Some Pet Peeves About Quilting

noun

informal

noun: pet peeve; plural noun: pet peeves

1. Something that a particular person finds especially annoying.

The phrase “Pet Peeve” originated around 1919 from the 14th century word “Peevish,” meaning ornery or ill-tempered. People have a knack for finding something to complain about, but Pet Peeves are reserved for those things we find truly impossible to deal with.

Ah.  Pet peeves.  We all have them.  About all kinds of things.  I have them about driving – if you’re one of those drivers who never use turn signals, I’m looking at you.  I have them about grammar.  There are differences between there, their, and they’re.  Overall, in the great span of the universe, pet peeves are those little things which get under our skin and drive us just slightly this side of crazy.  Quilting and quilters aren’t immune to pet peeves.  In this week’s blog I’ve amassed a list of the some common quilting pet peeves and how to deal with them. 

Bobbin Barf

This is a bird’s nest – the cluster of thread on the back of the fabric sometimes formed when you begin a seam.  I had never heard of it called Bobbin Barf until I began working on this blog, but I think it’s a pretty great name for it. 

There are three reasons we experience Bobbin Barf:

1.  Bobbin thread: The bobbin thread may not have been pulled up or put under tension before starting to sew. If the bobbin tension is too loose, extra thread can unwind from the bobbin and build up under the needle plate.
2. Top thread: The top thread may not be threaded correctly, or it may have been threaded with the presser foot down, locking all the tension discs. This prevents the thread from getting between the discs.
3. Thread quality: Cheaper threads can lead to more tension issues and breakages

Breaking the Sewing Machine Needle

You should change your sewing machine needle regularly.  If using a regular needle, it should be changed after eight hours of sewing.  If you’re using a titanium needle, you can double that time to 16 hours.  I know it’s kind of difficult to remember to “clock” the hours a needle used, so I tend to change mine each time I finish a large quilt or two to three smalls ones and definitely after I finish quilting a quilt.  However there are times, despite your attention to changing your needle, that sewing machine needles will snap.  When you change feet, some machines require you to change your needle position.  This is my biggest culprit.  When I move from my standard “A” foot to my quilter’s ¼-inch foot, I have to move my needle over.  I can’t tell you how many times I forget and break a needle.  Some sewing machines also allow you to change throat plates for sewing.  Often in this process, you also must change your needle setting or it will snap.  Since I tend to get “tunnel vision” when I quilt (completely focused on the project and the process) I use neon colored sticky notes.  I write myself a note in bold, black Sharpie on a bright neon Post-it Note, reminding myself to change the needle position as I change feet.  I also put a duplicate note on the box which houses all my sewing machine feet.  This usually works well.  The bright color catches my eye and pulls me out of “tunnel vision.”

Running Out of Bobbin Thread

This one was a huge pet peeve for me before I purchased my Janome M7 Continental.  I can’t tell you how many times I thought I was through sewing on a border only to find my bobbin thread ran out six inches from where I started.  Since this seems to be a pet peeve for many sewists, more and more machines are coming equipped with a “bobbin alarm.”  The machine will beep or ding when there’s a miniscule amount of thread left in the bobbin.  My M7 just flat-out stops sewing when there’s about 18-inches of thread left on the bobbin.  It will not budge until I swap out the almost-empty bobbin for a full one. 

If you’re in the market for a new machine, I strongly recommend this be one of the options you look for.  If you’re not, and your machine has no bobbin indicator, I would check the bobbin before beginning any long stretch of sewing, such as borders, sewing the center together, or quilting.  To speed the process up, it’s always nice to have a few bobbins already wound and waiting.  This means you only have to swap your bobbins out, and not have to take the time to wind a new one. 

Poor Customer Service

This is a big pet peeve for most folks, regardless if they’re a sewist or not.  Poor customer service just stinks – that’s the only way to put it.  But for folks like quilters, who tend to do a bit of online shopping, poor customer service can really slow you down big time when you’re working on a project.  Even before the Pandemic, brick-and-mortar quilt shops were closing at a record number.  Now most of us must do some of our shopping on the internet.  If a product does not arrive on time, the instructions are vague, or part or all of the order is wrong, we reach out to the company’s customer service either through a chat-bot, email, or phone call.  If we don’t receive a reply in a timely manner, get inaccurate information, or worse, emails and phone calls are ignored, we tend to get a bit hot under the collar (at least I do)

Like a lot of quilters, I have a several online sites I tend to order from on a regular basis.  These have always given me stellar customer service, so I tend to frequent them.  However, if I am ordering from a new-to-me business, I always Google it.  If folks have had a poor experience with these stores, usually you’ll find some kind of evidence on Google.  As for my blog, if I mention a brick-and-mortar store or online site, you can be sure I’ve ordered from them and have had a good experience.  My blog is not monetized in anyway, and I don’t work for any quilting business.

