I'm having the same problem with my Avante. Hopefully someone can help us.

Jill, I am having the same trouble. Seems everytime I change a thread it is a major project to set up the thread again. I use up a lot of thread too. I like the King Tut thread and I wish I could get it set in the bobbin to work, cause I like to use the same color on top and bottom. I feel your frustration. I just found this site, so if you came up with a solution, please let me know

Thanks saydee, I think you also helped me on one of the other sites on here too. I think you are feeling my frustration, and I so thank you for the help. Yeah, I figured that the King Tut was probably too heavy. I just hate messing with the bobbin so much and trying for hours to get it set right. I think I will stick to the Bottom line and get me some more colors so I am more prepared. I love how the King Tut works on the top, so just was hoping that it worked in the bobbin too. Again, thanks

Edna, I can certainly relate. I am finding that the thread also on top makes a big difference. I was using a thread that caused a lot of lint and fuse and so I screwed the tension knob almost all the way out and cleaned it with my brush. I am learning so much by being in a group of long arm quilters. If you can, try to get a group of ladies to gether and solve some of those problems. A new thread on the market is Omni. Almost no lint. And King Tut works great on the top. I just wish they had more videos on the site for setting the tension and what it looks like with different problems. Wouldnt that be great!! Keep trying Edna. I almost quit too, but I think we are just missing somthing. And once you know it really helps

I've just spent the better part of the morning trying to adjust bobbin tension and the frustration level is pretty high right now. I bought a bobbin tension guide, but I haven't seen much benefit up to now. Maybe I just don't know how to use it properly. I have no problem getting a beautiful stitch on top with any type of thread, but the bobbin is my nightmare. I'm trying to use Bottom Line by Superior and I'm just not sure my machine likes it very much. I'm a fairly new owner of the HQSS and I desperately want to bond with her, but right now, I'm not so sure it's not just easier to stuff a quilt through that small throat space on my Bernina. Anybody got any suggestions?

I'm so sorry to hear all girls having this tension problem. I got my sweet sixteen s.s. back in november 2011 and I don't seem to have these issues. I do alot of quilts for a bernina store (display quilts) in my area. Isn't there a Handi quilter dealer in your area that can show you how to adjust tension? If your top thread is breaking than the top tension might be too tight. Try looseining the bobbin tension and then the top also.W hat your trying to achieve is a Balanced stitch with lesser tension so your thread won't break. I really wish I could help you all. I 'm loving this machine and I know their not cheap. Don't give up on this issue.I think once you learn the adjusting concept, you''ll love it too.

I am so excited it is just not me. I have had my Avante for about a year and a half. Bobbin casing broke and had to be replaced. Tension problems on every quilt to some degree. Last quilt turned out great, now the quilt I am working on is a nightmare. Eyelashing, thread breaking, needle holes, etc. I have adjusted and ripped out until I am weary. This is the worst since I did my first quilt. I think it may be the thread or needle size, but I could not find any info in the manual to give me guidance. I used only King Tut for awhile, but picked up some varigated (thought it was King Tut but now doubt it) which I will probably never use again. Any recommendations on thread vs. needle size?

I'm getting eyelashes on top of my quilts, is this tension usually or speed related? I'm new to this and can't figure it out. I'm using Aurifil (orange cone) 50 wt mako, a 16 needle and the same bobbin thread. Back stitches look lovely, go figure. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

I too have a Sweet Sixteen and was so frustrated by the tension. I tried the bobbin going down the spiderweb. What I finally ended up doing was tighten the bobbin tension to the point where I could lay the bobbin in the palm of my hand and grasping the thread lifting the the bobbin out of my hand onto its side but not out of my hand and the thread just barely sliding out. At this point I tightened the bobbin a hair and I mean a hair. Once this was done I then started to adjust the top thread until I could no longer see either thread in the stitch line on either side. At this point even if you change threads you should need very little adjustment

I just got my SS sitdown the first of July. I am having tension issues. I can't seem to use bottom line in the bobbin and then use king tut or rainbows in the top. No matter how I adjust the tension. I really want to be able to quilt and also thread paint with this machine. I, too, am concerned that I spent a lot of money to find that I can not do what I had hoped.

I have purchased an Avante 3 months ago and have yet to quilt anything. I cannot get the tension correct. It would appear the top tension is too loose. I have it tightened as far as I can and still getting eye lashes on the bottom of the fabric. I have Bottom line thread in the bobbin, and King Tut in the top with a 18 size needle. It sews a bit (12 inches), not correctly though, and then the bobbin rattles and makes noises and then it appears to be stuck in one spot. I am about ready to cry. Does anyone know the return policy on this machine and if they have been successful in returning it after three months?

