What To Do For Skipped Quilting Stitches // Works in Progress

I have had an interesting sewing week--I have done a lot of experimenting, and let's just say most of it will not end up on the blog.  Late Saturday night, I had a spark of inspiration and started immediately cutting into my low volume stash and sewing it together. I'm still on crutches (an appointment this week!) and had a little cutting/ironing/sewing station set up so I didn't have to move.

I really love the outcome, and I'm looking forward to remaking Low Definition in the next week or two. I am using it as a sample for my upcoming Intro to Improv Piecing Seminar at Capital Quilts on April 13.

What I did not love was trying to quilt this baby on my new machine. I kept getting skipped stitches, and I ended up using a myriad of needles, thread brands and weights, etc. on this quilt. I was soooo frustrated. Jeni came to the rescue on Instagram and suggested I leave the feed dogs up and change the tension.

So, what do you do if your machine is skipping stitches??? Hopefully passing on these suggestions from Instagram friends will help someone out.

--Change your needle! (Krista was the first person to teach me this)

--Did you use spray baste? Sometimes heavy spray baste can cause skipped stitches

--Clean your bobbin case--the extra lint can cause skipped stitches

--If its a Janome, they actually make a free motion quilting bobbin case

--Try a different type/weight of thread

--Cry (sort of kidding)

--Send out a sewing sos on social media. Hopefully someone can help. :)

Note: If you have a Janome Horizon, Monika has shared some quilting tips.