Doodlin' a Daisy With a Singer 66: Free Motion Quilting on a Vintage Machine

[@emmah6045]

You did good for the first time free motioning! Loosening the presser foot tension a bit may make it easier for the fabric to move. A piece of thin plastic works good to cover the feed dogs -it is more slippery., so less friction. (Your machine sound noisier than it should--might need oil??.) The Singer 66 is a great machine.

[@SimplyStitchy]

Thanks for the tip. I'm going to give plastic a try next time. I think the extra noise is down to Grandma's table vibrating... Grandma is my Singer 27 treadle. I close the lid and pop my electrics on the top... their speed tends to wobble the table making them sound louder than they should... but I will give the 66 an extra drop or two - just in case. Thanks for watching! 🙂

[@UniversalEngineer]

Loved this. You’ve given me the courage to explore this on my 201-2! Thanks! ❤❤❤

[@SimplyStitchy]

You're welcome! Let me know how you get on. Thanks for watching! 😊

[@alfredklek]

My favorite machine is a vibrating shuttle so just the idea of running a machine that fast gives me hives

[@SimplyStitchy]

Lol 😀

[@SewingMachineRehab]

You just proved it can be done! Now all you need is practice, I would try slowing down the machine until you feel more comfortable moving the fabric in time with the machine. I am not an expert free motion quilter at all, the biggest thing I had to improve on was a consistent stitch length throughout. I think once you have some batting in the mix you will find that it stiffens up the fabric just a bit and it is a little easier to float around the bed of the machine. They also sell these really slippery surfaces that you lay down on the bed, the one I use is called Supreme Slider. I have free motioned about 5 quilts now and the biggest thing I still deal with is “eyelash” on the backside. I’ll let you google that, haha. Of course, you could go through the trouble of removing the feed dogs…anyway, love your videos, you always make me smile and you have taught me quite a few things!

[@SimplyStitchy]

Thanks for the support and the tips! I'm going to try practicing with a mock quilt sandwich for sure! I'll check out the Supreme Slider too! Thanks so much for watching! 😀

[@RychaardRyder]

Oh I adored my singer 66, it was a handcrank, so I sold it to buy a treadle machine, still my biggest regret today since it was my oldest machine, from the 1920s. I still remember how surprisingly smooth and quiet it ran, and if I let go after spinning the hand crank fast enough it would continue to sew on momentum alone. Have you quilted a lot before this? I'm actually planning to start my first quilt, a log cabin pattern, very nervous but also very excited, I think I'll quilt it with straight lines as I'm still not confident enough to try free motion quilting with a treadle, spreading my concentration on both peddling at just the right speed and guiding the fabric haha. Did you get a haircut recently? KZbin hasn't shown me any of your videos until now, it looks beautiful!

[@SimplyStitchy]

I've been quilting for years but usually with a walking foot. I've only ever dabbled with free motion quilting. The Log Cabin block is a great first quilting project. Particularly as it lends itself to straight line quilting! Yes, I did get my hair cut... one of the reasons so many of my recent videos were 'faceless' was because it was too short to start with. It's grown on me since then lol! Thanks for watching! 🙂

[@janetpaden8878]

An embroidery hoop might give you a little more control. Otherwise, you were doing well. I'd probably get a much worse result without using something to give me a little more support!

[@SimplyStitchy]

Yes! That's a great suggestion. I'll have to see if I can find one before I start FMQ on the project. Thanks for the tip and for watching! 🙂

[@zeldakasumi]

@@SimplyStitchy I've also seen others use a regular hand sewing embroidery hoop for this, but they do set up the hoop upside down (with the inner hoop is facing up), so that the cloth is still right up against the sewing machine.👍

[@zeldakasumi]

​@@SimplyStitchy I forgot to mention that it's a good idea to wrap the inner hoop in twill tape to ensure proper fabric tension. You might want to check out a course on how to do free motion machine embroidery that Christopher Nejman did here on YT years ago.

[@SimplyStitchy]

@@zeldakasumi I'll check those out - thanks!