Quilting with invisible thread

[Pat A.]

I am having trouble threading my Viking machine with invisible thread (monopoly). I can't see the
end of the thread to put it in the needle! Any tips?

[Helen W.]

I am having trouble threading my Viking machine with invisible thread (monopoly). I can't see the
end of the thread to put it in the needle! Any tips? [/QUOTE]
Pat.
I have a Husquvara Designer 1 that I got in the early 1990's, and I too have trouble with Superior Monopoly. The first trick
I tried was lay the end of thread on a piece of paper and run over it with a red sharpie marker.Then put a piece of paper behind the needle and it shows up pretty good. That helps a little.
The other problem is that the monopoly stretches and curls. That is why my auto threader did not work with it. I found a tip
that finally worked. Take off the presser foot, use a regular wire needle thread push tt thru the needle from the back side.
Now you have a loop on the front side. Put the monopoly into the loop and pull it back thru. That has worked. A pain to
have to do, but I has not failed me yet. Monopoly is 100 wt. thread, that is as fine as a human hair. I found I had to take
my top tension down to 1.8 and default is 4.6. That is also what Superior recommends on their thread chart settings.
Now my 100 wt thread favorite is Invisifil by Wonderful. It has a cotton wrap that prevents the curling and stretching and
my auto threader works with it. Hooray!!! I just did a mule deer wall hanging for a friend and used it and it did not break
once. It does not show, and has a tint of color so you don't get the reflection you get with the Superior Monopoly.
HelenW

Helen, I am REALLY struggling with Monopoly thread breaking every 12 inches or so of stitching on my appliqué quilt. Does the thread you’re referring to have to be color matched? (I’m trying to avoid that).

[Helen W.]

When I first started quilting I never played with the top tension thread. I left it on default all the time.
I ran into your exact problem. Monopoly would not work in my machine. It would break within seconds of starting to stitch. It was the top thread tension was way, way too tight for monopoly's 100 wt. thread. I saw Bob Percell who owned Superior thread and watched an hour long show on
thread tensions. I went to his website and it said that Monopoly should be set at 1.8. My Husqvarna Designer 1 has a default of 4.6. I turned it down to 1.8 and it worked perfectly. Before I was changing
needles, changing bobbins etc. I do not use monopoly in the bobbin. It it not necessary. Also it is very hard to wind on the bobbin because it stretches. My new love of super thin thread is Invisifil by
Wonderfil. It does not stretch because they put a cotton coating with the 100 wt. and you literally
can not see it. It comes is tinted colors but you could just get a neutral color and it would work on
all the fabrics. With any 100 wt. thread they are very thin, like a human hair thin, so sew slower than
normal. Do you know how to change the top tension on your machine? HelenW

[Pat A.]

Helen, thanks for the great tips!