Thursday, February 5, 2009

Rolling along...into the wall!

I so don't have time for this!  I'm working away on this client's quilt.  It has to be finished this weekend.   I have spent 3 weeks on it so far! Waaaaaay too long!  A sample of my 'issues' here below.  Notice how some sections are perfect, and other...well nowhere near!   AT first I thought it was the thread...nope.I have spent the better part of the the last 3 weeks fooling with this quilt.    I finally isolated the problem ( with help).  The background fabric is a white on white print.  You know, the sprayed on paint type print.  And it's really thick.  As it turns out, all that paint sluffed off in the quilting process and is getting caught in the tension screw of the bobbin and inthe bobbin race and shuttle and causing it to freeze up...stop dead!   Well, I have frogged and frogged and frogged.   The only way I was able to get through this quilt was to stop and clean (with solvent) and oil every 10 minutes or so of quilting.

Well all of the quilting on the white is done, thank goodness.  I'm now finishing up the gold and blue background areas.





The top looks fine, the back, though better after being frogged and re done multiple times...still is not up to my standard, but is as good as it's going to get.  Thankfully the blue and gold fabrics behaved beautifully.

After this beast is off the frame, the machine will be taken apart and thoroughly cleaned , to get rid of all that paint residue...and it's all over the place.   What a mess.   It is so thick in the tracks of the carriage and table, they look solid white. The bobbin case has so much paint residue built up, I have have to take a Q- tip saturated in oil to get it clean each every few minutes. I have quilted lots of fabric, but NEVER have seen anything like this that actually would freeze up the bobbin mechanism.

Hopefully, I'll still be sane when this is done.

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14 comments:

  1. Oh....I'm so sorry. I made the mistake of using some of that same dumb fabric in a quilt once. I was hand quilting and it was almost impossible to needle. I don't know who came up with the idea to put paint on fabric for quilters to use!! Fortunately, that stuff is out of my stash now!!

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  2. Wow, what an issue! The quilting looks beautiful, though!

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  3. How awful! What a pain! I've never heard of that stuff flaking off. Although, I'll have to say that I'm not fond of those WOW painted on fabrics. After reading of your problems, I really, really do not like them.
    But I'll tell you, the front side is absolutely gorgeous!

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  4. Seems to be a lot of quilter's painting their quilt tops to get that artsy look, but this sounds like a nightmare of a quilt job...I hope you charge more than the going rate! I'm not sure I have seen factory painted fabric, hope I don't.

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  5. Sorry about your tension whoas! The quilting in very stunning.

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  6. I have seen fabric like that in Joanns but I never bought any because it felt too rough. Quilts should be soft and snuggable.

    HEY, you copied my blog border. Great minds and all that.

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  7. Oh this quilting is so pretty. I love it. Sorry to hear of the painty fabric mess. It happened to me once.... it seemed it took me nearly the whole quilt to figure it out. : ( I think with all the ripping out, I ended up quilting the quilt 2 times. ugh. Anyway, the qulting you do is so inspiring!

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  8. This quilt is beautiful. Sorry it has given you so much grief. I love those double circle motifs. I am a real fan of Helen Squire stencils. And I'm with you on that painted white on white. icky. I feel the same way about Fairy Frost.

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  9. Poor you, it does look good now it's finished though
    Can you ask your client what the fabric was so we can all make sure we never go near it.

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  10. I have some of those WOW fabrics but they've never given me too much trouble but I won't be buying any moreq

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  11. It turned out beautifully, but what an ordeal! I used the white on white fabric once (before I knew better) on a quilt that my mom hand quilted for me. Let's just say it's a good thing she loves me......the stuff is impossible to needle and gave her fits. I never realized it would bother a machine that badly. I will ban any remnants of it forthwith!

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  12. Deb, if it's any consolation, the quilt is absolutely gorgeous. I've never been a fan of that rubber printed fabric and after hearing this story, I'll really stay clear from now on. You have the patience of a saint to stick with this!

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  13. Your quilting is so beautiful!

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