Ok....here is a dumb question. I'm a new quilter. How do you know which is the top thread tension. I have a Brother and it is set at 3.5 and 2.5. Is this wrong or right. Help.

No clue how to answer that. It may be machine specific so you'll get better answers if you start a new thread. On my Bernina, I have a +/- dial for tension for the top thread (from the spool). The bottom (bobbin) tension is controlled by a screw in the bobbin case. So far, I'm not messing with either setting.

When I got the bird's nest last night it was because the thread went from the spool to the needle and I skipped all of the steps in between that would have controlled the tension. Not enough caffeine apparently.

Oh - and I lean towards placing the blame on Gus whenever possible, or the Corgis - but last night was all me. And he really is pretty good about not messing with settings.

Cheers, K

We have all had those terrible moments of "what is going on here". Most of mine are user error.

I do that sometimes when I'm using my Viking. Then I recall
that I didn't thread the bobbin area correctly. It makes the most spectacular thread barfs. grrrrr
Most of my machines have a separate bobbin case, the Viking is a drop in bobbin.

I am guilty of this also.

If you have your machine book it should explain it . I have 2 Brothers also that I piece with & the book instructions aren't the best but they aren't too bad at explaining things.


uote=libertykm]Ok....here is a dumb question. I'm a new quilter. How do you know which is the top thread tension. I have a Brother and it is set at 3.5 and 2.5. Is this wrong or right. Help.[/quote]

Here's one for you. I have owned a Janome 9500 for around 5 years and only recently started having difficulty with it. Took it to my local dealer (50 miles away) and they said I needed a new mother board for big $$$. Called the shop where I purchased it, found out it was still warranted and got the repairs done there. Didn't touch it for 3 months and had similar problems again. Took it back (120 miles away) and found out I had the wrong bobbin and it wasn't threaded correctly! Did get a nice lunch out with my husband while waiting for the "repairs" to be done, though.

I was having snarling problems with my Singer a few years ago. Looked at the bobbin and learned that the millimeters difference and being concave (convex? can't remember the proper direction) versus flat really did make a huge difference in how the machine worked. Of course, I wasn't smart enough to toss or at least mark the ones that don't work, so I had to do a test run last time I pulled out that machine.

Cheers, K