knots on back

[KathyA]

Okay, on the last quilt I did I was using King Tut on top and bottom. I was getting an occassional knot, could be in the middle of a smooth line or at a point. It was like the thread was loose & twisted. A big knot, not a little one sometimes, and then sometimes a little one. Tightened the tension til I had the bottom thread coming to the top but then I got top thread breaking.

What causes that knot? Had the 3 holder done the way Dawn shows, not the regular way. Help. Thanks. It's been a rough 2 days.

[quiltmonkey]

Kathy, I know what you are referring to as I have had this problem before (even last night on a quit) and it is caused from your top and bobbin tension not balanced correctly. Mainly the top tension is not tight enough and looping on the back spiradically. If you have breakage, try running the thread through the last two holes of the guide and try a larger needle (4.5) with King Tut and Permacore.

[DawnCavanaugh]

Kathy,

That little knot that forms is often the result of a thread's twist, and how the machine's tension spring reacts to it.

(Bonus tip coming....) Have you ever threaded up a needle to do some hand sewing by taking one long strand, threading it through the needle, then tying a knot where the tails join? I'll bet you had trouble with the thread twisting and wanting to form little knots as you worked.

That's because when thread is "folded over" the strand's twist is going in opposite directions, and so the thread wants to spiral together as you work, making knots. A better way to use two strands is to cut two separate lengths of thread, placing the "leading edge" of each strand as it exited the spool through the needle's eye. Pull only about 4-5 inches of thread through the needle's eye, and leave these tails loose. Knot the other end of the thread.

Okay, long off-topic explanation, but what I'm leading to is the "twist" of the King Tut. Running the thread as you did by weaving it through the three-hole guide vs. wrapping it like we normally do usually solves the problem by not adding extra twist to the thread. However, if the thread is still twisting, it might have to do with how the thread exits the spool. Sometimes one can solve the problem by simply turning the spool over on the post, which causes the "twist" to feed in the opposite direction.

But some spools won't work this way, so you can try threading the three hole-guide so the thread twists in the opposite direction. Instead of coming from the underside of the first hole and wrapping the thread, dive down into the first hole, then continue the wrapping. The first method makes the thread twist clockwise as it passes over the guide; the second makes it twist counter-clockwise.

Even though that thread guide does provide some initial tension to the thread, its real purpose is to untwist it since it corkscrews off the spool. Therefore, if the thread is twisting opposite, it makes sense to try threading that guide in the opposite direction.

See if these suggestions help, along with Shana's about tightening the top a smidge.

Good luck!

[Robin]

I had knots on the back one time when I had a thread break and my threading got messed up around the tension disk and I didn't realize it. Check your threading especially around the tension disk.

[KathyA]

Thanks. I thought the twist might be an issue, but was not sure how to approach it. I'm heading out to do another with King Tut and will thread the 3 hole guide a little different.

Thanks again - love the 'long winded' as I learn so much more. This is saved in my favorites!!!