Tag Archives: tension

Life, Music

I remember you – all of my pop culture references in one place

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I’ve been meaning to do this post for a bit.  In fact, you may have seen me accidentally post it a month or so ago in its unfinished form.   A few times, I’ve alluded to the fact that many of my posts have a pop culture reference in the titles.  This is a list of those posts and links to their references on youtube.

And no, I don’t expect this to be one of my most popular posts at all. 😉

This one is more of a “Get to know me” post than a “let’s get greasy with Tammi” post.

Uh.  That sounded less weird and less vaguely creepy in my head….

There’s a lot of diversity here for a number of reasons.  Continue reading I remember you – all of my pop culture references in one place →

Sewing Machines

First Date – First frame quilt, a charity quilt

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As I mentioned earlier this week, there’s a new machine in the house.

I’ve had a chance to play with it, and I’ve got a sort of preliminary review mostly of the frame. The machine in question is a Juki TL-98Q, it’s on a B-Line frame.

After a couple of mis-starts, things are going well. I managed about an hour on it each Tuesday and Wednesday, in a couple of small sessions , then about an hour and half on it on Saturday. No pain so far, which is good.

We’ve begun to bond, and I’ve discovered a few things so far: Continue reading First Date – First frame quilt, a charity quilt →

Sewing Machines

Vintage machines – What’s a servicing worth?

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I received an email today that I just have to talk about.  It’s not the particular email, but the type of email I get fairly regularly.

From time to time, I sell a fully serviced vintage sewing machine on the local buy and sell.  Every time I post one of these machines, I will mention that I’m selling the machine for less than the price of a tune-up. Continue reading Vintage machines – What’s a servicing worth? →

Sewing Machines, VSM Repair

Bobbin’ Along – bobbin tension

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You may have noticed in the previous post about tension that we didn’t even test sew the machine.

Yet.  We will test sew it, but not just yet.  You see what I’m trying to do is get the machine to a point where it’s in the ballpark first, then the rest is just small tweaks.  The goal is to help you rule out the big problems, the ones that require repair, or in drastic situations, possibly a trip to the sewing machine spa.

Consider this statement:

Tension too tight on the top can also be tension too loose on the bottom.
Top Tension too tight does not automatically mean bottom tension is too loose.
Tension too loose on the top can also be tension too tight on the bottom.
Top Tension too loose does not automatically mean bottom tension is too tight. Continue reading Bobbin’ Along – bobbin tension →
Sewing Machines, VSM Repair

Fragile Tension – Tension does not have to equal stress (Updated with a video)

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Possibly the most common reason a machine ends up on my bench is for tension.  Usually bird’s nests.  The thing is easily 80% of the time, there’s nothing really wrong with the machine that a repair person needs to look at it.  Sometimes it’s basic maintenance, sometimes it’s because someone told you at some point “DON’T YOU TOUCH THAT! EVER!”

I’m sure that the people who’ve said that meant well, but today I’m going to show you how to manage that dial properly and what to do when it’s not proper. Continue reading Fragile Tension – Tension does not have to equal stress (Updated with a video) →

Life, Pets, Sewing Machines

Review: Clover Wonder Clips

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This past week, I had more time than I think I’ve ever had to sew. I’ve been babying my lower back this week, because the last time I thought it was “good enough” (last Friday), I set my recovery back a week, at least.    So with time at the computer limited, and no lifting sewing machines, I decided it was time to finish a number of UFOs.   This seemed a good opportunity to put the wonder clips through their paces.

Most of my UFOs are not quilting projects.

  • I’ve had 2 pair of jeans sitting on my desk for a couple of months that need hemming.  They’re not even marked.
  • Then there are the “thundershirts” for all of our furry creatures.
  • The one quilted project is another featherweight case liner for yet another featherweight (there are 3 in total in the house)

So on to the performance of the Wonder clips. Continue reading Review: Clover Wonder Clips →

Sewing Machines, VSM Repair, Warnings

“Machine works and is in good condition”… really?

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I had a lady contact me about a few machines she wanted to sell.
I wasn’t interested in all of them, but 2 piqued my interest, the Singer 185J, because I knew someone who wanted it, and the Pfaff 362, because I thought it would be interesting to play with. Continue reading “Machine works and is in good condition”… really? →

Sewing Machines

testing threads

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As I mentioned in a previous post, I intend to do a comparison between several  threads to decide which I like the best for piecing and quilting. I currently have 6 of the threads that I reviewed from a cost point of view, plus one spare (Sulky) that my rep at SMS asked me about, and I’m considering picking up the last 2, just for the heck of it.

Tomorrow, I’m headed out to get a couple of rulers (they’re on sale for  70% off at the local fabric shop – who can pass that up? As an added bonus, they sell one of the two threads I’m missing for this test) and some topstitch needles  so I will pop into the quilt shop at the same time and grab the MasterPiece. Over the next several weeks, I hope to review each thread, by making a set project that will require piecing, as well as quilting.

I’m thinking of using this Continue reading testing threads →

Sewing Machines

I learned a lot today. Tension, needles, thread

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I love learning!  One of the things I’ve realised about quilting and sewing in general is that you can never learn all of it.  I spent a day a couple of weeks ago just watching videos from the Superior thread company (all of the videos posted on youtube)

I learned so many things that will do nothing but improve the quality of my sewing and quilting.  I really want to get my hands on some of that Superior thread too!  I would love to feel and see the differences for myself, but my supplier doesn’t carry it (yet) so I’ll have to spend some time looking for some to sample.

Some of this stuff I knew and have even discussed on this blog, but even that stuff I think it always worth watching, even if only to see it explained from another point of view. Continue reading I learned a lot today. Tension, needles, thread →