I have purchased an Avante 3 months ago and have yet to quilt anything. I cannot get the tension correct. It would appear the top tension is too loose. I have it tightened as far as I can and still getting eye lashes on the bottom of the fabric. I have Bottom line thread in the bobbin, and King Tut in the top with a 18 size needle. It sews a bit (12 inches), not correctly though, and then the bobbin rattles and makes noises and then it appears to be stuck in one spot. I am about ready to cry. Does anyone know the return policy on this machine and if they have been successful in returning it after three months?

Hello Ladies,
I have been having massive problems with my Sweet Sixteen and have racked up over 5 and a half million stitches on the machine and still am not happy with the tension issues. I have wated videos on Superior site and HQ regarding tension, bought Towa and thread gauges and all the needles and still have major tension problems. My problem is when I put So Fine full bobbin in the machine at the correct tension on the gauge and use a poly thread Art Studio/Rainbows or whatever in the top at the correct tension initially the tension will be perfect no thread showing on top or underneath. Then after stitching for about half to one hour, it is very insidious you notice a gradual deterioration in the upper tension and realise that the upper tension has obviously gotten too tight as the thread instead of creating a perfect stitch as it should is now laying on the quilt top. When I say laying I mean it is showing as a too tight stitch and I have to spend hours and hour unpicking it, as it was a gradual deterioration you don't realise it immediately which is worse as you have to spend so long unpicking it. When I pull out the bobbin it will have dropped from 180 in the tension gauge to 140 which is a massive drop and why the upper thread is now so tight. Why does this keep happening. I don't consider myself a newbie quilter anymore. Last year I gave up and ended up quilting my competition quilt on my Bernina 440 for my State quilt show (won Amateur Best in Show, Best Domestic Quilter, and Bernina Amateur Award) so I can quilt, but what's wrong with the HQSS. It does the same with all the thread I try, have ordered a new bobbin case if that does not help I am going to get rid of the machine as I am wasting too many hours unpicking.

Thank you for getting back to me Cheryl about this, have just checked the bobbin and it is exactly as you described, sits slightly higher on one side and the bobbin turns freely as well. Just watched a video that Bob Purcell from Superior recommended on Youtube and although it was good it was really for longarm quilters, so the bobbin tension was much looser and stitch tension was in the upper third of quilt when the fabric was in the frame which did not apply to me as a sit down quilter with no frame but very interesting all the same. The TNT video that HQ supplied only mentioned (which was lucky for me) but did not go into a a lot of detail that Sweet 16 needs a bit tighter tension than a longarm machine on a frame and that did help resolve some of the tension issues that I had been having in the past but now the bobbin tension does seem to be slipping somewhat. I have just received a new bobbin in the mail and crazy as it may seem I have actually stopped quilting at the moment as it has been doing my head in and have been spending time working on the second quilt I am entering into the State Quilt Show here. Will give myself 2 weeks off freemotion quilting to calm down a bit before I start back on my quilting again as the quilt is big!! and it was getting me down all that unpicking. Will also look at the tension on my bobbin winder to see if that is winding too tightly as well, when I have done this if still a problem I will ring technical solutions. Cheers Pamela

Dear Jean, I am so sorry to hear that you are having a problem getting a response. Our policy is to answer as quickly as we can, but always by the end of the business day in which we receive your message. Our customer relations team has checked our HQCares@handiquilter.com email account and they don't find a message from someone named Jean. Is that the email address that you wrote to? Unfortunately, without your name, I can't check our technical solutions teams call logs. If you are available to call today by 4:00 p.m. MDT, please call my direct phone line and I will get you the help you deserve. 801-335-0837. Otherwise, please email me directly at Brenda@HandiQuilter.com and include your phone number and a convenient time for us to call you back. If you miss me, you can call our customer relations team anytime 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. MDT to give them this information: 1-877-697-8458. Our goal is to get you quilting again. I apologize for this big bump in the quilting road!

Best regards,
Brenda Groelz
Director of Marketing & Education
Handi Quilter, Inc.

Hi everyone, I just wanted to write to say that I have had some developments since the last time I wrote on the forum and I wanted to let you know in case it may have some relevance to other sewers out there. Cheryl wrote to me and said to check my bobbin case and to see if the bobbin was sitting in it correctly and it was, but to cut a very long story a bit shorter, the technician from the shop I purchased it from was talking about machine maintenance at my quilt group and we found that the spring on the outside of my bobbincase was faulty and even though I was setting my bobbin tension correctly the spring was slipping and so the tension was not staying were I was setting it, so they very kindly replaced the whole bobbincase for me. GUESS WHAT NOW MY Machine Has PERFECT TENSION YEAH!!! Now I can finally get stuck into my quilts for this years showcase, yes!