Thread Tension Epiphany
I am starting a new whole cloth quilt and plan to use only 2 threads-one on top and one in the bobbin. That makes each thread choice pretty important. I’m firm on my bobbin choice of Superior Thread’s Kimono silk, but I still need to choose my top thread.
I want a thread that behaves well and has enough presence to show my design from afar. I’ve worked through rayon, 100 wt silk and a thick cotton thread-none were right.
In the running are two 50 wt cotton threads: Aurifil and Superior Thread’s Master Piece. 
When I sew I always put my thread on my thread holder to make sure it comes off the spool correctly.
The most curious thing happened: when I popped a brand new spool of Master Piece on my thread holder, it was tight, would not spin and my tension was horrible as a result of all the tugging. 
I knew it had to be Operator Error, so I removed the spool and found this-I had pushed the label through the hole (duh!), making the hole too tight and keeping the spool from spinning. See how the label has pushed through the spool’s hole? (Used another spool for my photos, but it’s the same concept)
Here you see the tension issues. See how the second feather from the left has poor tension but the others do not? I tested my theory by unfurling some of the thread from the stand and creating slack-hence the tension is correct on the other feathers. So it was definitely the spool.
Here’s how I corrected it: see how the spool starts out? The cap holds the thread end so that it doesn’t get all tangled.
If you just pop off that cap when you’re sewing, instead of keeping it on, you will never have the problem of the spool not spinning freely! Do you feel a forehead slap coming on? I sure did!
So that begs the question-why haven’t I ran into this before? Pure dumb luck I suppose!
Bottom line: Pop that cap off on any spools that have them, then put it back on when you’re done. Who knew??
Another magic trick! Thanks Jenny!!! I never imagined that a little bit of paper in the bobbin hole could make a difference. I’ll be using this piece of advice for sure!!!!
j.
Leave it to me to find the problem….
Very good tip!
Here’s to hoping that your tension is always happy!!
EXCELLENT tip. It seems like I always get weird, supernatural tension snarls that don’t respond to troubleshooting at the worst times — after hours, sewing on a deadline. This is EXACTLY the kind of glitch that I would never think of checking. Thank you for sharing this!
Boy it was dramatic when it happened-you just knew something was amiss. And whenever something like that happens out of the blue, you know it is Operator Error.
I like your solution. I always punch through the label with my needle-nose tweezers and turn them several times to be sure the hole is open. I make sure to put label end down so thread won’t catch, but just taking the cap off makes good sense. Thanks.
Sounds like you knew to be careful about this-it just never occurred to me before. You have a good method.
I do the same thing……all new spools get “opened up” using a needle nosed pliers (twisted well in the hole). Removing that portion of the spool is a great hint!!!!
Good to know!! thanks so much
Glad it helped- now you don’t have to make that mistake!
Jenny, you are too funny! Could we sell a sitcom for Quilters? Great illustration and blog on idiot things that happen and cause major problems for us. Thank you. Sorry we did not get to visit or share time together at festival. At our next opportunity, we must. A very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you and yours.
Hmmm, sitcom for quilters. Seems like there’s a lot of material out there for it!!
LOL…been there, done that! :-)
I had the feeling that others had made this discovery also!
No matter how long you have been quilting, there’s always another challenge that turns up! Good work.
Thank you Ann! That is so true, just when I think I know a lot about thread and tension, I do some silly forehead slap thing like I wrote about. Guess it’s good to be humble, grin!
“Ain’t” it the truth!!!!!
Yesss!
Thanks for tis tip. What I’m really curious about is the thread combo you said you would use: silk in bobbin and aurifil or masterpiece on top. What does this do for your quilting? I have used the reverse for years as I’m a D Gaudynski follower. She directed me to you on her blog. I’m very impressed with your blog and will follow you now. But I really want to know why you would use this thread recipe. Thanks for being here for us domestic machine users.
Thanks for your kind comments Mary. It’s really just a little thing in my head: I am frustrated that I make these whole cloth quilts and from 10′ away, they are just a blob of color unless the light is just right. I thought, I am going to do a wholecloth with high value contrast thread. If I put silk on top, it wouldn’t show, so I will do a 50 wt on top. But I don’t want to do 50wt both top and bobbin-just too bulky for my taste. Plus gray silk thread on black sateen backing-yummmmmm!
Yes, I know exactly what you are saying. I’ve even won at shows using silk thread and if the quilt was not hung with the right light, it didn’t get the comments I expected. I’m going to try this recipe–oh, my machine may need a tension adjustment though. I use aurifil all the time but have not tried masterpiece. Isn’t that the thread that Superior changed recently from 50-2 to 50-3 and had some quilters upset. I would love to hear what you know about that thread. Thanks again for your swift reply.
Superior actually still makes the 2 ply, just added the 3 ply to the mix. It does perform beautifully and gives a little different look to the quilting. Aurifil seems to stand on top more and the Master Piece 2 ply sinks in-both useful of course. I think, not sure, that the twist on the Auril is the opposite of Superior’s threads which causes it to sit up a bit more. I love both threads and use them all the time.
Mary, update here on the Master Piece-just got my newsletter and yes, they are discontinuing the 2-ply. I was confused because I thought they were discontinuing it but when I logged onto the site this week they had it listed as available with no note that I saw about discontinuing, so I thought okay, they are going to make both…not!
Doh! Brilliant! Why didn’t I think of that?
I wonder how many times this has happened to me before and I didn’t figure it out….
Thank you for your brilliant insight. May I ask a question on Tension? From time to time, I find small loops of looser thread in the stitch, on top, although as I free motion quilt along, most of the stitching is satisfactory. I like to quilt the traced motifs on tissue paper or Golden Threads paper so that I don’t have mark the fabric. Can you tell me what happens here? Thanks so much.
Hi Valeria, I am not sure I have a sure answer, but I do have some suggestions on where to start. The very first things I do are: turn my machine on and off (resets the computer), rethread my machine being very mindful that I am threading it right, and change my needle. Then I proceed:
If the loops are only on curves, that’s easy-it’s “eyelashing” and simply means you’re going too fast around the curves. Just keep an even pace around the curves and you’ll be fine.
I would check your thread path carefully, looking for anything that could affect tension: missed thread feeds, thread hitching up on some protrusion on your machine, pull on your thread and see if it’s coming off the spool evenly, then pull the thread through the needle with your presser foot up-make sure it is coming through evenly there too.
If that doesn’t do it, make sure your spool orientation is correct: cross wounds should be horizontal and straight wounds vertical.
Also, make sure you are using quality thread. I have seen all kinds of “mystery” issues immediately resolve by using quality thread. There are lots of quality threads out there and there are some commonly used that are junk! Aurifil, any Superior, for sure are good threads, there are many more, just mention those because they are so readily available.
Email me if that doesn’t do it. Thank you for asking!
I appreciate your taking the time to answer my question. I do use Superior, Aurifil and Mettler thread. Perhaps quilting the motifs on tissue paper is the problem. I will take care about the thread path and orientation of the spool, plus a new needle. I’ll tell you next time I quilt, as I just finished a large one and will begin piecing on a table runner. Thanks you again.
I’d love to hear about how it goes Valeria-send me privately via [email protected] for follow up if you’d like.
Thanks for the that tip Jenny. I’ll definitely add it to my list of things to check next time I have tension issues.
Hopefully you will never ever have tension issues Franki!!