Let's Do Some Microstippling

Felt particularly calm today and thought that I would explore the microstippling 'pokies' issue. Ever since I have had the new machine, I have been slightly out of sink with the microstippling as the machine has a completely different rhythm than the domestic sewing machine and I struggled to find the right speed and movement. While I could manage I obviously have come across the 'pokies' on the top or bottom issue, particularly with different threads on top and bottom.

Used my Practice Ruler Quilt for some experimenting as that quilt will probably end up as a cat mat. I needed to use something real where I had room to just go for it. Used a maroon coloured Aurifil 50/2 on top and cream colour in the bottom, definitely a recipe for hours of fiddling. Yep, did a lot of fiddling with the tension, but once that was set, I refrained from fiddling any further and tried different things with the top thread, i.e. thread net,  feeding the thread through only 2 holes, 1 hole before it goes to the tension disk, bobbin genie etc. Reasoning was that the tension gave me a perfect stitch if I just quilted 'normal' lines...it was the change in direction every few seconds that seemed to be causing the issue.

The problem was that I had the top thread coming to the top, but only on certain movements...

Hard to see but believe me some sections looked absolutely horrific. Could not get a grip on that but realised after a while that this was not solely tension. Lowering the tension was not an option as I would have pokies galore on the backside. Determined, I took my thread through only 1 hole before the tension disk and then just went for it for a number of those triangle sections to see what was happening. Obsessional, I know, but I really wanted to understand what was happening.

After a while I found a speed I could manage really well, i.e. not too fast but not too slow either, being able to make nicely rounded shapes but then I noticed the above happening on the back of the quilt. Took me a moment to work out the reason, but in the end I figured that this happened with the lint that was accumulating in the machine. Had plenty of evidence of that...

I cannot believe how sensitive these machines are. Here I was for months on end trying to figure out why I could not get this right. After this realisation I briefly went around with the brush every time I stopped. This did not eliminate all lint, but helped a lot. Moral of the story...Aurifil might not be a good choice of bobbin thread on this occasion...in the future I will combine my Aurifil 50/2 top thread with a prewound Deco bob which is 60wt and has far less lint. After having done the whole border and managed to get a good rhythm going I felt that this is probably the solution...at least for the way that I do microstippling.

This is how my microstippling looked in the end...hardly any pokies and way more consistent than I started. Really got that rhythm going in the end.

And here is my border half way done. I am planning on doing a 1/4in grid on the other side. 

Karin