floating thread on back

[MERRYG]

good morning:

we purchased a millie 2 years ago and we just love her.

we use hobbs 80/20 as batting and king tut thread on top and bottom or perma core. the tops and backing are cotton as well we seem to have a little floating of thread on the baack when we do tight curves or swirls and this happens with the stitch regulator or manual. it is worse on batiks.

we give MARTHA a d&c after each quilt and wax her runners and clean her well new needle and all. d&c=dust and cleaning. we absolutely love the machine. we have done several hundred quilts in that two year period. we have replaced the hook and re timed her once and she just prrs. this seems to be the only problem and it is not all the time we even slowed down.

thanks for the help.

[Mary Beth]

have you tried to make the top thread tension a little tighter? That is a good place to start, especially since you have replace all the other things, and everything else works well. Don\'t know if it will help, but it sure won\' hurt to give the top tension a little twist!

Good luck.

[JoAnnHoffman]

Have you replaced your bobbin case lately?

It\'s always good to have several, one for each type of thread you use in the bobbin so you don\'t have to keep adjusting the screw.

Sometimes lint builds up under the metal flap on the bobbin case and messes up your tension, slip a thread under the flap and work out the lint.

If your blue bobbin spring needs to be replaced try using the new teflon bobbin washers from Sharon Schamber.

http://www.freemotionslider.com

I love um.

[lizziesgirl]

Love the D&C term. Thanks for the chuckle.

[ramona-quilter]

Merry,

When I get thread problems on the back, it is usally my TOP tension. I agree with Mary Beth. I run King Tut very loose but sometimes I loosen that top tension toooo much.

Another thing to consider is the direction of your movement. My floating thread issues were usually worse in little sections of the quilt where I was moving from right to left (from the front of the machine). I know that Dawn C and a few other APQS reps have explained how the hook rotates and makes a stitch seems to work better in a left to right motion.

In short loops or curls I don\'t have any floating thread even moving in the wrong direction. But when some patterns with big curves cause me to stitch the "wrong" way, if my tension is not set correctly, I get a few stitches that float on the back.

I use my Towa gauge for the bobbin so I am confident that is good. I use LindaR\'s top tension idea which is to pull the thread (after it goes thru the needle) toward the back of the machine and watch you spring tension. The spring should pull to about 8 o\'clock if my top tension is set correctly.

Good luck.

[Chocoholic]

What is a Towa gauge? Thanks

[ramona-quilter]

Towa gauge\'s hold your bobbin case and measure your bobbin tension before you insert the bobbin case into your mahcine. A must-have tool. I measure every bobbin, pre-wound or I-wound-it. You can get it at

www.columbiariverquilting.com and other places for about $70

[quiltmonkey]

Originally posted by MERRYG

we seem to have a little floating of thread on the baack when we do tight curves or swirls and this happens with the stitch regulator or manual. it is worse on batiks.

Hi Merry, could it be that you are going way too fast moving the machine and whipping the machine around and that might be causing the (what I call) railroad tracks on the back? If you go too fast (or even at inconsistant speeds like going fast, slowing down, going really fast again, etc.), you are not letting the needle and bobbin have a chance to keep up enough with eachother with the speed you are going.

Try slowing down your speed going around curves. Also try keeping your speed consistant as much as possible the entire time (not too much slowing down and revving back up) and that might help keep your bobbin and needle rockin\' and a rollin\' moving in time dancing together with the thread and then they will all be happy campers.

[Quilting Heidi]

Hi Merry,

I had this problem and I changed out my bobbin case and I think it resolved my whole problem. I haven\'t noticed it again. I\'m not sure if it was the spring in it causing the problem or the bobbin itself. I have also tightened the upper tension more than I thought I needed to like Mary Beth suggested.

[MERRYG]

HI EVERY ONE THANKS SO MUCH FOR THE ADVICE I HAVE THE TOWA ALSO BUT FORGOT TO USE IT. WE PUT THE THREAD IN THE FREEZER OVER NIGHT AND THEN TRIED IT IT SEEMS TO BE WORKING FINE WE TWEAKED THE TOP TENSION A LITTLE ALSO TALKED NICE TO MARTHA AND SHE IS PURRING NICELY. WE HAVE A CUSTOM QUILT ON NOW AND IS IT WORKING WONDERFULLY THE LADY DID A CROSS STITCH ON SOME NOT SO GOOD MUSLIN AND THE CROSS STITCH IS GREAT THE FABRIC IS NASTY. BUT MARTHA IS PURRING ALONG AND DOING GREAT WE ARE USING ABOUT 7 STITCHES PER INCH AND GOING SLOW

SO WE ARE ALL HAPPY CAMPERS ABOUT NOW .THANKS SO MUCH WE JUST HAD 65 QUILTERS AT THE RETREAT LAST WEEKEND WE WERE JUST A LITTLE TIRED AFTER THE 5 DAY\'S OF FUN BUT ALL THE LADIES WERE HAPPY. WE RAN A BUND OF SALES AND STUFF FOR THEM. THANKS AGAIN FOR ALL THE HELP I READ THE FORUMS ALL THE TIME AND HAVE LEARNED SO MUCH YOU ARE ALL SO GENEROUS.

MERRY AND SUSAN SHE IS MY CO PILOT WITH MARTHA AND IS JUST SUPER.