mamagrande

Quilting on my HQ and worked very hard on getting my quilting even. The top is batik pieced squares, it has a 1/4 inch flange and left over batik pieced squares in her pieced backing...

Had to stop and work the flange under the presser foot several times on each row and uneven stitching where the batik blocks were on both sides. The pattern had many twists and turns.

This is the first time I am quilting for this customer and I am disappointed because it reflects on the quality of my quilting. The one I quilted first is beautiful, it is cotton and although the backing was also pieced with three fabric strips everything was very smooth and she wanted just a meander pattern.

MaryKatherine

Some machines balk when there are different weight materials.
A new needle helps as does heavier thread, though at this point that's not much help.
Sometimes things just don't want to do what you'd expect.

ManiacQuilter2

You have to be so knowledgeable in every aspect of quilting when you start to do it professionally. Be cautious of something that might cause a problem. You have this terrific group of LAQ so next time, post a question here and see if someone can help you thru a problem. Every quilt you quilt represents your ability at quilting. I would have loved to see a photo but some aspects of this board seems not to be working. We are our worst critic.

feline fanatic

Flanges or other 3D elements (like folded blocks) are problematic for even the most experienced LA quilters. It is up to you how you want to handle your disappointment with the quality of the quilting. You may wish to offer a discount to this customer.

dunster

You may be selling yourself short. Ask a friend, one who will tell you the truth, what she thinks of the quilting. If she doesn't see anything wrong with it, then you're imagining problems that don't exist.

quiltingshorttimer

I recently was told by a master LAQ to cover the flange with blue painter's tape--it holds it out of the way and also serves as a very visible stop line too. You didn't say, but were there lots of seams in each block? If so, using them on the back probably did present problems. I like the idea to offer the customer a discount with an explanation. she will probably appreciate your honesty. I was recently rushing to finish a youth quilt for a friend when I got a length wise pleat on the back--of course I found it when I was almost finished. My friend was ok with it but I was embarrassed and ripped stitches for 8 hrs and re-did. Sometimes you just have to start over on things.

carolynjo

Good advice given. I seem to not be the only one who is troubled by computer problems. My son, who is an IT, worked on this site for a long time yesterday and there are still some niggling problems with it. Something has definitely changed.

Tartan

Batiks are more dense then regular fabrics and with them on the back, I would expect problems. You have some good suggestions from other long armers.

stitch678

For the sake of your next quilt with batiks...put in a practice sandwich & experiment. My machine prefers a FINER needle & thread on batiks and sheeting...seems to pierce the dense thread count fabrics better.

mic-pa

I am glad to see this board is working better today. Thought it was my computor when I could not bring up the pictures yesterday.