“I Want One” Syndrome

First let me begin this pet peeve with a caveat.  Quilters are some of the most generous people I am acquainted with.  Most of you know I became a quilter not so much for the quilts as for the quilters.  Through a research project, I became friends with quilters and wanted to continue to hang out with them after I completed my project.  So I learned to quilt. Overall, most quilters are just the finest people I’ve ever had the privilege of knowing.  They’re generous with their time, knowledge, and their quilts.  We make quilts for family, friends, babies, Christmas, birthdays – you name it and if we like you (and feel so led), we’ll pop out a quilt for you.  This brings us joy.

However, there’s always this one person (or more) who we may not be especially close to, who will take a look at our quilts, and will say something to the effect, “I would so like to have one of your quilts.  You love to quilt.  Make me one.”

And making this person a quilt may not be anywhere on our quilting radar.  How do you say no without being rude?  Maybe I’ve just gotten older and crankier, but I simply tell them I’m booked. Which is not a lie.  I have a list of quilts I want to make and usually those quilts are already attached to a person, event, or show.  I really don’t want to be bothered making my third-times-removed Cousin Clem who I only see at family reunions, a quilt. 

You don’t have to be ugly, but you don’t have to make that person a quilt.  The word “No” is a complete sentence.  And don’t let them make you have a case of “quilter’s guilt” if you refuse.*

Printing Patterns

One of the biggest changes I’ve seen in the quilting world over the past 10 or so years is the number of downloadable patterns.  You no longer need to wait on the US Postal Service, FedEx, or UPS for some of them.  Many are available for immediate download and instant gratification with a point and click of your mouse.  Your brand-spanking-new pattern will show up on your laptop or iPad and all you must do is print them.

Sounds super easy, doesn’t it?  Sure, you compensate for instant gratification by using your printer ink, but you don’t have to print the entire pattern at once.  And for the most part, it is easy.  However, what’s important to remember is this:

A little box or line.  This is usually found somewhere on the pattern and generally right under it is something to the effect “When printed, this square/line should measure 1-inch.”  Depending on how your printer is set up, it’s not difficult to make sure the square or line measures exactly 1-inch.  When the print dialogue box is open, make sure the “Fit to Page” box is unchecked – this allows the pattern to print at its actual size.  If it’s printed with the “Fit to Page” box checked, the pieces may come out smaller than needed. 

And to be perfectly honest, this is not so much a pet peeve (I think trading instant gratification for printer ink is okay) as it is a procedure not mentioned in most of the initial pattern directions.  A quilter sees the random square or line at some point in the pattern and then realizes he or she may not have printed the pattern correctly.   Word of caution – patterns not designed in the United States tend to need more tweaking to get the line or square to measure the 1-inch requested.  I usually have to play around with the enlarging mode on my printer for a while to get it to print correctly – or just decide to go with a smaller block.

There are work arounds with pet peeves.   I am thankful I only have a few quilting issues and a couple of those can be easily solved as long as I remember to make myself a note or thread my machine correctly.   I may or may not have hit on your quilting pet peeve.  If I haven’t please leave it in the comments.  I’d love to know what it is. 

Until Next Week, From My Studio to Yours,

Sherri and Felix

*A few words about making quilts for others.  As a rule, I don’t quilt for payment.  If I make a person a quilt, it’s truly because I love that person, I’m thinking about them, and although I may not be able to make their circumstances better, I can leave them with a tangible item to remind them someone cares for them.  Personally, I think quilting for money would suck the joy right out of my quilting life.   Yes, I have been offered money for quilts I’ve already made, and when I begin to slim down my collections, chances are at that point, I will sell a few. 

If you chose to make a quilt for a person who has requested one, and that person is not normally an individual you would have chosen to give a quilt to, it’s important to remember you’re doing it out of the goodness of your own heart.  Be prepared the person may not care for your choice of colors or blocks or quilting motif.  Be prepared they may complain and not show the proper amount of consideration. Then let the quilt go.  Release it.   This is so important.  A person who doesn’t understand the amount of commitment a quilt takes –whether they like the quilt or not – may not treat the quilt well.  So don’t be hurt (or surprised) if you discover the quilt used as a dog bed, a moving blanket, or treated in some other cruel manner.  You’ve given the quilt away – it’s not yours any longer.  I think one of the angriest moments I can remember as a quilter was early on in my journey when I made someone a quilt who had begged for one.  At that point in my life, my time was extremely limited – my kids were small, I worked full time, and my husband worked out of town.  But I did make this person a quilt (she had given me a full-guilt trip about it) and not long after I gave it to her, she sold it for $50.

It was then I learned to release any control I thought I may have over a quilt.  It no longer belonged to me and technically the recipient could do whatever they wanted to with it.  However, it also meant I didn’t have to make that person another quilt.