Welcome to the board! I'm not sure if it is a needle thing, a thread thing or a machine thing causing you to shred , as I don't do a lot of machine quilting but I do darning (believe it or not) for my boy's jeans. I find that going slower, not pulling the material that much, smaller stitches as opposed to big stitches, making sure that I'm on a slippery bottom (I have a teflon sheet on the underside), and using a brand new needle before I start, all helps. Good luck and hugs!!