Tension Woes with Feathers
 

I'm doing my first feather border and having trouble with it.

For starters, the front is black and the back is orange, so I am trying to balance that. Throughout the rest of the quilting on the top, I haven't had any trouble with thread colours showing up where they aren't supposed to, after doing tests on my samples.

It seems. as soon as I got to the borders, all heck broke loose.

I've got orange on the black, black on the orange, eyelashes on the back and a general mess.

When I do it on my test sample it works out fine.

I have SITD'd one side of the border and basted the other 1/8th of an inch so it is pretty stable.

I have re-threaded, changed bobbins and re-filled bobbbins, oiled the hook and looked for dust. (It's a Tiara Mid Arm)

It started out great down one long side of feathers so I stopped checking and by the last half, I'll have to pull it all out.

I've used Jamie Wallen's test for bobbin tension.

I'm at a loss!

Help!

Watson

What about a new needle? I was having trouble, not with tension unfortunately for you, and it solved my problem. Best of luck.

I should mention that I changed the top thread (It was a Sulky variegated for the majority of the top) so maybe it just doesn't like this new, black thread?

Watson

In my experience intermittent tension issues that seem to have no rhyme or reason, have been caused by:

A blob of lint lodging in the bobbin case tension spring (happens most often when I have cotton thread in the bobbin but I have also had it happen with 100% cotton in the top and Poly in the bobbin. I have also had it happen with flannel backing as flannel tends to shed quite a bit of lint). When this happens, the bobbin tension appears too tight and pulls the top thread down resulting in eyelashes and pokies on the back, the top looks great.

Inconsistent tension on the wound bobbin - with this issue you can have all manner of tension problems rear their ugly head. Can appear on top or bottom. Some prewounds are notorious for having the tension change the last 1/4 of the bobbin.

Top tension check spring needs to be replaced. Like above, all sorts of crazy tension issues on front or back of quilt, loopy stitches (usually on the top but can also happen on the bottom) or what appears to be poor stitch quality that comes and goes with no rhyme or reason.

I can't remember Watson, did you buy this machine new or used? If used, do you have any idea when the check spring (the little "U" shaped spring that comes off of the top tension assembly) was replaced? If you don't know, it might be time to replace that check spring and order a second one to have as backup. I've had check springs last as little as a year and as long as 5. Guess it depends on how many quilts I have done.

clean it well. sometimes it is just that.

Are the eyelashes on the curves? I find that I and many others tend to “swoop” on the curves of the feathers. I learned to make a conscious effort to move at a constant speed throughout the stitching.

I agree that the wind of the bobbin being inconsistent or the check spring being an issue is likely. I'm not familiar with the Tiara, is there an intermediate tensioner? When my thread jumps in and out of this for me, I get what you are talking about--perfect one minute, a mess the next. Also, you said you switched thread, is it possible you need a thread net on this new thread to keep it coming off the cone or spool consistently without pooling or getting hung up? good luck--it's so frustrating to have tension issues.

Is the fabric different from the test area to the main area? Was it treated differently: starched---steam & starched---pre-washed??

I am such a newbie, but I like to play detective.

Re-threaded with the new black thread...still a mess. (Mettler Silk Finish Cotton)
Pulled out the original Sulky variegated that had worked throughout the entire quilt....works like a charm.
So, I may just be doing feathers in variegated colours. Who knows?

Watson