I think a lot of this depends on just exactly how dense your stitching is, how well your machine is working and what you will be satisfied with, and how are you going to quilt the top. I do only extremely dense embroider work and won't keep any that has a single pucker. I throw a lot away also! LOL. I have to sometime use wash away on the top of the fabric, sometimes several layers and very heavy tear away under, and ALWAYS extend my stablilzers well beyond the hoops and stay stitch them before starting. My patterns are always 40,000 and up on stitches, never anything less and usually 20 and more colors. When it is that dense it is extremely hard for the fabric not to be drawn up to a smaller size. Try a looser tension and be sure you have the smaller embroider thread on your bobbin even if you are using something else for effect on top. If you can embroider some on each side of the design, top, bottom, left, right and not just follow the way it is programed it may help by equalizing the tension put on the fabric.
If you are going to quilting close to your embroidery and quilting closely it will even out the puckers. Otherwise puckers that are there will show.
Last edited by TanyaL; 02-05-2013 at 06:19 AM.