Tension problems

[9patch]

I need to know if I am being too hard on myself! I am looking for that happy balance that gives me a perfect looking stitch, top and bottom! Is it possible? I recently stopped at the APQS booth at the quilt show in Lancaster...and always being interested in how the stitches look on the back of the quilt...I peeked. It was perfect! I guess I need more practice and playing to get there. The perfectionist in me may drive me crazy (ier).

[sue in Australia]

Hi

Its good to aim for the best quality you can get and its not hard to achieve really great looking stitches on the back and the front with our machines. Having a machine that is both belt and gear driven helps you to do this easily.

You should be able to get beautiful stitches back and front with a little adjust ment of first the bobbin and then if necessary the top tension dial . A few other things to consider are:

type of thread - same weight and composition top and bottom is best

quilt sandwich not too tight

backing fabric washed or not - backings that are stiff with sizing don't allow the stitches to sink in

good quality batting - consistent thickness and no seeds to deflect the needle

Sometimes people like to have two bobbin cases, one for slippery and thin threads such as monofilament and another for cottons and thicker threads

Be prepared to adjust your bobbin tension - forget the sewing teacher who told you not to touch the bobbin.

Sue in Australia

[9patch]

Thanks, Sue,

You are so right about the bobbin tension phobia that all sewers over 30 (older?) have.

I do so like to use multi-colored thread on the top and prewound bobbins on the back. Those bobbins have so much more thread on them. But that could make a tension issue worse.

Do you think that another factor is the 'jerky-ness' with which I may be operating the machine? or do you think that has nothing to do with it?

I am a teacher, which means that I spend much of my time on school work. I'm thinking about retiring after next year. I love my job and it does finance a lot of fabric.....but I need time to get good with my machine, for pity sake. After I go to a quilt show, I am always wondering if I could get by on no sleep!

[JudyL]

I too struggle with tension and want the back to look as good as the front. For me, there's a fine point between being perfect and being UGLY.

Sue has mentioned some great points. I do like to use the same thread in the bobbin and on top but I often use different weights because of whatever I'm doing.

Another thing you might try if you've tried everything else is using Superior's Bottom Line in the bobbin. I don't use it often because I'm a 100% cotton type girl but if I know a quilt is going to a show, it gets Bottom Line in the bobbin (and sometimes on top).

I also love Aurifil thread but it's a bit expensive. I have some Robison-Anton thread coming but it isn't here yet. It's also 50 wt. and I'm hoping it will give me the same results as the Aurifil.

Another thing you might check is to be sure your foot is at the right height. For me, if the foot is a bit too high, I get not so perfect stitches and if it's a bit too low, I struggle with it moving freely.

Hope something helps because we all want nice stitches on the back!

[HoosierQuilts]

9patch, The fabric and batting has a lot to do with the stitch quality it's not only the PPP. When you go to a quilt show and see the machine demos, they all use only muslin or some other fabric that gives good stitch quality and the whole sheet has the same thread count and even tension.

After running our Millennium for 2 years, I am still fighting the tension problem, Sometimes more and other times I get perfect stitches front and back. I am like you and want the same good stitch top and bottom all the time. However sometimes we don't get what we want.

But put on a flannel quilt and you find that there is no way to mess up the stitches. Perfect all the time.

What Sue said about washing the back first is good advice too and will improve the stitch quality on the back.

Jurgen

[Jamie]

Hi;

Tension for me is a big deal, one of those OCD things for me , so I put alot of time into what works well for the look I want on the back and front. Included in the great tips already given here, I also found that when I adjusted my bobbin tension as I stated in the "Thread Breakage" post I then am able to find my best tension ballance from the top tension adjustment.

I found What works well for me is to adjust my top tension so that I can 'just' see the bald man coming through my quilt sandwich, i.e. as I'm looking streight down on my stitches I want to see a tiny (Very,very tiny) prick of bobbin thread , then I know that after I remove the quilt from the frame the stitches relax they will sink into the quilt sandwich and my tension will be perfect every time. This takes a bit of exploration. I suggest spending an afternoon and loading plain practice cloth and pulling out all your threads from your stash and just focusing on tension. and when I am refering to wanting to see a tiny prick of bobbin thread I dont mean that the top thread is laying on the quilt top with the bob coming up through I want to see the top thread sinking down into the sandwich but still being able to barely see the bob-thread, for me its like looking down into a dimple. when I'm testing a new thread on a practice piece I use diferent colors in the top and bob, quilt a little section then loosen my rollers to audition how the stitch will sink into the quilt so that its perfectly ballanced. And again for me the key was to find the best bobbin tension for my machine which is a bit looser then normally suggested.

Jamie

[9patch]

Well, at least I know that I am not alone, and you all have given me some concrete things to think about and fiddle with. Thanks so much.

I have a whole cloth quilt to do...(my cats have enough kitty 'practice' quilts for now), so I will definitely be experimenting.

Again, thanks for the help. I'll keep you posted.

