GEMRM

My sister in law came to quilt her quilt on my long arm machine. The thread dealer she bought her thread from recommended DecoBob for top and bottom as it is 80 wt and would sink in and not be dominant over the piecing - this is the look she wanted.
We had trouble getting the top thread not to break, even with the tension very light. So, executive decision made that in order to get this quilt done, we changed threads on the top.
The quilt turned out very good and my sister in law is thrilled.

My questions----
1. What is the secret to get Decobob to run on the top without breaking?
2. Is Decobob thread strong enough for a quilt that's going to be used and washed?

She left me the thread, and a box of prewound bobbins so I'm interested in knowing how to use this on the long arm....

Any and all info/help appreciated!

feline fanatic

Not all LA machines are created equal. It is hard to advise without knowing. I regularly run Invisifil on the top of my LA and that is even finer at 100 wt. I have used decobob in my domestic with no issues but I have not run it in my LA. I use magnaglide prewounds in the bobbin. Also what size needle did you use to run the decobob?

Issues I have had with Invisifil breaking, quilt too tight on the rack, needle too small. If I start breaking thread with Invisifil I loosen the top. Most of the time this solves the issue. I have also gone up from a size 14 to a size 16 needle when I am having a lot of breakage but normally I run this thread with a size 14. These two things have helped me the most with thread breakage on my Innova with these super fine threads.

feline fanatic

going back and re-reading my response, it is confusing. What I meant was I loosen the whole quilt sandwich so it isn't so taut on the rack. Even looser than being able to easily grab the first knuckle of my finger when poking from the bottom of the sandwich to the top. Having your quilt sandwich loaded too tight can cause thread breakage with the super fine threads and even more commonly used threads.

Additionally the super fine threads (like decobob, invisifil and 100wt silk) are better suited for dense background fill quilting where there is a lot of back tracking and thread build up and you are quilting densely. I would not recommend using these threads when doing an all over E2E or panto type quilting. They are meant for fine detailed work where you are tending to go much slower. This may have also contributed to your breakage. You would have to be using a very heavy thread to overpower piecing with quilting when doing an E2E. I have used heavy King tut cotton in an E2E and it did not over power the piecing. Here is a good example: Barnbum's "Indian Summer" quilted by Feline Fanatic

Really surprised the "thread dealer" didn't understand this.

Macybaby

Thanks for the info Feline! I've got a couple of machine embroidered crazy quilts I plan on quilting with invisible thread on my LA.

GEMRM

Great info you've provided Feline Fanatic, As we were on time constraints, we didn't have a lot of time to work out the problems, but I've got your excellent input to putter at figuring it out for next time as my sister in law left all the thread with me.
Thank you for all your advice and suggestions.

QuiltMom2

When you get these done, please post pictures!

pchp

Macybaby, Invisifil is not the same as invisible thread. It is a very fine, 100 wt polyester thread that comes in a variety of colors. I was at a guild meeting Monday evening where a vendor was demonstrating some threads including Invisifil and some invisible thread. The invisible thread she showed was nylon, I believe, and it had a lot of stretch to it. I've used invisible thread on my Bernina DSM with some success, but getting the tension right is a challenge. I wouldn't use it on my mid-arm.

Macybaby

Sorry, I meant invisfil and I think the auto correct got me! I ordered a spool of invisfil in off white and one in black, should arrive Monday so I'll probably try it out over the Thanksgiving Holiday weekend. I've got two tops (one black, one in shades of white/offwhite) and I'll practice on them and see how it turns out.

lswan

I use DecoBob in my LA bobbins. I have used prewounds and self wounds. I use Glide on top. I have not been able to get Invisifil to work with my machine. I think it has to be threaded differently.