenge is finding a correct tension for my free motion machine quilting stitches.  This is always a challenge for the perfect stitch while machine quilting.  I should say if I use a regular stitch to machine quilt, instead of dropping my feed dogs and doing free motion machine quilting the stitches are just fine, so if you are doing cross hatching, it's probably a perfect machine.

At Moore's Sewing Center this Saturday, I have my first class to learn the ins and outs of the machine.  So, I'm sure, there must be a quick fix for my stitches that I've not figured out yet.  It seems to be "hit and miss" on perfect tension stitches.  This might also have to do with the speed at which I'm trying to machine quilt.

My husband and I are going to the YUM! Center concert, My Morning Jacket with Wax Fang and the Louisville Youth Orchestra on Friday night, so I hope I'm awake enough to absorb all the things I'll learn in my class.

Oh yes, and the endorphin express goes on and on.  Bob and I rode a total of 30 miles this last weekend.  I rode 12 miles around my neighborhood, Briar Hill, which is like riding 15 miles in any other neighborhood as ours has many many hills.  Again, sitting at the machine needs to be offset with the same amount of exercise, in my opinion.

These pictures are of me in my dining room, what a great place I have to quilt!  Plus roses my hubby bought me and last but not least, a little bag called the Lantern Bag I just finished.

Life is simply quilty right now...smile.

A full day of machine quilting and biking

That's the plan anyway, best laid plans...

We were almost blown away yesterday around here.  I had another problem with my machine, yes, while I was machine quilting-it's perfect on regular sewing.  But, don't give us this giant bed (12 inches) and tell us it doesn't machine quilt well.  So I called the dealership from which I bought the machine to ask some questions.  While I was talking the woman on the other side of town had to go abruptly, there was a tornado nearby and they have glass all around their building sides so she left to take cover.

When she returned there was no damage at Moore's Sewing Center, so on we trudged on trying to figure out what was wrong with my free motion quilting on the Horizon.  What I learned and has worked out is NEVER USE COATS AND CLARK THREAD ON THIS MACHINE.  I had it in the bobbin and switched to Aurifil thread which the machine liked and also, the suggestion was made to change the pressure on the presser foot and I did that too. It looks as if the problem is solved.

I'm using a Quilt Pounce to mark a template for suggestions of the quilting pattern, not following it exactly-my resentment of authority goes to great lengths...smile.

Even a fabulous machine can have a flat

Well, the call of the wild and wonderful Horizon was temporarily the sound of a cough.  Give it an easy border or two to sew-no problem.  Give it a bunch of pieces to sew together to make a block and the stitch tension was impeccable.  BUT ASK IT TO FREE MOTION MACHINE QUILT and look out!  How many times did I start and stop abruptly to the error message E7-Not the dreaded E7!!! you say, yes, it was E7!  Return to the dealer the circuits are incorrect, or something to that effect.  In other words I really messed it up.  And did the only sane thing to be done in this event, I turned it off and turned it on and began again.

Well, not be dumped on by any sewing machine, let alone the Horizon, I soldered on began playing with the tension button, and changing the 3 feet that are given for the free motion machine quilting.  And there was the answer, CHANGE THE FOOT! and play a little with the tension and slow down the machine a little and there it is a pretty darn good stitch.

The 200.00 Brother or the 3,000.00 Horizon, both are a finely tuned machine and even the slightest thing out of balance can cause your stitches to look funny.  It's almost always a simple change of the needle, wind a new bobbin, or rethread your machine and you will find the answer to your bad tension.