KathyA Posted December 28, 2006 Report Share Posted December 28, 2006 Well. Here's a fairly common question. I did some research on this on the site. Whenever I use a cotton thread I have tension problems. Everything is fine and then for no apparent reason I lose the battle. Bottom thread is a straight line across the quilt. You can see on the bottom thread where the top thread has locked onto the bottom thread (not railroad though - that's easiest to fix). The bobbin thread is set very low (10 on the bobbin gauge). Thing that drives me nuts is it's fine for half the row and then gets wacked. It's not always in the same place on the quilt. Things I did: (1) made sure the top and bottom of the quilt had play in it (2) changed the bobbin case (3) cleaned the machine & made sure there were no divots in the little thread feed loop thingees (4) changed the needle (5) ripped out 4 hours (6) ripped out again (7) cried Now, I wonder. If I had changed to bottom line on the bobbin would I have been okay? Is it just when cotton is in the bottom and top? (that's seens to be the only time I have this happen) How does cotton behave in the bobbin? Any information? Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jkerekes Posted December 28, 2006 Report Share Posted December 28, 2006 Kathy, I use Signature cotton thread on the top and in the bobbin for all of my customer quilts. It's just easier for me to stick to a "standard" thread and the folks here want cotton:D. I run with no tension in the bobbin. I do all of my tension adjusting on the top. It works for me.... I do notice that if I'm quilting very quickly, I have a tendency to have slight tension problems with certain colors when I quilt in from right to left--like with feathers. In those cases I have to train myself to slow down--very difficult sometimes. It can be very, very frustrating, I know. I don't have a bobbin gauge, so I don't have any basis for comparison. I do know that when I'm running other threads(metallics, poly), I use a different bobbin case and I do run with tension in the bobbin and generally have less difficulties than when I run with cotton. Good luck! Also, don't be afraid to make big tension adjustments when you are trying to figure this out on a practice sandwich. I know that I used to have a tendency to make my adjustments in increments that were just too small and I would end up getting really frustrated. Good luck! Jill Kerekes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Linda S Posted December 28, 2006 Report Share Posted December 28, 2006 Kathy - did you try this link off the APQS main webpage (not chat)? http://www.apqs.com/quiltingmachinetension.htm I find when my tension goes wonky, I go to that article and start from scratch. In no time, I'm good to go again! Linda Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Polly Posted December 28, 2006 Report Share Posted December 28, 2006 Kathy, I've about decided that you have to have a finer thread in the bobin than on the top. I really like using Signature Cotton, but even when I have no tension on the bobin I still get the inconsistent tight areas on the back like Jill described. I was thinking I might start using Bottom Line in the bobbin when I use Signature Cotton on the top. Let me know what you decide to do. Polly Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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