tension settings for magna glide bobbin and glide thread

[gypsyquilter]

eek! I am using glide with a magna glide bobbin for the first time on a customer quilt. On my practice piece I fell in love with the thread, now that I'm on the actual customer quilt I am having some challenges with the tension in the corners on the back. any ideas what might be causing this?

what setting do you test for on your towa for bobbin tension? and how loose to you keep the top tension?

thanks for your help fellow quilters!!

[ffq-lar]

If the top thread is pulling through on the back side at points and corners, loosen your bobbin tension a bit.

Towa gauge numbers are subjective, but I set my bobbin so a pull results in a 17 or 18 (170-180). Top tension is set so a pull of the thread through the eye of the needle will deflect the tension spring from 10 o'clock to 8 o'clock. Either measurement can be looser or tighter as long as they are adjusted a similar amount--both tighter or both looser.

[LisaC]

Check out all these posts on tension; I'm not sure exactly what you are seeing so it's hard to determine what to do; but I believe every tension issue has been addressed before in this forum! Hang in there and don't give up; Glide and Magna bobbins are fabulous. Do ask yourself what is different about the customer quilt vs. your practice piece and always re-thread; even if you look like you are threaded correctly sometimes you are not.

http://forum.apqs.com/index.php?/forum/14-tension-troubleshooting/

[DawnCavanaugh]

Gypsy Quilter,

The magnaglide bobbins are wonderful. Their advantage of very consistent tension and the strength of the magnet inside the bobbin can also be a detriment if you happen to move very quickly in and out of corners. That increases the flex of the needle, kind of like a whiplash, but since the bobbin's holding on so tight it pulls the top thread to the back. As Linda suggests, try loosening the bobbin tension a little more, so that you can also tighten the top tension slightly.

[srichardson]

Thank you Lisa for the link to the threads on tension issues. I lost all of my links when the forum changed over to the new system and you just provided a link going back ten years!