Thread Play On The Capri

Have been quietly playing with my new machine the Handiquilter Capri 18. Very happy with how she is performing, so the other day I spent the entire day trialing different thread combinations.  I did struggle with the colourful and shiny Polyester threads on my Sweet 16 and wanted to see how I go on this machine. I am glad that I have had those 2 years with the Sweet 16 before I got this machine...I am approaching this obviously much calmer and with a lot more knowledge than when I first started with the Sweet 16.

Trialed Fantastico from Superior threads. Initially used Bottom Line in the bobbin (self wound) and set the Towa value to about 180 (using a table that is provided by Superior threads). That was ok but I had a fair amount of pokies which just did not want to budge (I was using Soft and Bright Polyester batting which was probably not helping). Also, variegated thread can be a bit tricky in general. Changed over to Aurifil 50/2 thread in the bobbin. Set the bobbin tension to about 230...that is the amount of bobbin tension that I seem to like. I do set my bobbin using the 'standing the bobbin up in your hand' method but I do also check with the Towa what value it is. I find that very handy as it gives me a starting point for the bobbin tension. Stitching along was fine, but I still had some pokies on the back.

Switched to the orange variegated King Tut, also with Aurifil 50/2 thread in the bobbin. First time I ever tried this thread for freemotionquilting. Liked it better than the shiny Polyester thread for some reason. Reduced the bobbin tension to see whether I could get rid of those pokies on the back and finally at a Towa value of about 190 the pokies disappeared largely

Tried the Fantastico thread also with reduced Aurifil bobbin tension...heaps better and hardly any pokies.

Also did a fair amount of mucking around with the stitch regulator...as I am not attending our local group I cannot really ask anybody on how to use this properly, so I just played with different speed settings and literally went by what was feeling ok, i.e. movement was even and not jerky and the machine was literally just cruising along with me. Found that for an overall design like this meander I needed to set the Cruise speed fairly high to get that nice rhythm going. Worked really well and looks great.
Also did some more research on the Towa gadget in general and thread weights etc. Very productive day...I think I am beginning to understand this much better.

Karin

Tension Play

Today I allowed myself some time to just play!

It has been 2 years since I acquired the Sweet 16. After many trials and tribulations in the first few months, I have felt quite  comfortable with it over the last year. I did stick with my one thread rule for a while though. However, now slowly but surely, I am branching out in trying different threads and different thread combinations.

Today I trialed Superior Fantastico (wt 40/3)...I have got a beautifully variegated cone that was part of the box full of thread that Superior had thrown in when I purchased the machine. Still very impressed with their generosity.  Initially I left my So Fine bobbin thread (wt 50) in place to use up the thread that was left over from the Fox Quilt. When that was gone (worked fine), I took my bobbin out and adjusted it for a DecoBob Prefilled bobbin (80wt). Was curious on how that would go...

That worked really well, no problem at all. Spent a bit of time on concentrating on the speed and consistency and noticed that I need to slow down a bit. Have gotten into the habit of stitching faster than what I can control. The stitch quality was good...had a few little pokies here and there as I was mucking around with different tension settings, but really nothing to worry about. Really like that thread and will need to make a quilt to go with that (that could be good for the next Fox Quilt actually).

Then went back to Aurifil thread Mako 40/2, this time though stitching with the DecoBob bobbin thread...good combination! Actually I like the DecoBobs as they are wound so evenly...much better for your tension!

Continued to play and now went back to Aurifil 50/2 in the bobbin. Those are the bobbins that I wind myself...hardly any difference other than that I noticed fluctuations in the bobbin thread. On closer inspection I could actually feel that when I unwound the thread off the bobbin. Probably should pay a bit more attention to my bobbin winding...I suspect that I need to slow down the winding a bit to avoid the thread swinging around like it does at times. Winding it slower would probably also be better to avoid any stretching of the thread. Will adjust this next time I wind a bobbin.

Productive play!

Karin