I use a size 16 needle for FMQ, cheap thread (some of it 20+ year old 5/$1.00 Walmart), and never have a problem on either my Janome HT-2008, Brother PQ1500s or my vintage Singer 15-91. I do have to play around with setting the tension on the Janome and Singer, but once I get it right, they all work fine. That being said, the newer Singers are a tad touchy so it wouldn't hurt to try a better thread.