A new thing to check when your tension goes wonky
This is a funny story, or at least it is now! I have a Handiquilter Sweet 16. Some people have problems with adjusting the tension, but I am quite competent in adjusting it for a nice stitch on front and back no matter what thread I decide to use. I am quilting a baby quilt, and suddenly the tension goes weird. Umm. It was fine to start, then went wonky. I rip out the bad stitches and check the bobbin thread for a bit of fluff. Nothing there, but I oiled the bobbin race and checked the tension on a scrap sandwich. Looks good so I start on my quilt again. I get a nice amount done, then weird things again. More ripping stitches out, more checking the entire thread path, etc. This happened four times before I realized my thread was looped around itself on the spool! Not on the spindle, but a slip loop around the spool itself. It was a fine thread, light gray, and I didn't notice it! I wasted so much time, ripped out feet of stitching, threw away what was probably a good needle, but at least I added one other thing to check when my tensions goes weird. I finished the rest of the background stitching and now I am on to the central design without any more problems.
What a silly thing to have happen.
Pam