Quiltingboard Forums - FMQ Issues - What am I doing wrong?

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Mine did that when I threaded the bobbin wrong!

Quote:

Originally Posted by komammy

Being fairly new I have never heard of the bobbin buddies. Will they work in a drop in bobbin case? I have just tried FMQ and it is hard to get the feet and hands working together. Any hints will be greatly appreciated

Good question I have been wondering what these are as well and I have a few quilting years behind me.

Looks to me like you forgot to put the presser foot back down. When lifted, it releases the tension disks. You have too much top thread coming through to the bottom, giving you the loops.

My machine does that when I forget to lower the FMQ foot. Since the foot never goes completely down anyway it's hard to tell by looking. If it's not down, the tension disks don't engage to control the upper thread. I'm getting to where I check the lever several times when I start the motor running.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sunnie

I brooded about this all day and I am still puzzled. I had some issues earlier while trying to FMQ this quilt so I changed the needle (twice) adjusted the tension and tested on a scrap. The machine then worked just fine for more than 1/2 of the quilt. So last night when I started to finish it I sewed about 10" and flipped the quilt to see how it looked. It was fine so I went ahead and finished it off. Then when I flipped to the backing I found several areas full of loops. A bunch of loops then it would be fine...then more loops and more fine. What am I doing wrong?

Sunny, I am so glad you brought this up. I'm having the same trouble & seems no matter how hard I try I still have trouble with FMQ. I'm working on a quilt right now that I'm dreading. I even dreamed about FMQ last night & was working through a pattern. Your question has brought out some great responses I have to try now.
I'm still having trouble getting the reason for the washers.
Controlling my speed both in moving the quilt & my foot are big problems for me.
Thanks for the question & everybody's replies.

bad sewing on the bottom means something is wrong with the top thread. Rethread you machine first and that will probably solve the problem. When I go too fast my thread slips out of where it should be and starts stitching bad.

Another suggestion would be to set your machine to sew slow speed and not move your fabric too quickly.

I'm bookmarking this section in case it happens to me again. Thank you all for your input. Getting new titanium needles and some bobbin washers too!

Check out the Superior Threads website: superiorthreads.com. There are free videos on the site from Bob, the "Threadologist" that have many helpful hints about threads, needles, tension problems, etc. I've learned a lot from them and free, too!

It looks like you don't have the same thread in the bobbin as you do the top. If that is the case it will look like that. Especially if your machine is a Singer. They are known for that. Sorry.