Just like with a domestic machine, beautiful stitches on your longarm depend on well-balanced tension. But how exactly does one check or adjust your tension? What about the bobbin? Don’t worry, Rockstar, I’ll show you!

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The single most important thing to do if you want gorgeous free motion quilting, is to learn how to adjust your tension to get beautifully formed stitches on the top and back of your quilt. Truly— you can do all the FMQ practice in the world, learn all the motifs, etc, but if you’re battling thread breaks or eye lashes, your quilting won’t look the way you’ve dreamed. In order to make those FMQ Dreams come true, let’s talk tension!

Supplies

To adjust tension on your longarm, I recommend a few key tools:

• A fresh needle (16/100 or 18/110 are my go to sizes)

• High quality thread (Aurifil 50 wt, 40 wt, or Forty-three— shop our store here)

• A TOWA Gauge (shop Amazon here)

• Scrap fabric next to a loaded quilt on your frame or just load a practice sandwich on the frame

Video

Steps

1. Gather your supplies and load your quilt/ practice sandwich on the longarm

2. Use your Towa Gauge to adjust the bobbin tension

3. Thread the Machine

4. Test stitch

5. Adjust the top tension

6. Happy Quilting!

Resources

• Tension on Your Domestic Machine

• How to Use a Towa Gauge (to adjust bobbin tension)

• YouTube Video: Why Presser Foot Height Matters

• More blogs about Longarming

Download:

A Quick Guide to Tension Cheat Sheet

PS Don’t forget to pin this post so you can find it later!