Grammie Posted June 24, 2009 Report Share Posted June 24, 2009 Heidi I have used two bobbins in a pass a few times myself but I love dense quilting. With that being said I decide if there is enough to save or not. Many times there is a tad bit on the bobbin but i go ahead and use a new one.. It isn't worth using it all just to run out about 12 inches into a dense pass. With large quilts I hardly ever wind my own. I love prewound bobbins and they go farther. I wind for custom sometimes if color is an issue and it's necessary. I wound bobbins just don't flow as well. I think I need to get the Bobbin Wounder by APQS but it is so pricey.... 135 width was my largest quilt to do and I think I used 30 bobbins or more. Not much waste at all and quilted very densely. I knew I would run out so I planned where to stop and tie off instead of letting the machine do it far me. I was able to keep the knots in the ETE more discreet that way. I rarely like to quilt designs big so to speak but some customers want that and it is a faster job. I love Superior thread but recently I am trying lots of thread like sulky and Robinson Anton (Not sure I spelled that correct lol). Sulky has alot of lint but I love the colors and that 's why I have an air compressor so I don't really mind alot of lint if that goes with the choice. Good luck. Grammie Tammie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quilting Heidi Posted June 25, 2009 Report Share Posted June 25, 2009 Grammie Tammie I'm with you. I love the dense quilting and when the customers squealed with delight my frustration over so many bobbin changes left! I also use a smaller stitch length than some. I used an 11 for Kingtut. I know a lot use 7 or 9 but I think the smaller the stitch length the better the curves look. I would have been ok if this one only took two bobbins. Then I could have planned a start and stop but unfortunately it took about 12" more each row! I know that had I used Sofine or Bottom line in the bobbin I would not have had to make all those starts and stops but the customer would not hear of it! She wanted the same thread top and bobbin so she got it and paid more for it. Oh and by the way that panto is just beautiful stitched up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catherine50 Posted June 25, 2009 Report Share Posted June 25, 2009 I love the colours, and the effects of King tut, but I consistently have problems with the tension and pokies on the back of the quilt, no matter what I do to try an compensate. It's gotten to the point where I don't use it any more. I usually have Masterpiece in the bobbin. Any suggestions how to fix this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quilting Heidi Posted June 25, 2009 Report Share Posted June 25, 2009 Catherine, I have no problem balancing my tension with Kingtut and use a variety of threads in the bobbin. This is what I do: 1st - put bobbin in and have a loose tension. I hold the bobbin case in the palm of my hand and pull on the thread tail. I tighten or loosen until I can pull on the tail and the bobbin case stands up but I can't quite lift it up by the thread tail. 2nd - Thread only through 1st loop of pigtail. Loosen my top tension until it is really messy when I stitch. Then I tighten a turn at a time until I get the bobbin thread to pull up to the top. When I see little bobbin pokies I back it off about 1/4 - 1/2 turn and walla. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catherine50 Posted June 25, 2009 Report Share Posted June 25, 2009 which pigtail are you talking about?The one above the tension disc? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quiltmonkey Posted June 25, 2009 Report Share Posted June 25, 2009 Hi Catherine, I have had the best luck with tension when using threads like King Tut and Signature (meaning no iintermittent loopies on the back) if I loop the thread through all THREE holes above the tension disk. Before I was just looping it through two of the holes and I was having inconsistent loopies on back (the top thread popping through) and when I changed it to go through all three holes it helped to control it much better, and I am not getting the loopies. Try loosening your bobbin tension so it the thread slides easily under its own weight (but not too fast) through the bobbin case, then adjust your top tension so you start to get a nice stitch on both sides. I test my bobbin over the quilt sandwich or a table so if it falls it doesn't hit the floor. Give that a try. Sometimes you just have to experiment and tweak. With the thicker threads, use a 4.0 needle, or maybe even a 4.5 needle. Just experiment until you get the results you want. Keep trying. If you still have problems, try a brand new bobbin case. I was having issues with my bobbin thread and when I switched to a new case it all changed for the better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quilting Heidi Posted June 25, 2009 Report Share Posted June 25, 2009 Catherine the pigtail before the tension disk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
narink Posted June 25, 2009 Report Share Posted June 25, 2009 My favorite thread hands down is Aurifil. I use it extensively in my quilting and piecing. It is as fine a Sew Fine, yet incredibly strong. Aurifil's best quality is that it is a very low lint thread. It comes in a wide variety of solids and variegated in a variety of weights. The 50 wt.is what I most often use and it quilts like butter, sinking into the fabric rather than floating as a lot of poly/ ploy blend threads seem to do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ranunculas Posted June 25, 2009 Report Share Posted June 25, 2009 OK.. now I am not a longarmer, but love YLI and Superior varigated threads. I have always loved the way they sewed on my Viking. But just 3 weeks ago I got a Bernina 830 and am having the dickens of a time trying to free motion quilt with the Superior Rainbow threads. I have tried different needles, different tension settings, different bobbin combinations and I can't seem to get a consistent stitch (even with the BSR on)... it will spit up on the back and break or the 830 will think that the thread has broken and stop sewing. I can use any cotton thread with no problems, but have this problem with the Superior Rainbow, that is a poly, that I have used for years. So I went to my LQS who does not carry or like Superior and they said it was the thread. They suggested Isacord variegated, which is also poly. I had the same problem once I got home. Any suggestions? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobette Miller Posted June 25, 2009 Report Share Posted June 25, 2009 I use and have the full line of yli variegated. Do not use anything else usually but have gotten a few king tut when found them in a store with a cone. I do not seem to have to change tention very much, it stays pretty good all the time. One suggestion is if you are using sewers aid. Go to auto-walmart-k-mart and get a can of silicone spray. Just spray the complete cone it works great and is less expensive. I find sometimes with the yli the way it is wound at the base of the cone it will brake my thread. Sometimes I have had to re wind it to another spool. But many times the spray works great. My question for you all is? Where are you getting cotton pre-wound bobbins? I was getting them from superior but they have changed & I find the thread is not as heavy as I was getting. Now I need some basic colors and can not find it. Eggshell or beige. Love reading from all of you all the time. Bobette Paradise, CA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quilting Heidi Posted June 25, 2009 Report Share Posted June 25, 2009 I have a friend who has a Bernina and she has a difficult time with threads. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merryjo2003 Posted June 26, 2009 Report Share Posted June 26, 2009 The problem with serger thread isn't that you can't run it, it's just not as strong. Usually it's just not twisted as tightly as the other threads. I don't use it for quilting, but I buy a good quality serger thread and use it for piecing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toni123 Posted June 30, 2009 Report Share Posted June 30, 2009 Heidi, I am a lover of Polycore thread. It is a cotton wrapped in polyster. I too like the So Fine but some customers want their thread to be 100% cotton. Once they see the results of Polycore, they are sold. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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