If MacGyver was a quilter

I’ve been having a really bothersome issue with my free-motion quilting foot, that has caused no end of frustration.  It looks all innocent, right?

Except, when it presses down mid-stitch, it has a seriously problematic way of getting stuck in the down position.  It should spring right back up.  But, behold, it does not. BOO.

The result is many, many skipped stitches.  I’m not talking one here or there.  I’m talking every 10-30 seconds, a bunch of skipped stitches in a row.  There was much slamming of chairs and swearing when I quilted my last project.  A lot of storming out of the room.  Not cool.  And, believe me, I tried a bunch of things.  A little vaseline to get it to move was no help, as the problem seems to be physical/mechanical, not an issue of lubrication.  Lint was cleared out, new needles were installed, etc.  Everything was in working order except for the stupid foot.

And then I saw a post of Amanda Jean’s, in which she solved a free-motion problem she was having, with the help/inspiration of this super-awesome free-motion quilting blog. Aha!  Not exactly the same problem I’m having, but similar.  There must be a way…

Today, I felt determined to get a move on quilting my sister-in-law’s quilt, as I had actually gotten around to basting it last night.  What I needed was a way for it not to press all the way down…

Enter, the twist tie.

BRILLIANT!  Twist it around, snip off the excess, et voilá: just enough to keep it from pressing all the way down to the point at which it was sticking.

Beautiful! It springs right back up!  Huzzah!  I am now a quarter of the way done with my sister-in-law’s quilt, and I must say, it goes a hell of a lot faster when you don’t have to stop every 30 seconds to swear at your sewing machine.

Okay, I realize that if MacGyver was actually a quilter, he would have probably hand-quilted the entire thing with the twist-tie and the lint from inside my sewing machine.  But still, I’m pretty proud of my handy solution…