Well...feed dogs up - check; tension up a notch - check; machine set to slower speed & foot to the metal - check; rethreaded needle - check; stitch length set to 0 - check...ok I tried it and we were ok for a small section. Too much tension in the operator (me) so I quit while I was ahead. To quote Scarlet O'Hara "Tomorrow is another day."
I have all of you to thank for your suggestions and encouragement. Once I finish this small quilt I will take my machine in for service to see if that was also a contributing factor.