Testing thread tension during your quilting

[Sheagatzi]

This may be completely obvious, but can someone help?   If I've needed to change the bobbin, etc, or change colour in my quilt,  I get nervous about tension.   When I check underneath the quilt it is hard to see if I have good tension because the lights from above shine through and I get a glare...it's hard to see if my tension is just right.   Usually I have a good idea, but a little uncertainty is there.

 

What I've done occasionally is take a scrap of quilt sandwich and quilt on it randomly just to see that my tension is okay.    I don't attach it or anything, so often I worry that I am getting accurate results with that. 

 

So...how do you check that your tension is okay without pulling your quilt off the frame and putting a sample on?   

 

Thanks!

[cathyh]

I try to have enough backing and batting on one side to add a scrap on top if I want to check tension or even practice.

I can't see anything on the back no matter how many flashlights and magnifying mirrors I have! LoL.

[shirleyl]

I have a quilt sandwich I can put on off to the side if needed. I use clips that are pvc pieces or you can use magnetic bars or with the red snappers sometimes I use them. I bought the clips but cannot remember where as I'm not home. I will post from where I bought them tonight or tomorrow when I get home. I will be leaving 80 degree weather for snow and 30s. Why am I going home cause hubby said so.

Shirley

[meg]

I do the same as Cathy..

I blow out the bobbin case w/canned air and check the TOWA numbrr with each change., too.

[witha'K'quilting]

Turn off the machines lights when you check under the quilt, or put a piece of paper over the top of the quilt in that area to shadow the lights. This should help you see underneath.

[JustSewSimple]

I do like all the ladies above with the thread check on the side of the quilt. And, like Kristina, I have a hand towel that I place across the quilt top and then shine the light under the quilt to see. Works like a charm.

[Sheagatzi]

oooh, awesome.   towel/paper on top might do the trick! 

 

With the allowance of 3-5" on each side for extra batting/backing,  sometimes it doesn't seem enough to do a little swirl, practice, but I will try it! Thanks!

[cathyh]

Great trick to turn off lights or use a towel, I didn't get why it is so hard to see underneath, but this makes total sense!

Sometime I baste a piece of muslin down one side if I have a small backing, and I recently used Shirley's idea of a quilt sandwich attached on the fly when I really needed to warm up with a particular design.

[Busy Quilting]

I use a test piece on the side of the quilt top.

 

I very rarely stick my head under the quilt to check the tension!!!!!!

 

I run my fingernail along the thread on the back and you can tell very quickly if you have top thread on the bottom, and the same if you run your fingernail on the top thread.

 

To check underneath I just loosen off the front roller and flip the edge where I have my test piece over to the top, before tightening it again and quilting on.

[jimerickson]

I'm with Lyn.  Feeling the stitches on the back gives me the best idea of the stitch balance.  I've got a bobbin cam, but feeling is better than seeing.  Jim

[JenniferBernard]

I pin a 4 inch square of the same type (cotton, flannel, cotton) of fabric and batting sandwich to the edge of the top and hook a clamp to it to test my tension when I change colors or weights of thread. I don't like to test on the edge of a client quilt because it looks messy. When I check under the quilt I use a lighted magnifying glass and count crawling around on the floor as part of my flexibility exercises!

[elkayr]

I use zippers to attach my quilt to the frame, and I keep a practice piece attached to zippers.  I just had a tension issue on a quilt & just unzipped the quilt from the take-up roller & flipped it back over the belly bar.  Then zipped my practice piece on the take-up roller & draped the other end over the belly bar so it's laying across the "real" quilt.  It worked ok for me. 

[lkl]

I use a 6 inch wide by about 3-4 foot long practice sandwich strip that I pin one end to the backing roller and the other end to the levelling bar off to the side of the quilt when I want to check my tension.  Since I use numerous fibre content battings (wool, poly, cotton, poly/cotton blends) and several different batting brands, I have several practice pieces.   It's quick and easy to pin on when needed and doesn't mess up the edge of the customers quilt. I unstitch the practice strips numerous times and reuse them. 

[witha'K'quilting]

I look at it this way...the edge of the customers quilt is my area to test tension for their quilt. My tension is generally good as I do not deviate often from my favorite threads, but with different battings, fabrics...i still check.

I finished one quilt for a friend who recently sold her midarm. Her husband came unglued when he saw my test piece on the side of her quilt. She explained to him why it was there, and he still thought I messed up her quilt. I figure as long as they know that anything outside the quilt top is for me...I'm good! He can think what he wants.