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One of the most common and frustrating problems when you're quilting is having your thread break. There are so many reasons this can happen, and I run into a lot of them with my students. So, in this series of posts I'll talk about the problems and solutions I encounter.
This sounds like something most of us would enjoy, but not when it breaks your quilting thread!
One of the ways you can narrow down the causes of thread breakage is to look at where and how it is breaking. A thread that frays at the needle has a very different cause than a thread that snaps at the top of the machine, for example.
Recently in a class one of my students was having trouble with having her thread breaking right at the hole of the needle. It didn't snap -- it gradually frayed through.
In a way, this is worse than a snap, because it means that the thread is gradually becoming thinner and weaker as you stitch along. In a quilt that will be used a lot, that thin, weak thread will eventually wear out and the quilting will have to be repaired.
We checked all along the thread path for clues and finally discovered a rather unique problem that I had never encountered before:
Her machine had a computer screen with the controls for tension, stitch length and stitch width/needle position. When she thought she was adjusting her tension setting, she actually moved the needle position instead. (The numbers were very similar, so it was an easy mistake to make.) The needle had moved to the side just enough so that it was rubbing against the quilting foot. This caused chafing that was wearing the thread through.
Look at the photo at the top of this page to get the idea. See how the needle is off-center to the foot? My needle wouldn't move far enough to hit this foot, but her foot was smaller and the needle was definitely rubbing against it. If she had moved the needle just a tiny bit farther, it would have hitting the quilting foot and broken the needle.
Once we moved the needle back to the center position, the thread stopped breaking and she was able to continue quilting with no thread problems. A simple fix!
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Reena Kaplowitz
October 17, 2024
That’s a great tip! Going to check that tomorrow. I most often have it with Aurifil to where I think maybe where I bought it it was old or stored in the light. I keep mine under tabletop. I have been hitting the spools with Sewers aid & that seems to work for awhile. But yes it is right at the needle so we will see. Thanks for the tip.