I have relationships with my sewing machines. We are friends. If you sew a lot, you know what I’m talking about.

This means that whenever I get a new machine, like the HQ Stitch 510, I have to get to know it before we can really be buddies.

I love the process of becoming acquainted with a new machine! It’s like learning about a new person. There are ins and outs, there are quirks (all good!) and there are surprises.

I’ve been sewing on the 510 a lot—many hours every day—and she wasn’t sounding very smooth over the weekend. I thought maybe it was time to peek under the hood.

I love the way Miss 510 is engineered to give you lots of room to work on her innards!

First, the little white door opens from the left end.

Then the hook cover plate (I’ve known this as the throat plate) lifts easily and pops right off. I also removed the needle plate (shown below in place, under the presser foot).

You can see this gives you a lot of space so that you can see and do whatever needs to be done. In my case, there was a buildup of lint (whoopsie!) and a dearth of lubrication. These factors were making Miss 510 unhappy so she wasn’t at her best.

Six drops of oil and one lint brush later, and she’s sewing like a princess once more. I’m still new enough to the 510 that I had to peek at the manual to be sure I put the oil in the correct places. I discovered this:

“Oil the machine once a day

if you use the machine frequently.”

Oh dear. I am using the machine frequently, but I have not been oiling daily. I’ll work to build that habit.

I’m working on a scrappy sampler design for a fall retreat I’m co-hosting with a local quilt shop. This little 5″ Dresden Plate will become part of it. Appliqued quite nicely on my HQ Stitch!

A very simple little 6″ block is begging to be included.

I cut this petal pattern from folded paper because I wanted to add some easy curves to the design. I switched to the HQ Stitch 710 for the zigzag applique work, since the 510 is straight-stitch only. That’s a story for another day.

These little birds went together nicely.

So I learned a few things over the weekend.

  • Read your sewing machine manual.
  • Keep the lint brush handy.
  • Oil Miss HQ Stitch 510 daily if using her frequently.

I hope you make time to create something spectacular this week. Happy sewing to you!

Do you own an HQ Stitch 510? Do you have questions that I can answer? Please leave them in the comments and I will do my best!

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