quiltingnd

I feel so frustrated with trying to fmq. I have a pfaff qe 4.2 and I thought fmq'ing would be easier. I am using CT thread and a 90 needle. (I have tried other needles and other thread) and it doesn't matter what I do, my thread shreds right at the needle. I have tried slowing down my hands. I've tried speeing up my machine, but I just can't find that sweet spot where it all comes together. Is it really that hard to find the point where it just works? I can sometimes sew 10 seconds before it shreds and other times I can go a whole minute before it shreds.

I srippled two 12" blocks and part of the border on my quilt and the thread must have shredied at least 10-15 times. (Could have been more.)

I have searched the board and read other posts regarding shredding.

I have watched dozens of videos. I have doodled like crazy and want more than anything to be able to do something other than straight lines.

cathyvv

I feel your pain! I don't fmq, but have a hq16 that is used with a pc quilter, so the actual quilting is computerized.

Some time ago, I had a terrible time with quilting. No matter what I did, the thread broke or nested or something awful. Finally, I put it all to bed for the night.

Next day, with renewed determination, I approached the quilting problem. It turned out that I had threaded the needle wrong - probably 10 times the previous day, and always the same problem. Once I fixed that, all went well.

Have you checked your tension, upper and lower?

If tension is too tight, the thread will break. I will suggest making a practice sandwich, loosen you upper tension as much as possible, sew a bit, tighten tension a bit, sew some more, etc, until you get good upper tension.

If your machine has a drop in bobbin, I have no idea how to tighten that, or even if it can be tightened.

If you load the bobbin from the front of the machine, then check the tension of the bobbin case. There are numerous you tube video's that will show you how to do that.

If all else fails, get the machine serviced. I got a Janome 1600 for a very low price several years ago and wound up giving it to my sister. She had problems like you describe. She did have a barbed needle, we changed that, but the problem didn't resolve. She took the machine in for servicing. I think that the servicing included re-setting the timing. Once the machine was clean and well timed, it worked perfectly.

Good luck.

ScubaK

Try an embroidery needle....slow down when going into a curve...
K

Tartan

I would try a different thread. I had a really pretty varigated King Tut thread that was so linty that it made a little lint ball at the needle. I snapped two needles before I finally figured out that the little lint ball was acting like a knot right at the needle. I changed out my thread and problem solved.
Do you have the larger zig zag hole plate on the machine while FMQ? If you are pulling the quilt sandwich enough to move the needle, it can skim the hole plate causing the thread to spread and break. Try to have the quilt all up on the table so there is no drag on the needle.

sewwhat85

maybe a larger needle

Barb_MO

You didn't say, are you using a free motion foot and lowering the feed dogs?

Leslie333

I have a new-ish Pfaff Performance 5.0, so essentially the same machine as yours with a few extra bells and whistles. The first time I tried to FMQ I was using sulky variegated cotton, 30 weight. The thread said to use a 90 topstitch needle. I only had a 90 quilting needle and figured that would be fine. Nope! It was shredding the thread like crazy. I went to my local store and we compared the eye on a 90 topstitch vs. quilting - huge difference! I got the 90 topstitch and it worked like magic! I've found that my new machine makes it look like I actually know what I'm doing on FMQ, so I suspect your issue is the needle and/or thread.

luana

You might try Sewer's Aid. It is a thread lubricant that really helps the thread glide through the needle.

DogHouseMom

You mention using other threads, but you were not specific. It is entirely possible that you've chosen all the threads that simply won't work for you and your machine. I've tried the Connecting Threads Essential and hated it, for the same reason - shredding (and tons of lint when it wasn't shredding). Like you, my hand speed, machine speed, needle type or size ... nothing worked. It was the thread. I traded it all away.

Have you tried any of the following threads (all of which seem to work for me): Aurifil, Mettler 60wt, Masterpiece by Superior, King Tut by Superior. I can go on and on ... I have perhaps a dozen different threads that I can use, but I CAN'T use Connecting Threads, Coats & Clark (any type), or Star.

I usually use an 80/20 needle if I'm using Aurifil 50wt, Masterpiece or Mettler 60wt, but I'll swap to a 90/10 or larger if I want to quilt with a heavier thread. At the moment I'm running Sulky 50wt rayon using an 80/20 universal and doing some very dense micro pebbles without a single break over several quilting hours.

One last suggestion ... put your quilt aside for the moment, grab some scrap fabric and batting, and test different threads and needles until you are sure you have the right combination. Once you do, test again using the SAME fabric and batting as your quilt to really make sure (practicing the same quilting pattern), then pick up your quilt again. I typically do this before I put any quilt under the machine. I never start quilting my actual quilt without testing the exact combination of thread/needle/fabric/batting/quilt pattern first.

kristijoy

I have an inexpensive brother and have only been able to get it to work with a polyester thread. Right now I'm working with a polyester embroidery thread that has a little sheen. It comes on a cone, so I have it on a cone stand. I'm using a topstitch needle which has a bigger eye. I had all kinds of problems with cotton thread, it just wasn't strong enough to handle the tension adjustment I needed to do on my inexpensive brother (I can only adjust the top tension).

I was quilting away just fine the other day when all of a sudden it wouldn't link the stitches up...big loops everywhere! Yikes! Turned out it was just the needle. Tossed that one out and a new one...presto!

I've also noticed on my Brother that it's quilting much better since I switched to a cone based thread on the cone stand. The thread comes off the cone so easily. The machine doesn't have to yank on the thread to spin the spool. I think from now on I'm sticking to these cone threads. I have a different brand: 'Isacord' (polyester embroidery thread) that I'm going to try on my next quilt.