Don’t tell me I can’t do that!
I’m working on the Elizabeth Barton Master Class assignment for this month which calls for “lost edges”. Lost edges recede into the background to create the illusion of form. It was a new concept to me-or so I thought. The more I researched it the more I realized I knew exactly what it was. And indeed, I’d been fascinated with lost edges since the beginning of my quilt making:
I made this quilt in 2001, straight from Alex Anderson’s star book. This is one of the blocks. See how the edges of the saw tooth star fade into the background? I was doing that from the beginning-simply because I liked it and had no idea it had a name. It’s not the best example, but you get the idea.
For this month’s challenge I wanted to work another native grass piece, but on ombre fabric, letting the ombre create lost edges for me. I’m doing it in whole cloth fashion and I’ll write about the process and outcome in a later post.
Once I chose my ombre fabric, which fades deep black to lighter gray, I had to choose a thread that would get “lost” as well as show up when I wanted it to. I wanted the viewer to still see the stitching on the black if they were up close. I knew there was only one thread to do that, Superior’s King Tut “Obsidian”, #979. See how it goes from black to dark gray to brown? Perfect!
You’re going to realize how geeked out I am on thread by this post. I have the color cards for all my oft used threads and knew my threads well enough to know that this really is a unique thread. Black thread would not have shown up on the black fabric and I didn’t want something as showy as a dark brown or gray. This was an excellent choice.
A little background here: King Tut is a 40 wt/3 ply thread-that means it is a big, fat, shouting thread. I wanted to run skinny little 100 wt silk thread in my bobbin because I love the thread painted picture it creates on my backing-I’ve used that thread on every piece in this series.
I don’t know if you can really tell here, but I chose a huge thread and a skinny thread. Normally you just don’t do that but that’s what I wanted!
I can work a thread, I know how to get perfect tension, this is what I do. I use all kinds of different thread combinations to achieve what I want. So I slapped it into my machine, adjusted both top and bobbin tension, and let ‘er rip.
So here’s the view from the top: perfect tension (hair flip!).
And here’s the view from the backing: perfect tension (hair flip!). And that’s with wool batting even, which gives no place for bad tension to hide.
Well, Little Miss Bernina Artista 730 didn’t think so! She kept stopping every 6″, telling me something was amiss with my bobbin. I did all the normal things: rethreaded, inspected the bobbin, reinserted, made sure everything was clean, made sure the area around the bobbin case was pristine, turned the machine on and off, checked the tension again, even put in a Bobbin Genie (not really convinced they work anyway). Nope. Still stopping every 6″.
So I called Superior Thread and even they couldn’t help-a first!
So on a hunch, I got out my 185 and transferred the bobbin and its case, intact, directly from the 730 to the 185. It instantly worked. The ONLY thing I did was transfer the bobbin+case to the 185 and it worked. Therefore, it could not have been anything with the tension, bobbin, etc., it was the machine!
But let’s be clear here-the machine was working perfectly (my tension was dead on)-it simply insisted on giving me grief about the bobbin.
So I sent Little Miss Bernina Artista 730 to The Punishment Room!
And Little Miss Bernina 185 did exactly what I asked her to do without any bitching whatsoever.
The little computer in my machine CANNOT tell me what to do! If she can’t handle the tension, fine. But if she handles it just fine and then bitches about it, that is unacceptable and will merit a visit to The Punishment Room every time!
The best advice I received in this whole process was from my local Bernina dealer, Angel at Meissner’s Folsom, who with total deadpan asked: “Did you take it out of Diva Mode?”
Way to go! Love this blogpost. I will be interested in seeing what you do with lost edges.
Thanks Betty Jo-I’ll post the final next week probably.
I love that you put your non- cooperative machine in ‘time-out’.. I am a fairly new free motion quilter and love any information about threads. Glad to hear you can use a heavier thread on top and lighter weight on the bottom. I haven’t taken the time to play with that combo as of yet. Oh, and I love the “hair flip”. Such a wonderful visual.
Thank you for the comment Kathy! And the only reason I had that insane thread combo is because it was the look I wanted. Your machine may or may not allow you to do such insane things, giggle. And the hair flip is an important move for free motion quilting-what else are you supposed to do when you do something really cool???
Sakes alive, if Ms. Queen of FMQ can’t get her machine to cooperate, what chance does lowly moi have? Diva mode, huh. I need to look for the override button for that on my Janome.
Oh Joannna, to quote Rob Apel-“I’m just a beginnning free motion quilter with a lot of experience”. But hey, once you figure out how to get rid of the Diva Mode, you’re good to go! On the Janomes, I think it’s just above the thingy and to the right of the whoozit.
of course the Diva mode! Sometimes the simpler the machine the better the stitch. love my good old 185. I love the things you do with thread. i think there is a book there in the future.
