Melody, have you tried a practice piece, you may not need to adjust the tension. I just used a tear-away stabilizer and started appliqueing with a satin stitch. I've used poly thread, cotton, and rayon even with my old machine and did not have to do any adjusting. Give it a try and see how it goes.
Life is like a quilt...bits & pieces, joy & sorrow, stitched with love
I wanted to add that you may need to use a larger needle, just do a little experimenting.
take just the teensiest dibble of nail polish and mark where your tension is before you start messing with it.
gini in north idaho