I had the opportunity visit with Jean Impey at the Utah State Quilt Fest. I’m not sure how this came up, but she told me something that she learned from Libby Lehman back in the day. It relates to an article written by Bob Purcell at Superior Threads that you can find here: https://storage.googleapis.com/vw-superiorthreads/docs/tug-of-war-diagram.pdf
Imagine a machine loaded with pink thread on top and blue thread on bottom having a tug-o-war match. The number of people on the pink ‘team’ is represented by the number on the tension dial.
When the tension is correct, all is well. But what if the pink thread is being pulled too much to the back of the stitch? You need more people on the pink team to pull that thread up. You can add them by moving your top tension to a higher number.
If you see blue thread pulling to the top of the stitch, it means that the pink team is pulling too hard… it has too many team members. Turn the tension to a lower number.
I don’t know about you, but I struggle to remember which way to turn the tension dial. This helps a whole lot. Thank you Libby, and Jean, for sharing the perfect way to remember!
Image by Anna Samoylova, #535880, Unsplash
Piece O Cake Blog 
Thank you. I never can remember either!
LikeLike
Brilliant!
LikeLike
I know! Wish I’d thought of it on my own :-). > >
LikeLike
Great visual reminder!
LikeLike
Thanks Becky, this is a great way to remember.
Sent from my iPad, Vicki Norris
LikeLike
Great visual reminder. Thank you, I too have trouble remembering which way to turn the dial.
LikeLike
Thank you for this clever idea. I always have to refer to my manual because I cannot remember, either. This is such a big help!
LikeLike
Thank you for posting this tip as I forget also.
LikeLike
Finally! I am always confused. Now I’ll know. First thing I did was print it. Thanks
LikeLike
that actually makes sense!
Thanks!
LikeLike
Aaaah this does make a lot of sense! Revelation time here 😊. Thanks for sharing
LikeLike
Great way to remember this!
LikeLike
Thanks, great tip. Saves me pulling out a sewing guide book.
LikeLike
What a great visualization. I’m sure I’ll remember now. Thanks for the tip.
LikeLike