Quilt Along #1 - with Leah Day

I'm posting my attempt at Quilting Along with Leah Day.  We're are supposed to go through and practice her lesson of the week and post our outcome.  This is to help the free motion quilting community grow and learn together by sharing our successes AND OUR MISTAKES.   :)  The following is work I normally would hide at the bottom of a pile somewhere in the back of a closet!!!  But since we are ALL here to learn together......

Here goes!!

First, a huge THANK YOU to Leah for all of her hard work and consistant blogging which I know has helped me immensely in my growth as a Free Motion Quilter!

So...  Here is my first attempt at lesson one.  I am using a machine that is pretty new to me.  I've been wishing the machine I am more comfortable with was here but it wasn't available.  The following picture is the full shot of my first attempt at Quilt Along #1.  I used black then navy blue thread on the front and white thread on the back as I wanted to see whether stitches were even..

Full shot of attempt #1

Close up of attempt #1 showing issues - front

Close up of attempt #1 showing issues - back

another shot of attempt #1

 

thread broken and shreaded on front

tension issue

black thread from front showing on back

2nd try :)

I was much happier with my second try.  Leah asked that we ask questions and discuss issues, so here goes.

As I started I was having lots of issues with thread breaking and I found that my IDT (integrated dual feed) was engaged.  I found that disengaging the IDT fixed some of the issues and sewing became much better.  I still had issues with broken and shredded thread.

My questions to Leah, beyond anything she is already thinking I should be doing differently are:

1)  Thread:  Do you have a favorite thread?  Are there any threads that you would NOT use for this?
2) Do you have a favorite needle?

I think the old saying that 'practice makes perfect' runs pretty true here.  That being the case I'd have to say that I have a great deal of practice in my future!!  Looking forward to starting Quilt Along #2!

Marie