my machine stitches fine doing piecing - no skipped stitches etc. But when I put my FMQ foot on it stitches along fine for a few stitches and then the top thread quits picking up the bottom thread and end up with one very long stitch or quits stitching all together. have rethreaded machine, bobbin, etc but no help? any suggestions?

It may just be the needle you are using. Did you change it to a quilting needle?

Be sure your feed dogs are down. Find a comfortable speed on your machine (and make a note) then dont try moving the fabric too fast. You have to find your groove...the perfect machine speed combined with the perfect movement of the fabric. All that can cause the skipped stitches. I hate to tell you this but it really is practice practice practice. Just keep pluggin along:)

I'm with Suebee - there is definitely a "sweet spot" between the speed of your machine and the movement of the fabric. And of course all the advice about needle, threading, etc. Mostly lots of practicing.

stitching very very slowly and still does it and did put in quilting needle. sooo frustrating -

You might be going too slow as well. I set my machine speed about 1/2 way, then I have all the control in the movement of my fabric. Unfortunately you cant go too fast or too slow. You can do it. I have faith!

also, try a ball point needle instead of a sharp and loosen your top tension a tad when FMQ'ing. and yes, there is a definite sweet spot between you moving the fabric and the speed of the machine.

It sounds like maybe the presser foot isn't down or the pressure on the presser foot isn't sufficient.

Did you use basting spray or is your quilt pinned?

Things I learned:

Put feed dogs down
make sure FMQ part is screwed on tight - mine was loose
lengthen stiches
reduce tension
don't go too slow
make sure the material glides across your sewing arm
manually put your needle down and then up while holding the top thread to pull the bobbin thread through then stitch 2 or 3 stiches in place and then trim both threads
ball point needle
Don't move the material too fast - in fact don't move the material - slide/glide the material around your work surface - everytime I "move" the material I get skipped stitches or the bobbin thread comes up top

That's all the newbie tricks I learned last week!

I did not know you needed a special needle for quilting. Is this for FMQ only?