I am new to quilting. I finished my quilt top and it turned out great. I wanted to do some freemotion stippling on the outer perimeter and watched video after video and even read a few books. I started practicing. EVERY time the same thing. The top thread ends up with a huge nest on the underside of the quilt. Even at best I have a large loose loop of the top thread on the bottom. I have adjusted the tension in small amounts from +3 to -3 and NOTHING has helped. I have left the feed dogs up (have a supreme slider in place so it wont move the fabric) because one instructor said this might help and it made no difference. I have a singer 7426. Does anyone else this model or a singer that can help me shed some light on a solution here. There is no way to adjust anything on here but thread tension, stitch length and needle placement. I have tried matching threads in top and bottom, using poly thread on top and bottom. I just have no idea what I am doing so wrong. PLEASE HELP ME! Till now my experience with quilting has been such a positive one. But I am so stuck. There is a DVD that helps but I am not going to buy one that will simply tell me the same things I have already been told in the utube instructions and then have the added frustration of having paid money I dont have and STILL be stuck.

There was another person on the Board recently having the same difficulties with the "nest". Do a SEARCH from the topics at the top of the page and you'll find lots of helpful information. (Am sooo sorry. This has got to be very frustrating.)

Are you sure you're putting the presser foot down? (I miss this occasionally and this is the symptom I get)

Your top thread could be jumping off the take up lever...the bobbin thread might not be engaged in the bobbin casing.

this was the problem I was having when mine made the "nest" on the underside. make sure it's down! hope it is as easy as this! good luck

quote=thepolyparrot]Are you sure you're putting the presser foot down? (I miss this occasionally and this is the symptom I get)[/quote]

Yes, I could see me missing it once, maybe twice but I have so many practice sandwiches that have the same mess on them and I cant see me doing it every time.

I wish so much that someone had my model and could give me some direction on tension. It is working fine doing all other sewing and works fine with the walking foot. But the minute I go to freemotion it is the same story over and over.

first, make up a practice sandwich. That way you won't be damaging your nice quilt.

next, do a total re-thread - bobbin, top thread, AND replace needle. Check for lint in the bobbin case.

finally, turn off the machine, count to ten (or have a cup of coffee) an turn it back on.

check your machine one last time with a "regular" stitch.

good luck!

sorry, new to sewing so could you please elaborate what you mean.

Ironically, I took to sewing fast and LOVE it! I am disabled with Lupus so finding this has been a dream come true..very theraputic. The sewing part I did great. I have my first quilt finished (had to go with SID to finish it. It was a dresden plate and I love it. But would have preferred to do freemotion filler work on it.

Will a singer do FM?

Congratulations on getting your quilt made, by the way! :)

Does your machine have a drop in bobbin (lies horizontally in the case) or a vertical bobbin? (stands up on end in the bobbin case)

Do you have a practice sandwich for testing your stitching? I just use two pieces of muslin with a piece of batt in between. Lets me test the tensions, designs, etc, without committing them to the quilt.

Practice on your sandwich and get all the quirks ironed out before taking it to the quilt. :)

Thread your machine with the presser foot UP, so that the thread can get all the way in between the tension disks, but don't forget to lower the presser foot before you actually start sewing. The way this foot is made, it can look like it's lowered when it really isn't. There isn't such an obvious reminder there to put it down.

Big loops and nests on the underside almost always indicate that there is not enough tension on the needle thread.

This can be from not lowering the presser foot, from not threading the machine with the presser foot up, from a piece of debris between the disks that is preventing their clamping onto the thread, etc. Something is preventing there being enough tension on the needle thread. :)

if the nesting is sporatic, it's possible that your thread is not feeding smoothly. perhaps a thread net over the spool would help.

My experience has been that it helps to bring the bobbin thread up through the quilt by tuning the wheel by hand one rotation, hang on to both threads with your left hand, drop your pressure foot and then start sewing. But my first thought was maybe it is the brand of thread, or dull needle. My Janome embroidery machine is particularly fussy about that.

If the tension is correct for regular sewing, there's nothing wrong with the tension.

The problem is something else. Make sure you are bringing the bobbin thread to the top when you start and hold your thread ends when you start. Make sure you put the presser foot down.

Then the key is fast machine, slow hands. The needle needs to go pretty fast compared to how fast you move the quilt.

Keep practicing. You wouldn't expect to pick up a paint brush and be Rembrandt in a week!!!

Yep, number on problem with FMQ, we forget that the tension disks need tension and the pressure foot needs to be down....
One way to check just before you put pedal to the metal pull on the top thread.... if it zings through your needle without any tension your pressure foot is still up. If it takes a little more effort to pull the thread through it is down. To test try it when you have your 'piecing' foot on...