Isn’t that great-diva mode? It’s a toss up between my 185 and 153. Book??? Maybe…
Oh my Mindy-what lofty plans you have for me! Yup, that 185 is a good one as well as my 153. I do love the 730 and this is the first time she really gave me attitude. But that’s why you need back up machines….and a Punishment Room! Thank you for the comment.
The PUNISHMENT ROOM???? Really? Yikes. I stick mine in the closet for a few days while I work on another machine. That’s a big enough ‘time out’ space for me.
And I agree with Mindy: You NEED to write that book!
Yes but you have more space to put things in. Thank you for the encouragement!
Diva Mode. Ha, ha! So that’s what you call it! There’s a ‘duh’ moment for me! And those strange top/bobbin thread combos…I use ’em all the time. I thought that the tension knob was there for just such purposes. What do I know????? LOL!
Oh good, I’m not the only one to try odd combinations! And tension “knob”-that’s the problem-the 730 has a computer, no knob:-(
Hah — Diva Mode?! I will ONLY sew with machines that are in Diva Mode! :-) But this brings up a really good point about the high end, high tech machine trends. Sometimes the warnings and reminders, the “training wheels” built into these machines, are a glorious PITA to someone who knows her machine, knows what she’s doing, and hates being constantly dinged at by computerized error messages that mean absolutely nothing. There should be a way to turn those features off, don’t you think?
YES-wish there were a way to turn all that stuff off! We don’t need them.
The Punishment Room sounds serious! I’ll have to figure out how to deactivate Diva Mode. They should have covered that in the Bernina classes I received!
I know, they should tell us where that diva mode is hidden! Oh, there has to be a Punishment Room for machines that bark back at ya.
I’ve been doing lots of rayon thread satin stitching on a fabric that is mostly metallic. Same thread in bobbin and top. All was well until I ran out of thread and the bobbin thread was breaking every two inches. Tried all the tricks I knew..Cleaned, oiled, new needle, rethread, rewind the bobbin, etc etc nothing worked until I discovered that the new thread would not break if I just filled the bobbin half full. Now how is that for a DIVA machine! OH ME. I gotter done but wasn’t always FUN. That machine needs to learn that I’m in charge…NOT the machine!
Half full-now there’s a new one! I’ll have to try that next time I have a mystery problem. And that is a real diva!
This post made me laugh out loud! Diva mode, I’m using that line next time my machine gets uppity. They do have minds of their own for sure
That’s Angel’s line but I too will be using it in the future Carol. Glad you enjoyed the post!
I agree about the simpler machines, I have a Bernina 1230 it’s at least 20 years old and I never have tension problems with it. I’m thinking my newer Bernina 710 has a diva mode also. At least now I know what to call it.
LOL Linda! I am a fan of the older ones too but I do love the needle up/down and some of the other newer features, but I don’t lust after the 35 lb machines at all. I think the newer ones just take more getting used to also. For the time I’m happy with what I have!
Hi Jenny
This is a gorgeous piece. I love it.
As to your machine problems, it is yet another voice I have heard complaining about later Berninas. I think I will stick with my old 160 lady!
Yes Hilary, sometimes the older ones are the best! I actually love my 730 but she sure didn’t do me any favors this time.
I love the colors and thread choice of the grasses in your photo. Very enjoyable post.
Thank you for reading and your comment Regina-oh I love my grasses.
I will have to remember about that Punishment Room for my 830. I guess it is in it sort of as I am using a dealers 820 and she is probably sending mine back to Bernina as she hasn’t been able to get it to stop making a horrible sound. :)
Love your courage in playing with thread and tension! I just hope and pray mine will sew well.
Oh no Judy-that does not sound good. Surely yours will do anything you ask her to once she returns from The Farm!
LOL! My Husqvarna Lily 555 sometimes goes “all Diva” on me with bobbin thread too (it’s a top-loader). However, she loves, loves, loves the King Tut/Bottom Line combo for free-motion. Whenever she bugs me about it, it’s because I need to change the needle which, now that I’m using the top-stitch needles recommended by the thread company, is rare indeed.
Now, when I go to buy a car in a few years, to buy one of those that won’t have a mind of its own… ;-)
Giggle! That’s surprising-Tut and Bottom Line, given their big differences in weight. I love the topstitch too-especially the titanium coated ones so that I can sew on forever. Cars? I have a 2006 and I don’t see any real reason to upgrade except I’d like the newer GPS.