Hiya Sunnie, just wondering how you are doing, I have read the entire post and see there is a lot of helpful advice.
I used to have the same problem when I first started FMQ but after practising and doing a lot of it the problems went away. The first thing I would say is RELAX and yes a glass of wine really does help. I rarely drop my feed dogs although I do set my tension to 0 I used to make sure my thread was the same top and bottom but now I like the Bottom Thread from Superior threads but that is my personal choice, although I will say my older Singer is fussy about the thread I use for FMQ and have to use the old Sylko on her. I don't use any special type of needle, I normally use Smeltz or Organ standards size 12,
I do find that the most important thing to get right is SPEED you really do have to put your foot down and go for it, moving your fabric in a steady motion. BTW a top tip that I have found that really helps is that I polish my machine concentrating on the whole of the harp area, yep with an ordinary colourless polish it really helps.
I do this at the beginning of each quilt I start along with a throrough clean of the bobbin area and of course a brand new needle, they are cheap enough when you look at the problems an old one can give you.
Let us know how you get on, and remember when you get it right there will be no turning back every quilt you make will be FMQ, honest :thumbup: