Originally Posted by Nanasrcool
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.
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!!!