this is more of a rant than needing help but this is the best place i thought this would fit....

I am so discouraged as a beginner quilter that i just want to cry! ok i showed ya'll the front panel of my bed quilt i am making...well i started quilting that tonight and as you quilters know you get stuck (pin basting) when "feeding" the quilt to your machine....well!!! the last time i got pricked this much, i at least had Rhiannon to show for it in 9 months. my fingers are so sore!! so i decided to stop for the night when i layed my quilt on the floori turned it over to look at how the burgundy thread looked against the green...it's beautiful! but to top of my sore fingers alot of the stitching is LOOSE! that's right loose! so half my quilt is quilted and most of it looks like Rhiannon (3 yrs old) stiched it.....SO DISCOURAGED!

I think from here on out i am sticking strictly to the lap quilts....i am even debating on just setting this one to the side hoping i will forget about the horrific work i did

I am sorry you are having such a difficult time with this quilt. Loose stitching sounds like a "mechanical" problem rather than "human error." Are both the machine and the bobbin threaded correctly? Sometimes the thread can jump out of the guide or the bobbin can be put in backwards. Is there lint clogged under the throatplate? Is the needle dull or bent? They say for optimum sewing the needle should be replaced every eight hours of sewing. Are you using a good quality thread? Bargain thread is no bargain in my book.

If none of the usual suspects mentioned above pans out, then it likely is a tension issue. Did I read somewhere that you do not have a walking foot? In order for the needle and the bobbin to do their thing and lock threads properly, the three layers of the quilt sandwich need to be compressed tightly together. Perhaps some of the ladies who do more machine quiting than I can share how they solve that problem.

Hang in there April, just walk away from it for a couple of days till you calm down. I haven't tried machine quilting yet so I can't offer you any advise there, except to say there are lots of ladies here that will help you out. But I can tell you when you get that frustrated with it, it is time to take out your agressions on something else. Do you have a rug you can take outside and beat on for a while?
(she runs ducking........)

Hi, April ...

I have been in the place you are in ... it is difficult not to get discouraged ...

I have a basic older Brother machine, I do have a walking foot and use it a lot as it is a help with moving the quilt layers, but I sometimes do not change the from the quilting foot and it has worked okay.

It is a big step from a lap quilt to a bed sized quilt. You have the bulk to deal with. This gave me some trouble at first.

Here are some of the things I learned as I went along:

Are you using safety pins. Using large safety pins rather than straight pins helps you from getting those sharp points.

Another method is using that spray basting spray. This can be a bit smelly and sticky ... spray it in a ventilated area on the BACK of your quilt top and the stickyness extending beyond the fabric onto the batting ... you may want to wash the quilt before using it ...

That said I do not really use the spray much ... I tried it and did not really like it all that much ... but it did help when I was "learning" ... I also tried the "iron on" type of batting ... it is a bit too stiff for my liking ... you may find you like these, though.

Look into different kinds of batting.

What I do use on most of my bed quilts is Warm and Natural 100% cotton batting ... available from Jo-Ann Fabrics ... I use coupons a lot ... I really like this ... it is light, warm, it breathes and it is nice to work with. It is not bulky. It rolls up nicely to fit thorugh the relatively small space between my needle and my housing. The fabric sticks to it just enough that even on bed size quilts ... as long as I make sure everything is perfectly FLAT and SMOOTH to the edges ... that I do not need to use a lot of pins and I do not get wrinkles on the back.

I take the quilt out of the machine and smooth and re-roll it a lot. It takes a bit of time, but I can see how it is coming along and things flow more smoothly in the end.

When I wash the quilt ... (I do not usually wash fabrics before I sew)... this does shrink and puff up a bit, but it does not shift. It gets a crinkly, old-fashioned quilt look to it that I really like.

Meg has made some very good points about thread, needle and tension. I find my machine really prefers Gutterman 100% polyester thread for quilting. (Also available from J0-Ann's.) I would rather use cotton thread, but my machine does not.

Are you straight stitching? Or trying to do free-motion? Straight cross-hatching or in-the-ditch it easiest on large quilts when you are still learning.

I know you are miserable with your efforts right now. Try not to give up. I have been there ... knowing I have to rip out what I have quilted and start over ... but that is what you are going to be doing. It is just a part of quilting.

Like Jenell said ... give it a day or two ... and go back ...

You will be quilting queen size quilts before you know it ...

the problem seams to have been the tension....i have had to crank this bad boy over to 6!! usually run around 3....thank you so much ladies!! i can TRULY say that my bed quilt was made with blood tears a ALOT of hard work....i am almost don't with the quilting part of it now and could not be more ready to be FINISHED! thank you all for the wonderful advise!

I'm so glad! I hate to see you give up without a fight! Good to see you won this round!

Nice going, April ... way to hang in there

Hey Everything will work out. At least the loose stitches are easy to remove (I should know, I've removed enough of them myself). Keep at it. I'm getting ready to start quilting a Queen-size quilt for my step-son's wedding gift. No doubt there will be a few choice words flying around the quilting room when I do it.

I've found when I start making mistakes, or things go wrong, it's time to take a break. Even if it's just because I'm not sure what to do next with a design. I walk away for a few minutes to a few days. Gives my mind time to work out the problem without the pressure.

Quilting is a learning curve and it's a pretty curvy one at that. I found doing free-motion quilting on my most recent quilt great fun. (I had done small doses of it on small projects and practicing, but this is a quilt of at least 50 inches square. I described it to my daughter as driving an 18 wheeler through the streets of San Francisco during an earthquake! Pedal to the metal and keep moving that sucker around.

So, deep breath, calm thoughts, play some music you enjoy and sing along as you do it. I play Contemporary Christian music and pray the songs into the quilts... Enjoy the process!

Have a good weekend,
KimUK

Don't feel bad I have a large quilt that my Aunt wanted and I know for sure that I don't like making quilts this size however she put the guilt trip on me by stating that she is my only living aunt on my dad's side who is deceased also, anywho I went ahead well right now it is just sitting on my bed in my sewing room while I yet debate on whether to send it out however that is an ussue seeing that I have never done this before and not too sure aobut a lot of things that go along with this, so reading this post helped and KimUK I can go with the Christian music that seems to be a lot of consulation at any time, you ladies are the bomb!!! April I hope that you continue to get this one quilted as I too begin my journey.

I have finished with the quilting of it and after setting it down for an hour i was able to go back to it and try the advice and it worked out! but now i have put that one to this side for now, don't need it till winter, because i am so anxious to get a dent in these BB quilts.

I listen to books on tape while i am quilting. I LOVE to read but i can knock out 2 birds with one stone if i listen to the book and qult at the same time!! GOTTA LOVE IT!!