Inspiration How to Free Motion Quilt on the Baby Lock Jazz II
How to Free Motion Quilt on the Baby Lock Jazz II
- The Baby Lock Jazz and Jazz II are mechanical machines versus an electronic machine (i.e Solaris, Soprano, Jubilant) which does require a different level of ‘management’ of the fabric as you sew.
- Using a needle one size up (80/12) from usual (75/11) can help to avoid skipped stitches.
- If you are not pre-washing your fabric, particularly batiks, the sizing in the fabric could inhibit stitches. Lightly mist the fabric before placing on the machine, this may allow the needle to penetrate easier.
- The optional Free Motion Transparent Foot (ESG-TP) is popular with Free Motion Quilters.
- The Free Motion tension settings can set as high to 8 and the presser foot pressure may need to be increased depending on the project materials.
- In Free Motion quilting, it does take some practice to not move your hands faster than the stitch is being formed. We recommend watching the 'Free Motion Quilting on the Baby Lock Jazz' Class over at SewED Online classes which discusses the movement along the X and Y axis. This class also provides class notes to keep for future reference.
- At 100 hours of free motion quilting experience, in the quilting world, that’s a beginner status. Give yourself the freedom to learn the process and develop a rhythm and technique that best suits you and your machine.
- Keep a journal for your quilting projects. This helps you identify your ‘best practices’ for your projects such as needle size, fabric, batting type, thread brand, thread weight, thread type, style of quilting (ruler, free motion or stitch in the ditch), stitch length, presser foot pressure, and tension. Just like in cooking, a good recipe always helps, and this journal can help you keep track of what has worked well in the past for you and how to repeat a project in the future.
- In your journal also note any issues you experience with a project as well, such as skipped stitches, broken needles, etc. to help your Baby Lock Technician assist you in keeping your machine in good working order.
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