Are you using a FMQ foot or darning foot? Does your bobbin have a tiny screw on it that can be adjusted? I wish I had some experience with your machine so I could be more helpful. Sorry this is taking the joy out of your nice quilt project.

check to see if there is a Yahoo group for your machine brand and ask the questions there. Those on that site will be most familiar with your situation.

Leave the bobbin tension alone. Tension problems are almost never the bobbin.

OMG you guys are absolutely the BEST!!!! I have been struggling with this for days thinking me doomed to either SID quilting or finding another machine!!! It was me not lowering the presser foot. I also switched to using the upright thread spool holder from the horizontal to see if that helped in feeding the top thread more smoothly.

NO MORE NESTS!!

:thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup: Happy FMQing!!!!!

Lots of wonderful suggestions.....mine is pretty basic to Singer....and it's from experience.....make sure your needle is in right.....some Singers make you put the needle with the flat side to the side and some with the flat side to the back. If it's in wrong, it won't engage the bobbin correctly and the nest will be all you get.

make sure you are not moving your hands too fast. work to find a good balance between machine speed and hand motion that is smooth and not jerky.
Go slow if you need to to achieve this balance. Many try to go too fast with either machine or hand - mostly hand I have found and then get longer stitches. Slow down to medium. I teach a lot of FMQ and I know of what I speak.

Yayyyyyyyyy - that's terrific! Now you're in for a lot of fun! :)

This is not strictly a newbie mistake, by the way - I've been free-motion quilting for several years and the quilt before last, every time I turned around, I was forgetting to put the presser foot down! :?

Fortunately, my main quilting machine snarls up badly enough that I can't continue to sew for very long before the thread binds and stops the machine. I wish it would do this when my tension isn't tight enough, too. :)

Make sure that you have the correct bobbin in the machine. I think that your machine takes 15J which is the same as my "singer confidence" machine. Size 15 looks the same size but is a little bit smaller and so it will jump out of the bobbin holder causing it not to feed correctly. Also make sure that the bobbin is threaded correctly in the holder. I just had this problem and the bobbin thread had come unthreaded in the holder. All this will make a difference in reqular sewing but seems to make a bigger difference whn FMQ. Good Luck!!!!!!!

OMG the huge difference!!! I cant believe all this time it was me not putting the presser foot down! :shock: I expected that it will take practice (and expect lots of it) to get my stitches smooth and flowing but not the mess I was getting and I had changed threads, bobbins, tension over and over and nothing I did helped. I had all but given up on it and figured this machine just wouldnt do it. I had purchased all the required things (on a VERY tight budget at that) because I want so badly to do this and do it well. All I got was frustration!

You see, I have lupus and this matters so much to me because I am trying to make my family all quilts. I want them all to have something personal made by me. I never know how this will all play out. I have progressed pretty rapidly and dont want to end up at a point where I want to do this and cant. So I started this endeavor and have really given it my all.

My first quilt shows it to be a first project but not too badly. I can hang it on my wall without feeling ashamed and my only remaining task is binding. That will be done today.

I am attaching a picture of it. Luckily I started practicing before attempting to do any FMQ on my project! I can only post the one I uploaded a couple of days ago. I have since completed the quilting on the right side to match the left, trimmed it and have it ready for binding.

You may be moving the fabric too quickly with your hands. If I don't go at what seems like an absurdly slow pace that is what happens to me.

I hope you solve your issues with FMQ. Good luck.

I am glad you got your FMQ problem solved.

Your quilt is gorgeous. You did an awesome job with your first project. You should see mine...lol. I've done okay with someone else's pattern but this is the first time I designed my own pattern. It's going to look a LOT different than the design I drew on paper.

Hope you have MANY more years of quilting...it IS so much fun and rewarding.

That looks great! I'm so happy that you're finding some enjoyment in this, now. :)

Most people don't start quilting with Dresden Plates - I'm impressed. If you are already doing the more difficult patterns, you aren't going to have any trouble at all. :)

You might want to go back to your original post in this thread and click on "Edit Title" or "Edit Subject" or something like that and make the title of the thread read:

RESOLVED! Why wont my machine do freemotion correctly

Otherwise people are going to keep bypassing the fact that you've resolved the problem and continue to offer advice for fixing it. :)

Am I missing something here? I don't see anywhere to Edit title or Edit Subject even if I go to one of my own topics. Unless it's a new feature
which does not appear for me, I know you can contact a moderator to change the title for you.

yep, I cant find where I can amend the topic either.

I just want to thank you guys SO MUCH!! Truly from the bottom of my heart. Like I said, this means ALOT to me. I have 5 children and 3 grandkids. I also have 5 sisters and 1 brother as well as my mom to make quilts for and I want them all to be special. I am making my mom a memory quilt that will have pictures of all of us in it. I plan to do the same for all of my siblings and daughters (they are the ones that have my precious grandbabies).

