Janome Blue Bobbin Holder

Oh yes I did!  I wrote about achieving Hand Look Quilting by Machine at the end of last month and shared how I got my Janome machine to replicate the look of hand quilting by using a special triple stitch with monofilament thread in the needle and pretty cotton thread in the bobbin.  However, to get the stitches looking the way I wanted, as per the instructions on the Janome Life blog, I had to turn my tension waaaay up, as far as it would go.

The problem with having the top tension so high is that there is more likelihood of breaking the delicate invisible thread. The solution is to use a lower bobbin tension and we all know how scary it is to mess with the bobbin case! Of course, if you change the setting to suit the hand-look stitch or for free-motion quilting, it is not good for regular sewing.

Janome released a special optional accessory bobbin holder, marked with a blue triangle to distinguish it from a 'normal' bobbin holder, to create appropriate tension for both free-motion quilting and the hand-look stitches. Luckily for me, the new blue bobbin holder fits BOTH my Janome machines - the Horizon 7700 and my 3160!  (There are two versions of the blue bobbin available depending on which Janome machine your have). Since I do so much free motion and I'm now entranced by the hand-look stitch (as you read in my other post - I am super excited that I now know how to do it properly!!!!), adding the extra bobbin case to my machine accessories was very worthwhile.

Since I have my DWR quilt in progress on the Horizon, I tried out the bobbin case on my 3160 doing the hand-look stitch.  It is no trouble to swap out the regular bobbin case and I increased the top tension by only one number (versus the max when I tried it the first time using a regular bobbin case).  I used a heavier cotton thread in the bobbin and lowered the speed of the machine to allow the triple stitch to form correctly. Wow! I love it! The stitches are beautiful and I love how they look! You cannot even see the clear thread.

I can't wait to try the blue bobbin out for free-motion quilting. I usually set my tension all the way to '6' so I'm excited to see what a difference it will make having lower tension in the bobbin.

This would have made the perfect stocking stuffer for me but of course, you know I'm too impatient to wait for Santa to deliver! ;)  (Maybe he'll bring me the HandiQuilter Sweet 16 instead!?!?!?!)

Comments

[Jose]

Wow! Your stitches look way, way, way better than mine when I tried this method. Of course, I did not have your special bobbin holder, and my invisible thread was so old it looked and felt like fishing twine. You are convincing me to buy this fancy bobbin holder, Angie! And new thread. LOL

[Maureen]

Wow, that really does look like hand quilting. I have been looking for a 2nd bobbin case for my Juki but haven't found one. I'd like to have a spare. My Juki doesn't do any special stitches (sniff) and my Janome only does a couple since it is an entry level machine.