I have to.
So a little backstory. When I quilted "Hidden Star" I was having the toughest time with it. My thread kept breaking and it just was not going well. I thought it could be the fact that I used spray basting for the first time, and that maybe my machine needed to be serviced. I knew it was not my needle, because I just changed it. Well, I got through the quilt, but it was the absolute worst experience I have had quilting a quilt so far.
So this last weekend, I was ready to quilt another quilt. I was not looking forward to it at all. I decided I should probably give my machine a thorough cleaning--since it had been a while sine I have cleaned it. Well, I was mortified when I unscrewed the top off and found this:
I can't believe how much crap has accumulated in my machine!! I knew I needed to clean it out regularly, but obviously I was not doing it as regularly as I should have. I am pretty certain this is one of the reasons why I was having a hard time quilting my last quilt.
I got my vacuum cleaner out and started vacuuming it out. I then pulled up the bobbin case and found more crap. It actually kind of reminded me of a cotton candy maker! lol
So, after a good half hour of cleaning it and vacuuming it out--it now is working wonderfully! My thread didn't break once when I quilted over the weekend, and it seems to be running much better. I should have taken an after picture! But it looks like a brand new machine! :)
So the lesson of the story is: clean your machine! Be sure to look at your user manual for your machine's specific instructions.
I will be cleaning my machine way more often now!
Talk to you soon,
10 comments:
That's a lot of fluff!
I'd be too scared to use a vacuum incase it sucked up any little parts haha!
I know this can be embarrassing but it's good to know ...I'm sure there are people out here in quilting land that didn't know we should clean out their machine. Another thing is how often should you oil it and where to do that. Thanks for sharing...;o)
I swear I heard my machine say "I love you" after I cleaned and oiled her last.
Good advice, Lindsey. You are sew right.... We need to take good care of our machines!
I have a BabyLock sewing machine and she does not tolerate fuzzies! She throws tantrums.... Breaks needles, thread, etc. thanks for reminding everyone to clean their favorite machine.
I have had lots of crap in my machine too, not that much! Amazing how much lint fit inside!
Hahaha how brave of you to post the before pics - but it shows just how busy you've been quilting! Glad your post-cleaning work went much more smoothly : )
I too have had this happen, and a good cleaning solves many problems. Recently, I had a horrible time doing zigzag applique - the tension was awful. I did everything I knew how, read the manual, took it in for service (who couldn't figure it out), bought a new bobbin case because I knew mine had some issues, all to no avail. After reading another blog post about needles, I switched that also. Finally, I was doing some test stitches and switched thread to compare stitches. Guess what? It was the thread! Learn something every day :)
I took my Janome in to the guy I bought it from one time because it wasn't sewing like I thought it should. On the phone he said it sounded like a thread was caught somewhere which was bullogna because I clean mine every time I start a new project.....I'm thinking he would have been mortified to see yours LOL ! That guy would croak if he new I take mine to the barn once in a while and blow it out with the air compressor !
Tee-hee! I have had a similar collection of mini-compact dust bunnies! Also, I love your modern quilt from a later post. Great colors and its very fun!
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