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Good luck - please show us how it came out!
I have tried this but I either get a shadow on the front or on the back

Jst make sure the threads are balanced with the tension and you should be fine! I just finished one with navy blue in the bottom and a varigated purple in the top. It worked out great!

Obviously a BEGINNER question...why do you have to check the tension when using 2 different colors of thread?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Beginner10 (Post 5102878)

Obviously a BEGINNER question...why do you have to check the tension when using 2 different colors of thread?

I'm no expert, by any means, but I hate to see a beginner's question go unanswered. If the tension is not equally balanced on your machine, either the top thread will show as dots of a different color on the back or the bobbin thread will show as dots on the top. A perfectly balanced tension will interlock the stitches between the layers of fabric.

The key here is the tension. Try it out on a sandwich piece and see what it looks like to you. You are the final judge. I use two colors often but do keep an eye on that tension--sometimes just changing a bobbin makes a difference as they all seem to wind a little differntly.

Thank-you Pinkiris and ka9snd...I was making this harder than it was. I was thinking the "color" made the difference, not that the different color would show through the other side. :(
Have a great weekend
Hugs

I do it all the time and I've never touched the tension on my machine. I leave it on auto all the time. Does using different colors really affect your tension?

I do this with every quilt I make.

Quote:

Originally Posted by sept97 (Post 5106858)

I do it all the time and I've never touched the tension on my machine. I leave it on auto all the time. Does using different colors really affect your tension?

No, using different colors doesn't affect the tension. But it does make it easy to see if your tension is off.

quilting with 2 threads

Quote:

Originally Posted by grandma7 (Post 5101613)

I am about to quilt my DGD's quilt. I will use white thread on the top and the backing is navy, so I'm thinking I should use navy thread in the bobbin. Does this work well? I know I have to be sure the tension is balanced. I wanted to know if any of you have done this. Thank you so much. When I have a question, I ALWAYS know where to turn.

I have done it but only on place mats. It worked well but for a full-sized quilt I would imagine that the weight of
the quilt might tug on the threads and pull the bobbin thread to the front. In any event, I had to go really slowly
because I was outlining in black on top and pale gold on the bottom. I had to settle for an occasional black
stippling on the back - this occurred on the 7th and 8th place mats - and by then I was getting too tired to be as
careful....
Good luck - it does work but for me it wasn't always perfect. Also my machine is a very old Kenmore and maybe
it doesn't hold the tension as well as yours.