My Torturous Trek to Terrific Thread Tension
I recently began to work a large whole cloth quilt. In my eternal search for The Most Difficult Thread Combinations, I have settled upon a doozie. I chose black Aurifil Mako for the top and gray Superior Kimono for the bobbin. This presents a challenge not only in the different thread weights, but also in the combination of a light thread color with a dark. And that requires dead. on. tension.
I thoroughly tested this and many other thread combos before settling on this one. One of my missions for this piece is to actually be able to see the quilting from a good distance, something that is atypical of whole cloth quilts.
That’s why I chose black Aurifil thread to stitch upon white cotton sateen-visibility. For the bobbin I chose silk: I love, worship and adore silk thread, it’s so just so beautiful and it behaves so well. It’s luscious. I put light grey silk upon black cotton sateen-yummmmm!
Keep in mind I fully tested this before committing to such a challenging combination. If my tension was off just an oochie, it would be obvious. This is not a combination for the faint-hearted. So all was going well, my quilt was gorgeous, my tension was perfect, the project was just a delight and I was skipping around the house for my quilting breaks.
Then, the inexplicable happened-I started getting loops on top. The tension was good before and after the loops. Loops on the bottom-easy peasy. Loops on the top-what’s up with that? The answer to that question took 4 days!
Needle?
I first suspected the needle. I use Superior Titanium Topstitch needles almost exclusively for quilting. The first thing I did was reboot the machine, rethread and put a new needle in. I would guess 70% of the time that helps a lot. Not. I was using a size 70/10 needle so I bumped up to an 80/12. No go. I even went down to a 60/8 sharp and then I got skipped stitches (needle too small) in addition to the loops-oh that was fun.
Presser foot, tension?
I thought my presser foot height might be a little high so I lowered it-I was sure this was going to fix it-not! I played with my tension. One at a time I cranked up and lowered the tension on both top and bottom, just to see if the loops would go away-no. I added a Little Genie Magic Bobbin Washer-I just knew that would be it-my bobbin must be back spinning-no.
Advice?
I wrote Diane Gaudynski, The Best Domestic Machine Quilter On The Planet, and she gave me some great advice about the tension, needles, etc. I systematically worked through that and still had loops. I called Superior Threads-a great source for answers to thread/tension/needle problems. I had already tried all that they suggested. Both Diane and Superior seemed to feel that the problem might somehow be connected to the tension in the bobbin. But, if none of that worked, it could be that the machine needed servicing.
Servicing?
I concluded that my machine needed servicing. I use my machine (Bernina 185) almost daily, but I keep it in great shape. It had only been a few months since I’d had it serviced. Nevertheless I bundled up my baby to go see the doctor. But I thought, first I’ll try this same thread combo on my older machine (Bernina 153)-that way I will know if it’s the 185.
It looped on the 153 also! Holy cow, now what??? I thought, I’ll play with the tension a little bit more just to see if I can’t make a go of it. I could see it getting better. The BIG difference between my newer 185 and older 153 is that the 153 has an infinite tension dial whereas the 185 has an electronic choice of only 4 stages between numbers.
Epilogue:
And sure enough, it was the tension. By using tiny little micro adjustments to my upper tension dial and increments of less than 5 min on my bobbin (think of your bobbin tension screw as a clock dial), I was able to zero in on the correct tension-no loops-yippee! Apparently the challenging situation of the threads I chose required Truly Perfect Tension-and the Perfect Tension was in between the electronic settings on my 185-who knew??
So I guess I will be finishing this quilt on my older Bernina 153!
Take away lessons:
-Do all your testing on a scrap piece of exactly the same batting, fabric and thread as your real quilt.
-Correct tension is critical to beautiful quilting. Although 4 days is the longest time I’ve fiddled with tension (!!!), don’t be surprised if it takes you a couple of hours to get the correct thread/needle/tension combo if you’ve got a challenging combination.
-If your stitching looks like it got hit with an Ugly Stick, do the Three Step: turn your machine on and off to reboot it, rethread it being very mindful of the right thread path, and change your needle-even if it’s a new one, needles can be bad. Then work your tension.
