Originally Posted by
Rebaquilts
thanks for that youtube video, it is really helpful to see. You may not be a professional youtuber but it was very well made and helpful to see how you made the horizontal spool with the wire and how you attached it. And wow it does do a great job quilting.
Thanks for your kind words, Rebaquilts. One quick update: I decided to use some polyester thread to highlight some of my FMQ motifs, and the spool is wider on the bottom than what I had been using (see this link for an example:
Spool with bottom wider than top.)
As soon as I switched the top thread, I got MASSIVE LOOPING on the reverse side - basically there was NO tension on the top thread! (I think because the hole in the spool is much bigger than the spool pin on my 500E and tends to "wobble" when sewing). After playing around, we realized that, for THIS particular type of spool, we needed to NOT use the wire hook - just fed the thread directly from the spool through the thread guide. That did it.
So, lesson we learned: For Aurifill 100% spools of cotton thread (and similar - those with a hole that fits my 500Es spool pin better) (example photo here:
Aurifill Spool) we need the hook. Otherwise the differential tension of the thread when it comes off the top is too different than when it feeds from the bottom - on a criss-cross wound spool - probably because of the way it "wobbles"?) that the tension gets whacked. But for a spool that "wobbles" (because the bottom is way wider than the top), well that has the right amount apparently.
Probably I am thinking the longer-term solution is to craft a thicker spool pin that I could swap out for spools with wider openings.....
All of which is to say that getting the tension right seems to be a combination of MANY factors - INCLUDING the specific type of spool you use! (Who'd a thunk it?)