I have a Singer Golden Touch & Sew. In order to do "darning", according to the manual, I have to use an embroidery hoop & have my cloth very tight. It would only make birds nests without this hoop. There is no mention of FMQ in the manual. That being said, I have not used this Singer machine for any real FMQ because I have a long arm.
Have you read your manual? If it's missing, you might could go to the manufacturers website & look under the "Support" tab for a copy. Perhaps your machine is Picky & requires extra adjustment or apparatus to do the FMQ correctly.