Then after I get those done I can make one for ME! YEAH! I made the dresden plate using a template for the fans. The rest of it was just made up as I went along. I was actually quite surprised at how well I took to this. I have never been a crafty person and before 2 months ago never even touched a sewing machine. I had a friend come over and show me how to use it! lol. One afternoon of her working with me and then I was on my own.

My mom bought the machine for me used at a dealer. It has worked really well for me so far. My husband and son in law got me some 3'x6' tables on craigs list for a whopping 12 pack of dr peppers. The man even threw in a little desk which I have set up as my pressing station. I actually have a pretty good set up. My husband built a wooden thing to sit on top of the tables and go around the machine to make the area all level and then I put some extra thick vinyl on top of it (with a cardboard measuring grid underneath. It is all kind of thrown together for now but works till I can afford a better set up or a sewing table so my machine can sit inside it. It has truly been a family endeavor to get me going.

The biggest cost after the machine was just getting the supplies needed like the cutting mat, rotary blades, etc. I also am having a hard time now buying fabric since my husband isnt able to find a full time job and my SSDI only goes so far. But I feel grateful to have what I do and know things will come together as they should. I mean I have come this far already so it feels very right. Like I have found my way to something that fits me. You know what I mean? I never in my life would have thought I would be doing this. I just never had the urge before. But when it hit, it hit hard and I just felt it was right. Then once I started, I KNEW it was right. Now I just have to keep working at it and get better and better!

I couldnt have come this far though without all the stuff on the internet. I have truly self taught through reading and watching tutorials. Any patterns I have were d/l for free off of websites. I cant imagine how hard it must have been before the internet. There is just so much info out there now to teach us. But nothing to dummy proof it for us and make us put down the dang presser foot!!! I thought when I read that...NO WAY, it cant possibly be something THAT simple and yet, it was! I never would have considered it though if it wasnt for this site so once again the internet has helped me along. Even the dresden plate pattern was learned from a tutorial from the Missouri Star Quilt Company. I just love her! She seems like someone I would just hit it off with in person. Eleanor Burns has some great tutorial too but she is kind of kookie too.

So again! Thank you all! You all rock!

Hi...I think so many of us can identify with you. This board is amazing...for me it is like I can being at the most amazing quilting class all day and all night if I want. There is someone there to constantly help, give advice and share inspiration.....as for free machine quilting..I too had problems some weeks ago and the help was amazing...now my FMQ is great...best advice some one gave me was try keeping the feed dogs up...WOW...it is like having a stitch regulator...try it you might be equally impressed

What kind of thread are you using? Not a metalic I hope that is very hard to stipple with. In addtion, when you have a bobbin nesting problem look to the top thread. RPM or speed up on machine and slow movement with your hands remember to breath. calla

Your Dresdens are beautiful. I hope mine turn out as well. Congrats to you. And I have used the Slider with the feed dogs up and it does help to keep even stitches, but rather slows you down.

I think that at least half of the quilters on the board have at least ONCE had this problem. Usually, it is because I didn't thread the machine carefully. I have a Bernina and sometimes the thread doesn't get into position on the tension gage. That is the first thing that you come down to put your thread thru before going up to the lever that goes up and down (that helps advance the thread on the spool). Another thing is when have you had it serviced last???. If it is NEW, I would take it in to whom I bought it from. A sewing machine is just like a car. You need to have it oiled and lubed at least once a year. GOOD LUCK and do make a sandwich quilt. I have been quilting for OVER 30 years and I STILL have one handy to always check my threads!!!

When you open the first message of a thread and you are the author of the first post, there is an option to edit the topic's title on the left side of the page above your user name.

Rethread your whole machine and see if that helps. Sometimes the problem is so obvious, but yet hidden.

Good advice 1000Projects!

have you lowered the feed dogs if they don't lower tape a business card over them

I was having nests, too. I found it helped to not only make sure the needle was ready, but to hand-tighten the top thread before starting again. This does get boring to keep repeating, but it did help! Good luck, and keep at it! :) The practice sandwich is a good idea. :)

What type of foot are you using? I usually use the open toe round quilting foot but maybe you need the bigger foot to hold the fabric in place. They also make a quilting need that has a spring on it to help hold fabric in place. Also, make sure you are using a sharp (not universal point) needle. I tend to use a needle in a larger size like a size 16 jeans needle or a needle marked as a quilting needle. These tend to have a sharper point and a larger eye and groove to allow the thread to pass through any layers. The needle can be a size 12 as long as it says sharp not universal. The universal needles are more rounded on the tip.

What is a "thread net"? Yolanda