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?

Maybe your speed? Either the machines speed or your speed moving the quilt?

Too fast? or just that I change speed as I move the quilt or step on the pedal?

What kind of machine are you using?

Last night, I practiced free motion quilting....LOL at myself...it is not a pretty sight. But I am getting better. I think, but could be wrong, that the loops are formed when we are moving our fabric to quickly. Because, I have the same exact problem. Will be watching this to see what other, more experienced, quilters have to say.

It may be that you change directions too quickly or need to try "bobbin washers". They reduce the backlash of bobbins that make thread nests. http://www.keepsakequilting.com/productdetail/8248.htm

piney

Could it be needing to be dusted out. Too much lint or scraps in the works?

It's a BabyLock Quest Plus.

I clean frequently and used canned air.

Please please don't use canned air to clean your machine! First of all, there is a certain amount of moisture which you don't want inside your machine and secondly, it can actually force lint further inside. Use a vacumn instead.

Leah Day (an awesome FM quilter) says to FMQ with your feed dogs up and the stitch length at 0. She feels the gearing on machines changes when the feed dogs are dropped. Try her idea. She also says using the Genie Magic Bobin Washers is helpful.

Are you using the cover plate with the straight stitch little hole or a zig-zag cover plate with the wide hole? My machines must have the little hole plate or the plate that covers the feed dogs.

My machine was doing the same thing when I used monfilament poly thread on the top. It's fine when I use the same thread top and bottom.

I just looked closely (I was afraid to earlier) and the loops are coming from the top to the backing. Would the Bobbin Washers help that? I'm willing to try anything and I'm starting a shop hop tomorrow so I may be able to find them.

I have the same thread top and bottom.

I'm sure getting my exercise jumping up and going to my sewing room to check all these things.

I have the zig-zag cover plate on. When I get brave again I will switch it and try again.

I did read this here on the board a while ago and I did leave the feed dogs up. It definitely works better so I believe she is right. I think I will have to find those washers.

It looks like the loops are on curves. If this is the case, you need to slow down on the curves. Don't slow down the machine speed, slow down your hand movement.

When I first started to do free motion quilting it was really hard for me to keep the speed of the machine consistent. The more I concentrated on the moving of the quilt that old foot would go to the metal. I think it just takes a lot of time to get the speed of machine going smoothly and moving of the fabric will follow. You might need to just keep practicing. You can fill up a practice sandwich, then change the color of thread on the top and go over it again, that way you can see if you are improving on that pass.
On of the big problems I had at first was also I would forget to put my presser foot down before I started.

If your problem is on the bottom, check your tension on the top and vice-versa. Always look in the opposite direction of the problem. If you are moving too fast, generally it will show up as a broken thread or needle. The little washers are great but the metallic needles are a gift from heaven.

If you have trouble keeping your machine running at an even speed move your speed selecter until you can push the foot pedal clear down and your speed is within your comfort zone. That way you can put the pedal to the metal without having a runaway!

Are those the titanium needles?

Good idea...thanks

pedal to the metal, and slow down moving the quilt, specially around curves

You can get the bobbin washers on Leah Day's site.

You can get the bobbin washers on Leah Day's site.

This is weird...I just had the same problem, in fact I just decided that it was time to quit for the night because i figured a new start tomorrow would be better. But oddly, I had quilted most of the quilt with no problem and got to the border and then had nothing but trouble. We will see how things go in the morning!

You also just gotta learn to listen to the machine. Often with me the threading went awry for whatever reason and I didn't know it and got far into it before I realized it.

Now I know if it has a hiccup and I'll stop and re-thread before it gets out of control. A little frustrating, but after a while it stopped happening.

I'm not sure about the BabyLock modern machines, but with FMQ, my vintage machines all seem to do better at not looping on the back if I lean toward heavier tension on the needle thread, rather than on the bobbin.

The Magic Genie Bobbin Washers really are the bomb for the little tiny "nests" you can get on the backside of your quilts, (I LOVE them and won't FMQ without them in a vertical bobbin machine!) but they don't actually do much for the loops - those loops are a tension imbalance issue.

I would first try nudging the tension up (even way up) until the bobbin thread starts popping up to the top side, then back it down slowly, a tiny bit at a time until that isn't noticeable. If you're getting an acceptable appearance on the front and the back, the threads are twisting in between the top and bottom fabrics, which is just what you want.

Maybe leaving the feed dogs up and setting your stitch length to neutral or "0" is what it takes for that machine.

You're doing just fine, though and you're going to be surprised at how fast you catch on and go with this. It's so much fun! Congratulations for giving it a try! :)

Hmmm, you have a new one on me, sorry.

piney

A very big THANKS to all of you for the suggestions. I'm off to the local shop hop tomorrow morning...searching for bobbin washers among other things. If I don't wear myself out I will give your suggestions a try tomorrow afternoon or Sunday.

And also thanks for your encouragement as I try something new.

I agree!

I tried the bobbin washer but then my bobbin wouldn't fit! I don't know if it's because it's a drop in bobbin or what!!

This happened to me too. Will be watching this to see what other, more experienced, quilters have to say.

if you want to try one of those needles i would be more than happy to send you one. save buying a pack and paying shipping charges.

It looks like two issues to me:
Top tension may be too loose and a purchase of a single hole plate for the machine would help with the quality of the stitch.

Hi Sunnie, just wanted to add that I had this problem with FMQ. I got so frustrated I solved it the expensive way....I bought a long arm. BTW I am in Glenmoore, just a short hop from Morgantown. Two of my sons live in Elverson.

That is too funny. But not an option here as even if I could afford a LA there is absolutely no space for it.

Yes, you are close. We should meet up some day.

Couple of things i found: The area over the feeddogs has to be absolutely smooth. If there was any gap (for example between the plate and the bed) the quilt will catch and cause the stitches to go nuts. I think there are vinyl covers that you can buy for FMQ (there's a thread on the forum somewhere...)And interestingly enough although I did not quite go the route of Grann of 6, I did buy a mid arm BabyLock Quilters Pro. The difference between FMQ on that vs my Bernina was night and day.

Hi...try keeping the feed dogs up.....has transformed the apperance of my FMQ...