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king tut top and bottom, tension issues


micajah

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I have a quilt on the frame that is a customer quilt. She brought her own thread for me to use. It is king tut and she wanted it on the top and bottom. I stitched two rows, and although the tension looked ok while I was quilting, it is horrible after I rolled the quilt. Railroad tracks, flatlining, stair step stitches,most on the bottom but some on top too. And, it is a very dense pattern, backing is the white on white fabric (looks like thick white painted on flowers), batting is cotton, and batik on top. 2 hours of quilting and I'm on day 3 going into day 4 for frogging. Bobbin tension is around 100-120, top tension is a little tighter than the bobbin. My hands are very sore!

 

My question is, have you ever used KT top and bottom, and how much tension did you have on the bobbin and top threads?

 

I have already decided to not use her KT on the bottom when I restart the quilting, She is aware that I might not be able to get the top and bottom thread to play nice and was ok with me switching to bottom line if necessary. This is just for any future issues with similiar situations.

Thanks in advance,

Debbie

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While others may have no problems with Tut, my machine will accept it but with sporadic loops on the back. I've given up on it and sold the lot to a Gammill owner. Her machine loves Tut.

I used BottomLine pre-wounds with it, set the bobbin at about 15 (150 on the newer Towas) and would keep the top tension tighter than I normally do for thinner threads. Stitch off the side on a similar sample sandwich to adjust the tension until it looks OK. I used lots of Sewer's Aid as well.

 

I never let my customers provide the thread unless it's something I know will work well for me--and it must be on a cone. 

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Thanks Linda. You are so right! I even have a statement on my intake about " I can't use your thread". but she showed up with a cone of KT and said that was the color she wanted on her quilt. I tried to switch her over to an omni, but she would not go for it. This has been a painful, hard lesson for me. My hands ache from frogging for the past 3 days.

I don't personally like to use any thread that hasn't been tested on my machine thru at least one cone. Have never used KT on anything but a few sample pieces to see if the tension was hard to set. I am not planning on using it ever again. And if a customer shows up with her own thread, well, they can just take it and go elsewhere for a quilter too! With all the hours I've put into this quilt  so far and not even one stitch to show for it, I am making about a penny per hour.

 

Thanks for the info on the settings for using KT. It will be added to my lists of what to do, even if I never use it, I'll have it.

Debbie

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If I use King Tut in the top I find have better luck if I thread it differently through the three hole guide above the tension dial.  I go down, up, down  weaving style not wrapped thread.

 

Her white on white backing fabric especially if it is the thick painted on kind will cause extra problems too.  Make sure you thoroughly blow and clean the bobbin area at every bobbin change and maybe in between.

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I cannot use King Tut on my Millenium.....I tried everthing I could think of to make it work......I had a Handi Quilter before and it loved the King Tut.........so, like Linda, I sold my King Tut to friends who had Handi Quilter machines.   I did a lot of experimenting with different threads and only use threads that play nice with my machine.   I don't quilt for others, but if I did, I wouldn't let them bring me their thread.  

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I love King Tut thread, but it is hard to use.  I would not even attempt to use it on the top and the backing.  I use it on the top with prewound bobbins and it works great.

 

Loosen the top tension until you get loose stitches on back (not loops), then tighten it ever so slightly.  Make sure your batting is dense enough to hold the stitch loops where the top and bottom threads lock together.   Thin cotton batting does not work well with King Tut thread on my machine. Sew more slowly and use a smaller stitch length.

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Update on king tut issue. I finished the frogging and cleanup of the frog's mess around 9:30 tonight. 4 days of frogging to remove 2 rows of quilting! I am tired... I have decided to call her tomorrow and gently explain that the KT and my machine are at odds with each other and could she please come over to pick another thread from my supplies, at no cost to her for thread. She is a very new quilter, this is her first quilt and I am sure she was simply wanting to match the thread to the colors in her quilt top. I have nearly every color she had in the KT and hopefully, she will be ok with only one color on her quilt. If that is not something she wants to do, then I believe I will have to tell her I can't quilt her first quilt. I do not want to ruin it and perhaps sour her on making another. The loss of a new quilter is not anything I want on my conscience. I have taken to heart all the wonderful advice given here and am so very greatful to all of you for the help. :)

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Explain to her that you want her first quilt to be special and perfect.  Using the King Tut thread on it is causing tension issues and loose stitches, so her quilt will not hold up well to use.   I'm sure she will understand if you make her feel like this first quilt is extra special to her and you want to be sure it comes out fabulously.

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Another update to king tut tension issues.

My quilter came over yesterday and she was very nice and I believe happy, to have the opportunity to change her mind about the thread choice and pattern choice she had made. We bought a new quilting pattern that was more in line to what she originally wanted (and no backstitching) and she chose a new thread from my thread stash for the quilting. I  was able to do 6 rows yesterday and had absolutely not one problem with the thread. Am using signature on top and bottomline in the bobbin. Everything is looking great. She laughed when I told her that as a new quilter, I did not want her coming to pick up her quilt and saying as she left,"I'm never doing this again!" I don't believe that I have ever been this anxious about a quilt before. Whew! :)

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I think King Tut is great! I love it and use it with SuperBobs with very little problem. I have a 2013 Millie with M bobbin. Sometimes I wind King Tut for bobbins and use it. I use a 4.5 needle and loosen the tension. Clean lots of lint but otherwise great.

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  • 1 month later...

Hmm... so how can I use this thread???  I want to use it, but I am so afraid of using it ever again.  I bought my Freedom in May, 2011 and stopped using ANY cotton thread (to include YLI, Fil-Tec Harmony, Signature, etc.) on it over a year ago, probably 2 years now.  Other people seem to have no problem on their machines.  I've tried everything I could think of to no avail.  I am at a point now where I've asked Bob at Superior Threads to add colors to their variegated So Fine #40 line and am still waiting (while they are adding colors to their new lines) and need to add colors to my collection for my customers.  Yesterday I had a customer look at the So Fine #40 pink (the only pink) and asked if there was anything else to look at for variegated pink.  The King Tut line has lots of variety, so I'd love to be able to offer that to my customers.  I'm just afraid to use it, because I don't want to fight with it, nor do I want the hassle it appears to give.

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I am way too scared to try King Tut on my Lucey after reading all those who have problems with it on their APQS machines....I used to use it all the time on my old 9 inch megaquilter on my little 10 foot frame.......maybe someday I will give it a try though.....currently...I am on "sick leave" from my quilting as I have bruised ribs and tore a tendon on my left hand...LOL...I made some new pads for the velcro that holds my splint on from some bright red polar fleece...it is way more comfortable than the foamy stuff they gave me...and the bright red adds a fashion statement...I think I will make more to match my outfits....Lin

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I love King Tut, but it can be finicky at times. You have to tweak it just right. I would not use it in the bobbin. It's too thick to get good tension and would cost a fortune because I charge after so many free bobbins.

 

My choice of bobbin thread for King Tut is Bottom Line, but if the customer wanted something thicker I could go to 50 weight So Fine, but not any heavier.

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