-If you’re using icky thread (oh I could do a whole book on that!), switch to a brand you can find in your local quilt shop and NOT find in your big box store.
-If the problem is particularly vexing, consult with someone with lots of experience: write me, call your dealer, ask an experienced quilter in your area, etc.
-Work through one thing at a time. If you change the thread and needle and tension all at once and it worked, you don’t know what caused the problem. If it happens again you want to know what to do.
-Persevere-it will make your work beautiful!
And I do hope that it never takes you 4 days to get the right tension!
Thanks for the wonderful tips! It will be beautiful!
Thanks Cheryl-just don’t try this at home:-)
Jenny, you get the “Patience of Job” Award! Your work is incredible. Sharing your challenging adventures is inspiring to those of us who would have given up on day one!
Thanks Marcia-I actually HAD to figure this one out. I already had many hours into this quilt when the loops began to appear. I just could not give up!
Todo lo que has explicado lo viví recientemente, no tardé 4 días en solucionarlo pero sí 2. Cambié la aguja, la pata, reinicié, hice pruebas y finalmente era la tensión. En ocasiones, es muy difícil encontrar la tensión correcta y pienso que además desconcierta mucho cuando ocurre a mitad del trabajo. Hasta ahora todo va bien y de repente problemas de bucles. Es cierto que podría escribirse un libro con esas experiencias.
Felicidades por su persistencia para solucionar el problema.
Thanks Jacquelin! I took your comments to Google.translate and it instantly gave me a translation-cool! I’m sorry you have had a similar experience but at least you figured it out in only 2 days! Good luck with your project.
Gracias a Google translate yo puedo entenderte. Por eso creo interesante poner un gadget de traducción en el blog. ¿Te parece bien?
Síguenos contando tus experiencias con el acolchado. ¡Feliz quilting!
Bless your heart. You have way more patience than I do, but your results are wonderful.
You’re sweet Robin! I felt like I HAD to figure it out-I was not going to give up on that quilt!
Love this post Jenny! I’ve done alot of machine quilting, but I never realized that skipped stitches could be from using too small of a needle (a bad needle, poor tension, yes). Thank you so much!
Thanks Laura! It isn’t always a small needle that causes skipped stitches, it’s just in this case I knew I had addressed all the other issues and it had to be the needle. It could also be icky thread and threading the machine wrong.
Great thread lesson. Is all about the persevering!
Yes, it IS about persevering! Thanks Mindy.
I got rid of a newer machine I owned that had automated bobbin tension, because of this kind of thing, I’ll never give up my 20 year old Pfaff.
I really did not realize this until I had my little moment with my machine and now I am hearing this about the electronic tension controls-who knew! Those old Pfaff’s rock!
Thank you Jenny I love your post. I struggle with the tension on my 430 Bernina. I might switch to the older Bernina that I have. I thought I was destined to never get the tension right. I know now that it takes time. Again, thank you for the advice.
You’re welcome Cyndi. I am beginning to wonder if this is a more pervasive problem than I thought! And yes, it does take time to get the tension right sometimes.
Thank you so much for the tips. I recently had a challenging quilt as well, and I spent hours monkeying with the needle and bobbin tension. I was glad to hear your insight on electronic tension settings.
Susan, you too?! When this happens I think how on earth can I spend hours jacking with tension? You’d think it could be solved in a lot less time than that!
Wow — that’s bizarre! I never would have dreamed that you would get more exact tension from the older machine. Hey, if you want to be a PITA to your local machine dealers, you should bring your Thread Match Made In Hell combo in and use it to test-drive their machines, since they always say to test drive using similar fabrics, threads etc. to what you normally use… Heh heh heh… ;-)
Oh Rebecca-that’s funny! Truth is if I really were looking for a new machine I would take in challenging threads to see how the machine handled them. For instance, the new 7 series Berninas say that you don’t have to adjust the bobbin tension-hmmmmm!
Wow you have amazing patience!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thank you Leeanne! I actually had so much invested in this piece I really couldn’t walk away.