Sprockets, a Linus Quilt, and THE Solution to Janome 6500 skipping stitches problem

DONE!  This is one of Bonnie Hunter's patterns.  I added a row of 4-patches to the top and the bottom to give it some length.  I'm liking it!  I quilted it in "sprockets" my own name for what started as a posey or daisy, but I liked the squarish angles better.  This will be a Linus Quilt. 

Solution for Skipped Stitches for MY Janome MC 6500
If you can stand the last time I'm going to talk about the solution to MY issue with skipped stitches on my much-loved Janome MC 6500. 

My machine is 10 years old and has always machine quilted beautifully, until about 8 months ago, when it started skipping stitches.  OK, I used a thread conditioner, Sewer's Aid, which helped for a while.  Then I unfairly blamed the basting spray, then I blamed my Senior Citizenship, possibly my own failing skills, then ????.  Finally, I took it for servicing with a hopeful spirit,  but despite the tech's beautiful practice stitches and assurance that all was back to manufacturer's tolerances, it skipped stitches when MQ'ing.   Back again to the repair shop  a 2nd time, to recheck if  "something" is wrapped around the tension disks - like invisible thread.  "Nope" -- "Elaine Adair, you have just worn her out!"  Surely not, but ... there were many, many quilts quilted on this machine.  ???   How many is too many??? I finally decided to try a new motor - while not terribly expensive (under $100.00). That idea seemed unlikely but it was worth a try, before investing in a new machine.   

Nope, no difference with a new motor - still bad, skipped stitches when MQ'ing.  (Fine stitches on regular stitching).  Depression, lost my enthusiasm, and my current projects all came to standstills. 

I finally decided to begin looking for another machine and found an excellent tutorial/review from Leah Day on the Janome 7700.   To my surprise, she said to leave the feed dogs up, set stitch to zero for machine quilting.  Uh say what?

So, with nothing to lose, that is what I tried on the above quilt -with my Janome 6500 and ...  Not a skipped stitch in the entire project - NOT ONE!  I quilted it in 2 days, envisioning flames and smoke erupting from my machine with all my quilting efforts!

In the meantime, I've been hearing of other MQ'ers on DSM, that they also leave the dogs up - who knew?  I presume my machine IS worn and this solution might do for a few more years.   None of my quilting books mention it, nor "famous" pro quilters, except for Leah Day. 

So, this is the end of my whining, griping, tears and complaining on this subject.  8-)))))))  Several other bloggers have listened to my tale of woe and needed to know if I'd found a solution.  Yeahhhh!  Hope this helps someone with similar issues. 

Inspiration

This spring I visited my brother and sister-in-law in Denver.  Brother is retired Engineer, SIL Mary is a retired Art Teacher, and their home is always interesting, filled with unusual arty things, (including a beautiful canoe in their living room!).  As I looked around at all Mary's arty items, I noticed a stunningly beautiful cookie tin, and was thrilled to learn it was meant for ME, and filled with 500 Swedish cookies.  How did she know I'd love both the cookies and the tin itself?  I imagined a quilt made with the unusual colors, totally unlike anything I've made before.




Fast forward, delicious, paper-thin cookies are gone, and the lovely tin is on the top of my refrigerator, collecting some dust, but I DO admire it every day.  OK self, one of these days you'll get to that quilt.


In the meantime, spring came and went, summer came and is almost done for, so I started an easy  Linus quilt, using what I had in my stash, ala Quiltville.com.  I had no intention for it to turn out like it did!!! Apparently inspiration DID stay in my overcrowded brain.    Thank you Mary and Dave.  8-)

 

Quilt Backing - Positive Solution to Error

My previous post mentioned the error when measuring for the backing for a Linus Quilt, Scrappy Trip Around the World.  I was "shy" about 1.5 inches in width, and 4 inches in length.  I didn't have any more of any of the fabric in those squares.  Luckily, none of the 10 inch squares were sewn together, and I HAD this bright pink.  I was not thrilled with those pale, pastel fabrics.    

I was so pleased with this solution that both DH and I agreed it could be used as a "real" quilt top, but NO, it will be the backing.  The pink jazzed it up, and improved the entire coloring, as well as solved my measurement problems.  What a perfect example of errors turning out better than the original!  It actually IS a 2-sided quilt!   I tend to be not fearful of errors because of the great pleasure in getting out of trouble!  

Famous last words when finishing a quilt (or a backing), "It turned out better than I thought it would."

Linus Quilt. Streak of Sunshine

I've NEVER had problems with binding, that is, the sewing the two ends together, and had no qualms about trying a new method -- the one where you overlap the two ends, the same about as the width of your binding -- LOL -- a slight mistake -- I twisted it, but I DID like the method.

Next time I will quilt it in the ditch, or diagonally. I did swirly balloons, (one circle inside another) and am not thrilled but... it's done.

This "Streak of Sunshine" from quiltville.com, is simple, quick, and effective. I've had that purple quilt-y fabric for years -- LOVED it, but could never think of how to use it.
''

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, that backing! Looks like 60ish fabric, doesn't it?