Tempermental GEORGE

[MleS]

Boy, is George tempermental when he does not like the thread you are \'feeding\' him!

Doing my last quilt with George was fine. Starting this new quilt...well, it was a disaster. I was using Superior thread on top and tried a prewound plastic bobbin. George did not like that combination at all. Could not go more than an inch and top thread would break.

Took out plastic bobbin and used Superior thread in prewound cardboard bobbin.

Was a little better, but since I was doing circles, the back was all loopy. What a mess. But I was not going to give up.

I wound a metal bobbin with Superior thread and tried again. Of course by now, adjusting the bobbin tension, adjusting the top tension, I did not know where I was, but it was just a mess. Thread kept breaking.

I tried to follow the path of the thread to see if it was getting stuck someplace, even wound some batting around the first loop that guides the thread, but couldn\'t see anything. George was just not cooperating. He did not like the combination of threads or whatever.

I was doing a lap quilt and by this time I had about a fourth done, well I don\'t know about \'done.\'

Finally, I tried Marathan thread, top and bobbin and George is purring along so smoothly. He\'s taking my circles in stride and making some beautiful stitches.

What a couple of days. Now I have to remove all that quilting when George was not happy.

Emily

[skrat]

Emily,

Went to Marathon thread site and all I found was Rayon thread for embroidery. Is this the thread you are speaking of?

[MleS]

The site is MarathonUSA.com.

They do have rayon and poly threads. No cotton.

They sell in large quantities, but their price is

excellent and George seems to love it.

At least my George loves it.

I didn\'t mean to be selling their thread, only to

rant my frustration!

Emily

[DawnCavanaugh]

Emily,

I\'m curious about which Superior Thread you were using.

George should not misbehave with Superior\'s regular polyester machine quilting thread. If it was, I\'m also wondering what size needle you happen to be using.

When making tight "loopie" quilting designs with George (or any sewing machine) the needle gets flexed a great deal, and is pulled in different directions away from the hook. If the flexing is great enough, the top thread can actually get "pinched" between the needle and the hook as you move the fabric, snapping the top thread.

However, if you were using something like Rainbows or Masterpiece, both are a lot more fragile and require significant top tension loosening (up to two or three complete revolutions looser). In addition, the bobbin thread tension may also need to be loosened with these two threads.

Maybe together we can figure out why George refused to work yesterday:)!

[MleS]

Hi Dawn,

Thanks for your interest in my frustrations.

The thread I was using is Rainbows. I received this,

plus the needles with my machine.

I have had George now for less than a year and have

done about 10 quilts. Looking back at some of them I

see I used my Marathon thread.

I do a lot of loops and curves on my quilts and I

guess I need the stronger threads. Of course, when

I was having problems I was loosening and tightening

the top tension and the bobbin tension, trying to

get a good fit but I just couldn\'t find it.

After I finish this quilt and another I have ready to go

I may try experimenting and using some of the other threads I got

with the machine.

One more question, what is the hoop assembly. I have

read your maintenance guide but I can\'t find it in

the book.

Thanks again.

Emily

[DawnCavanaugh]

Emily,

I assume you mean "hook assembly":).

The hook assembly is the part where the bobbin case sits. When you take a stitch, a silver "shuttle" travels around the bobbin case (which is sitting in a "bobbin basket"--the dark metal part with the protruding shaft where you snap in the bobbin case).

This shuttle has a sharp point called the "hook" which meets the back side of the needle. When the two meet at just the right moment to create a stitch, the machine is said to be "timed" correctly. So, when we push quilts under the George foot, the fabric pulls on the needle, sometimes pulling it slightly left, other times to the right, and still other times forward and backward.

In each of those instances, the needle meets the hook at a different moment, creating tension changes and, in severe cases, thread breakage.

The George hook assembly is accessed from the left side of the machine, so the quilting movements you make will affect your tension differently than they would if you were quilting on a traditional domestic sewing machine.

If you imagine quilting a square on to your quilt, much like stitching in the ditch around a square of fabric, I can describe when you\'ll see more tension change. (NOTE: If you are a LONGARM quilter, the quilting directions and tension changes are different than they are for George; remember, Emily is moving the FABRIC; you are moving the MACHINE.)

Imagine starting in the upper left-hand corner of the square, and quilting to the right. When you stitch to the right, you are pulling the fabric to the left. George will not be as happy quilting in this direction, because the needle and hook will have a gap between them, much like two lovers who can\'t quite reach each other for that perfect kiss. (What can I say; Valentine\'s Day is almost here:)).

Now, you are in the upper right-hand corner of the square. If you create a stitching line that moves to the lower right-hand corner, you move the fabric AWAY from yourself. George will love to quilt for you in this direction, because the needle and hook actually find the sweet spot together and make beautiful music with this movement.

Okay, now you\'re in the lower right-hand corner of the square. If you stitch toward the lower left-hand corner with George, you move the fabric to the right. This flexes the needle CLOSER to the hook point, giving them a tight lovers\' embrace. However, if you move VERY quickly, the needle might get so close to the hook that it will hit the hook and break, or the top thread might get trapped and break.

