Since I’ve been talking about problem-solving…
Last month I was reading the Superior Threads blog about the difference between stacked thread (the threads on the spool are parallel to each other) and cross-wound thread (typically on cones, the threads cross at angles to each other). They were saying that cross-wound thread should feed off the top and spools that are stack-wound should wind off the side. If the thread is fed through the machine incorrectly, the thread can over-twist and create problems. Hmmm…maybe that is why I’ve been having thread breakage and knotting when I’ve been machine quilting.
With my Janome, I should position a cross-wound cone a vertical spindle and a stacked spool should be placed on a horizontal spindle. Unfortunately, I do not have a horizontal spindle on my machine. I do have a wire thread guide that accommodates two different threads. To solve my little problem, I simply fed a long rubber band through my spool and hung it from the two wire thread guides. I haven’t had a single thread break or knot while machine quilting since I did this simple thing.
