belquilt Posted October 23, 2006 Report Share Posted October 23, 2006 Ladies, I need your opinion! I have had my Liberty for two weeks now and have quilted two quilts. My girlfriend, who has a gammil, came over this weekend and she thought I had loaded my quilt too tight. So she loosened it up quite a bit and while I was quilting, it seemed the quilt was bouncing too much. Now the two quilts I have already ready done look perfect to me. SO HOW TIGHT SHOULD IT BE?! I know its not suppose to be so tight that you can bounce a penny on it, but how much "bounce" should the quilt have once its loaded? Thanks! Beth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TishMarshall Posted October 23, 2006 Report Share Posted October 23, 2006 I do believe your quilt should be taunt. Your quilt shouldn't bounce, not on an APQS. Your right about about not having the penny bounce. The quilt should be tight but not stretched. Tish Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grammie Posted October 23, 2006 Report Share Posted October 23, 2006 I was told that if the Black bar (bar without canvas) is being pulled against, you have your quilt tooo tight. It should not raise up when tightening the back fabric. I will admit I feel the need to do that sometime. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ramona-quilter Posted October 23, 2006 Report Share Posted October 23, 2006 Well, Beth, the problem is that you were short-changed. You need the quilt only taut enough so a quarter (not a penny) will not bounce off it. LOL The way I learned it is that the quilt should be taut but not tight; smooth but not lumpy and should not bounce as you quilt. I'm curious to hear what some ofhte other quilters say about this tightness issue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Linda S Posted October 23, 2006 Report Share Posted October 23, 2006 If your quilt is too tight, your thread tension may be a problem. I was taught that your quilt should be nice and smooth, but you should be able to poke one of your fingers up from under the quilt sandwich and be able to grab hold of your finger tip with your other hand on the top. It it's too tight, you also miss out on it looking "quilted!" Linda Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sewingupastorm Posted October 23, 2006 Report Share Posted October 23, 2006 I have a Gammill so I can only tell you about loading it on that. In any case I have learned that a quilt loaded to tight can cause thread breakage and tension problems. I like mine taut not tight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
qfairy Posted October 23, 2006 Report Share Posted October 23, 2006 If you get it to tight i found the thread will break and more thread problems occur. so if you aren't having these problems you are doing it right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeri Posted October 24, 2006 Report Share Posted October 24, 2006 I've heard many national instructors say that it should make a nice kitty hammock. If you watch the instructional DVD's including those on APQS machines the quilts are fairly loose. I've found that the tension problems disappear if it's a bit looser. I do tend to have it tighter when I'm doing alot of custom ruler work and SID than when I'm doing freehand. jeri Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sylkamode Posted October 24, 2006 Report Share Posted October 24, 2006 Hi Beth, I have a Millennium, and I always get the quilt tight at first, but then roll the bars one time back, so the quilt is not too tight. A quarter cannot bounce back this way, and the quilting works fine for me. Sylvia Kaptein Sylka-Mode www.sylkamode.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
belquilt Posted October 25, 2006 Author Report Share Posted October 25, 2006 Ladies, Thank you all so much for your replies and input. I didn't think I was doing it wrong and the two quilts I had already done turned out fine. I did get some good pointers for this newbie!!! Thanks again:) Beth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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