Finally, if you finish up the square by stitching back up to the upper left-hand corner, you must pull the fabric toward you. This particular movement flexes the needle so that it gets to their rendezvous point a bit too late. This delay also changes the tension, usually allowing the bobbin thread to pull the top thread to the quilt\'s back side.

So when you do loopies or circles, or other movements where you move the fabric toward yourself or to your left, you could see some tension imbalance since the needle is flexing. The longer your stitches or the faster your movements (if the motor speed isn\'t set to keep up with you) the more noticeable this will be. So, to get your stitches to look their best, keep these quilting directions in mind (remember, these work for GEORGE because of the way his hook sets in the machine; your normal sewing machine will produce different results.)

[*] Moving fabric to the RIGHT=George is happy!

[*] Moving fabric to the LEFT=George is sad.

[*] Pushing the fabric AWAY from you=Happy George again!

[*] Pulling the fabric TOWARD yourself=George is sad:(

To help alleviate this, use a slightly larger needle with tough thread like polyester or thick threads. Try a 4.5 (you can order them from us). You can also work on slowing down the fabric movement to help reduce the flexing, as well as tightening the top tension more while also loosening the bobbin tension.

As for the Rainbows thread, give it another try as you suggested, and try loosening the top tension up quite a bit, until the thread no longer breaks. Then look at the back tension. You\'ll probably notice top thread loops on the back at that point.

So, your next step will be to loosen the bobbin case tension (start with 1/4 turns), then slightly tighten the top tension.

Check the back again. Continue this lower/upper adjusting until the top thread has enough power to pull the bobbin thread up without breaking.

Slowing down a bit with Rainbows will also help since it\'s a bit more fragile thread. Some quilters treat the spool with Sewer\'s Aid (liquid silicone) to also help reduce static and breakage.

Keep me posted!

[MleS]

Thanks Dawn -

I\'ll keep you posted.

Emily

[Neher-in-law5]

MleS, Thanks for venting. It brought out some nice info that I will need to remember. I have had George since September, but haven\'t had as much time with him as I want or have quilts ready.

Dawn, thanks for the thread info. My George does well with King Tut but the Masterpiece I tried was too fine and I didn\'t have the time to fine tune/play with the tension. I really appreciate the info on the directional stitching.

[cbear]

I too want to thank you, Dawn. Your explaination really helps me get a clearer picture of how things work and also explains away some of the problems I experienced. I love that you specifically addressed the George machine. Thanks again!

[michaelalan]

I hate to burst bubbles, but when I first got my UII 10 years ago, I had nothing but problems with certain threads also, and we didn\'t have most of the great threads they have now.... Well I figured out that timing is the secret.....Some of the new machines are timed with standard thread and work fine untill they break in, or loosen up, then the thread problems start..... Well after much crying and cursing I resolved to learn to time my machine to perfection and VIOLA....I can use any thread top or bottom, and I mean any thread, metallic, poly, mono, cotton, rayon, silk, and I\'ve used sliver with an adapter I created to keep the thread flat, works for short patterns, I wouldn\'t want to quilt the whole thing with the sliver, it\'s slower, but the challange was there and I had to step up to the plate and go for it..... I finally got my mom to time her machine, and is she happy......It makes a world of difference when you learn to time your own machine, you\'ll be able to quilt tearlessly and be happy with the results...Now not all people are capable of timing their machines but I believe that if you want to save buck$$$$ you\'ll take the time and tackle it....sending the machine back to the maker isn\'t an option anylonger, too expensive and you\'ll find that after awhile you\'ll be saving the expence of down time also...:cool: some threads just break cause their brittle, if your thread is prone to break on your DM then it will be prone to break on your LA...Some times changing the needle size will help, but if your machine is in perfect time, you\'ll be able to use most any thread, whether your moving the machine or the quilt in any direction, your speed could be the problem too.:cool:

[lizberg]

I have been having the same problems with thread breakage. I was using Superior threads with a King Tut cotton on the top and a poly thread on the bobbin. Thread kept breaking constantly. I finally loosed the tension a great deal and wound King Tut on the bobbin so it is the thread on both and it has been doing much better. However, I was just meander quilting a non-pieced top with cotton batting and a one piece back so there was no issues with seams, etc.

I have to go back and try quilting again on my fused work that is also using painted fabric. When I can get George to do that right I will know I have a marriage made in heaven.

[DawnCavanaugh]

lizberg,

George should work okay on your fused and painted fabric; just move more slowly to give the needle time to completely exit the stitching hole before taking the next stitch.

It may also help to treat your spool with Sewer\'s Aid (liquid silicone) to help reduce heat build up on the needle from friction. The friction will be much greater as it pierces the fusible and painted fabric, and can cause the needle to get hot and more quickly shred or break the top thread.

Let us know how it turns out.

[MleS]

Hi,

I want to thank you all for your advice. I do appreciate

your expertise. I have not had the time to try different

threads and your advice, since at present I am trying

to finish my second quilt that I want to send our soon

as a gift. I am using my Marathon poly threads and George

is performing great. Just an update. I will also read up on timing.

Thanks again,

Emily