You are not logged in. Login or create an account
|
Tension question from new user
Posted: Oct. 21, 2007, 3:40 PM
|
|
Friends, I am new to Handiquilter (2 weeks) and trying to quilt a dark colored quilt. My thread, both top and bottom, is dark. However, I am seeing bits of white on the bottom of my quilt which I assume must be the batting poking through. Is this telling me my tension is too loose or too tight? I am really struggling trying to get this right. It is very hard to look underneath the table to make sure it is right. I have already picked out a whole line of quilting that I didn't like because the tension was off and I don't want to do that again. I didn't realize it until I rolled the first part of the quilt up. It took me two days to clean up. Thanks, Hilary |
|
Tension question from new user
Posted: Oct. 21, 2007, 4:26 PM
|
|
Hi Hilary, I am pretty new too. I got my HQ in September. I had similar problems and this is what I learned: 1. Batting has a right side and wrong side. When it is used upside down, you are guaranteed to have white poking through. (I also learned the official term is "bearding" and I learned about this the hard way. :)) 2. If your needle is too big it will make a larger than necessary hole and batting will definitely be poked through. What size are you using? I had the most problems using a size 18 but when I changed to a size 16 it made a lot of difference. 3.If your needle is damaged or possibly has a burr on it you will also get white showing through. 4. Cut your backing and batting plenty wide at least on one side so you can test stitch a nice size area before you start on the whole quilt. Use scraps of your top fabric to do this. Fabric makes a huge difference and even if it looks good on test muslin or the quilt before it doesn't mean it will look exactly the same on what you're quilting now. 5. Bearding is really relative. Are you getting a few spots of white or a lot? It's impossible so I'm told and want to believe to have none. It's really just more visible on dark fabrics. Hope this helps. Welcome! SFOQuilter Michelle P.S. While this forum is great, I hope you've found the HQ 16 group on Yahoo Groups. Way more people use it and I've found the answers to so many of my questions just by doing a search there. |
|
Tension question from new user
Posted: Oct. 24, 2007, 6:31 PM
|
| Michelle - I would be intersted in the HQ 16 group on Yahoo Groups. How do I find them? Thank you. Abby |
|
Tension question from new user
Posted: Oct. 24, 2007, 8:26 PM
|
| Mchelle, Thanks so much for the suggestions. I did not realize that batting had a right and wrong size. How do you tell the difference? I know there is dark colored batting and I may try that. I can't say it was a lot of batting sticking through but I am more sensitive to it as I am new using my HQ. I will also try changing the needle. It is the one the machine came with. I have only quilted one quilt, so I didn't change it. Thanks, Hilary |
|
Tension question from new user
Posted: Oct. 24, 2007, 9:50 PM
|
|
For Yahoo Groups go to http://groups.yahoo.com/. You will need to register and the group name is HQ16. After you register you can search on this and then join the group. It is very, very active and most anything you want to learn can be found there. It's worth the time to read through the old posts and take notes:) On the batting, the "seedy" side goes down. From the Warm and Natural web site: Is there a top and bottom side to Warm & Natural? Yes. The side with "flecks" (plant and leaf particles) is the top side. The whiter side is the bottom side. If you iron a quilt or wearable made with Warm & Natural, press with the top side toward the iron and make sure your iron is on a low setting. If you make a white quilt consider quilting with Warm & Natural bottom side up. |
|
Tension question from new user
Posted: Oct. 27, 2007, 9:28 AM
|
| I am having tension problems. I sew for a bit and it looks good, then I get loose stitches with my top thread. Any suggestions? |
|
Tension question from new user
Posted: Oct. 27, 2007, 10:24 AM
|
| What thread are you using in the needle and in the bobbin? Are you quilting on 100% cotton? What size needle are you using? What type of batting? |
|
Tension question from new user
Posted: Oct. 29, 2007, 7:28 AM
|
| dianau - the same thing kept happening to me -- drove me nuts . Now I check the bobbin casting first, cuz the thread would disengage from the bobbin to the casting - hence very loose thread on the top. |
|
Tension question from new user
Posted: Nov. 1, 2007, 3:07 PM
|
|
Does anyone how to tell the difference between the front and back of Dream Cotton? They both look the same to me. Also, when I thread the bobbin, it looks as if it threaded unevenly, meaning more on one side than the other and not even across the bobbin. Does this matter? |
|
Tension question from new user
Posted: Nov. 1, 2007, 6:07 PM
|
| I think you are meaning when you wind the bobbin. All bobbins will do that. I watch the bobbin as it is filling and when I see it getting "heavy" on one side I kind of guide the thread towards the narrow side to fill it up evenly. |
|
Tension question from new user
Posted: Nov. 1, 2007, 8:16 PM
|
|
Thanks crashnquilt. Yes, I meant wind the bobbin. I haven't done what you suggest and wondered if uneven winding mattered. I have had it happen when winding bobbins for my sewing machine and it didn't seem to affect the tension. Hilary |
|
Tension question from new user
Posted: Nov. 2, 2007, 8:44 AM
|
| In my humble opinion I do think an uneven winding does affect the machine. But then again, I started sewing before God created dirt and my mother ALWAYS made me wind an even bobbin so now it is just habit for me. |
Like us on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter
See our clips on YouTube