9patch/Linda

[sue in Australia]

Hi Jamie

That made me laugh - I'll be looking for the bald man later today!!

sue

[phokan]

Something I've noticed that absolutely drives me nuts --- when looking at the back of the quilt, there are small sections of quilting where the bobbin thread is laying perfectly flat with small bits of the top thread showing through. The sections can be anywhere from 1-1/2 inches long to 3 inches long; however, the stitching before and after these sections is PERFECT! Can anyone explain what's happening? How do I correct this?

Thanks,

Patti H

Eagan MN

[JudyL]

Patti: I wish I could explain to you why it happens. I think it happens to most of us. I have the problem and then I don't and then I do. It doesn't seem to be relative to one particular thread. Signature cotton may do it one time and then not the next. I truly think that it's a matter of getting the perfect tension.

I get the best stitch, top and bottom, when my bobbin thread is loose but not even as loose as APQS recommends. I noticed Jamie posts that he has his bobbin tension different from how I have mine. I like mine to be tight enough that I have to kind of "yo-yo" the bobbin to get it to drop but it will only drop about 2 inches before it stops. Then I adjust the top tension to get it where the stitch works like I want it.

I will add that when using Bottom Line thread in the bobbin, I have pretty close to perfect stitches with little or no effort.

Right now, I'm using a purple variegated Signature cotton on top, with Permacore lavendar solid in the bobbin. The top is pieced batik and backing is kind of a creamy almost solid batik. Why do these people torture me?? With the Permacore thread, I'm able to get a nice bobbin stitch with few pokies. I don't think I could have done that with Signature cotton in the bobbin. I would have used Bottom Line but I didn't have the right color!

So, I know you've tried all kinds of tension adjustments but I think that's what it is.

[LindaMcd]

Patti,

I've experienced those short areas of "tight-looking" bobbin stitches, too. And, just like you, it drives me crazy. I agree with the others who have pointed out that stitch quality is due to a combination of things; stiff backing fabric, quilt sandwich is too tight, correct bobbin case tension etc. (And, a LOOSER bobbin tension can really help with this problem.)

But I think if you'll look closely, you'll find that those areas are happening when you are moving the machine in the opposite direction of what you normally do. For example, if you're working from the front of the machine, it will happen when you stitch back across an area, moving the machine from the right to the left. (From the back of the machine, it's most likely to happen when you're moving left to right.) Naturally, we stitch in all directions, that's why you only see short areas of "bad" stitches.

I believe the actual cause of those short areas has to do with the direction the needle is flexing AND in the way the thread is being pulled off the bobbin. The best cure I've found (after checking my bobbin tension) is to slow-down a bit, ESPECIALLY when moving in that "opposite" direction. That can be hard to do, particularly if you're stippling, or meandering. But, if you are working a straight line, it's easy enough to slow down. That gives the machine more time to finish the stitch, and with those stiff fabrics it seems to help.

If I see the problem while I'm doing a pantograph, I just make sure to start each row from the same side of the quilt every time (not quilting every other row from left to right.)

Again, the VERY BEST solution is to get the tension correct between upper and lower threads, but if you just CAN'T quite get it and need to finish a quilt, slowing down might help.

I hope this makes sense. It's;) hard to put some of this in writing!

[JudyL]

Linda: I'm not contradicting what you're saying but here's my experience. With my Ult. I, it seemed that no matter what I did, when going one direction, the stitches looked different. I called Connie or Mark for several years complaining. They would say "Are you sure your tension is all right?" Of course I was sure!

Then they would explain about the directional movement and I heard it so much I knew exactly what they were going to say.

Then I got the Freedom and changed nothing and it made PERFECT stitches -- no matter how quick or slow I moved the machine. Over a few months I adjusted the tension to my satisfaction and first thing I knew, I had those flat stitches on the back when going one direction or the other. So, I adjusted the top and bobbin tension til I was back getting good stitches on the back.

Every time I would go to a quilt show, I'd look at the backs of quilts done by other longarmers and their quilts were perfect on the back and I knew they had to be going in all directions so I knew it could be done.

I have all the tension adjustments done on the Ult. I now and I'm also getting perfect stitches on the back.

Another thing I might suggest is that the first little thread arm that you thread through when coming off the spool, make sure it is right over the center of the spool. I had also thought at times when the thread comes off the spool, it sometimes swirls off in larger amounts and I wondered if that affected my tension. Having the little threader guide right over the center helps.

You really need to try lots of things but try them one at a time so you'll know what helps and what doesn't.

[Carla Riley]

Hi Everybody! I just had to add my two cents worth on this tension issue. Just want to let you all know that if you're still having trouble adjusting tension, I'd be happy to help in any way I can. Give me a call and we can talk about what you're using and how you're adjusting tension. Nobody likes the "flat" or "railroad track" stitches you're all referring to and I think the "pokies" are a common phobia. As I said, I'll be happy to help any way I can and we can try to simplify this tension issue. I can be reached at APQS at 800-426-7233, my extension is 15.