pumpkinpatchquilter Posted February 12, 2015 Report Share Posted February 12, 2015 I think this has taken me a LONG time to figure out. I spend WAY more time ripping than I should. I tension my thread to a beautiful stitch that looks wonderful on the front half of the quilt...then I get towards the back of the quilt and the tension goes crazy and all of a sudden is tighter on the bottom and now I have eyelashes on the back. WHAT is causing this???? This has been going on forever and I thought it was me just not having good tension from the get go. But I spend a LOT of time getting that stitch just right. I am realizing it's a consistent issue...perfect say, middle of the quilt to the belly bar...but from the middle of the quilt to the back it's bad. I have loosened my quilt sandwich which seems to help to some extent, but not entirely - is it that I'm just BARELY pulling the stitch into the batt when it's towards the front and when I get to the back the slight shift is making it not pull up into the batting? Or is this a frame/leader issue? I'm getting REALLY sick of having to rip and restitch. LOL Any help I would be grateful for. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheagatzi Posted February 12, 2015 Report Share Posted February 12, 2015 Is your table level front to back? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pumpkinpatchquilter Posted February 12, 2015 Author Report Share Posted February 12, 2015 Ahh - look at you all asking me questions that should be obvious to me. You know what, I don't know! I'm going to go bust out the level and check. But I suspect not - I think the floor slopes slightly - when I let go of the machine head it rolls forward slightly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pumpkinpatchquilter Posted February 12, 2015 Author Report Share Posted February 12, 2015 Ok so if it's NOT level - how do you think that might change my tension from front to back? I'm trying to wrap my head around it. I know if say, the sandwich is tighter towards the outer edges but there's slack in the middle it can change tension throughout the quilt. But does slope change it too then? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimerickson Posted February 12, 2015 Report Share Posted February 12, 2015 Valerie: I think the height of your leveling roller is probably more important than whether the table is level. If it's off, the "effort" your machine has to make to make a stitch will vary front to back. My guess would be that it's too high. I think it probably should be no more than about a quarter of an inch above the machine bed. Check it out. Good luck. Jim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pumpkinpatchquilter Posted February 13, 2015 Author Report Share Posted February 13, 2015 Golly gee - ok I will check Jim! I really am not sure...after dinner I'm gonna bust out my measuring tape. My Husband's Uncle put it together when we brought it home and other than a few adjustments I haven't done much to it since...I will look! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quilting Heidi Posted February 13, 2015 Report Share Posted February 13, 2015 I had a similar problem to this when I was first starting out and it was because the leveler bar was too high or too low, can't remember which but it messed with the tension on the sandwich. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Myrna Ficken Posted February 13, 2015 Report Share Posted February 13, 2015 I agree if your leveler bar is too high it will cause tension issues for sure Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pumpkinpatchquilter Posted February 13, 2015 Author Report Share Posted February 13, 2015 I am out of likes for the day but thank you so much Jim, Heidi, and Myrna! I have the old style frame so I don't know if you do it the same way or not - but it looks like there are two screws holding on each end of the leveler bar with four washers below them...I'm going to venture to guess though that it's WAY more than 1/4 of an inch! That would make a lot of sense then to me the way you explained it Jim! So I take it that I should just remove washers until it's the right height? I have a client quilt on the frame right now I don't want to do any serious experimenting with tension on...but I'll try lowering it and see if it helps over all. Thank you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RunningThreads Posted February 14, 2015 Report Share Posted February 14, 2015 Valerie They used to say you should be able to get your index finger up to the first knuckle between the throat and the leveler bar. I think that will get you pretty close to a quarter inch above the needle plate. Mine should come down a bit as well but I need to find some thinner spacers. Nigel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Myrna Ficken Posted February 14, 2015 Report Share Posted February 14, 2015 I honestly can't remember how the OLD table adjusts. However, you want you leveler bar about a half inch off the throat of your machine. If your hopping foot is too high when it comes down the quilt isn't compressed enough and the tension will be off. So when you lower your leveler bar, from the back of the machine, lay your hand on the throat of your machine and slide the machine forward and your middle finger should stop at the first knuckle. This is PERFECT. If you have question about this or whatever, please feel free to give me a call. I will do my best to help you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pumpkinpatchquilter Posted February 14, 2015 Author Report Share Posted February 14, 2015 Thank you so much Nigel and Myrna - and Myrna thank you for the offer of help! I appreciate that very much! I want to say I can almost see how it pulls up towards the back of the sandwich just by looking at it - and feeling it. So it makes a LOT of sense how that could be the issue. I cannot believe it took me TWO years to figure that out!!! I think you all are right and I suspect this is my issue...I will come back and let you know if it helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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