I have the 6600 and found via the Janome 6600 yahoo group a couple of things that helped me greatly. I adjusted the bobbin tension just a little, I set my top tension knob at 7, use mode 1 or 2 - don't adjust stitch length at all and put pressure foot dial at 0. I set my speed at about medium and put on my fons & porter gloves! Then I FMQ - works like a charm every time! I use just regular needles, but a new one when I start quilting. I also fill several bobbins with thread before I begin to save time later.

I think your stitches look great!! You are to be congratulated!! Keep up the good work!!

Sure looks good to me. FMQ intimidates the heck out of me so have not really given it a try but one of these days I definitely am going to give it a whirl. Tks for your helpful suggestions.

Jan: Thank you for starting this thread and contributing your hard earned knowledge. I am about four months into my adventures with FM. Hope to be as far along as you in a year. I lucked out in that my machine did very well in terms of tension etc., now the thread on the bottom doesn't have the stitch definition I would like. Will try some of your trouble shooting methods. The skill I have acquired so far is a better feel for the speed of the machine vs the speed of my hands. I hope it will all come with time. My word to anyone starting out, don't be afraid, just jump right in. My first FM quilt has a lot of flaws but gave me enough encouragement to keep on going.

No matter what machine you use fmq takes practice and lots of it. Drawing your design first on paper or a dry mark board or preview plastic are all ways to get the design into your muscle memory, so when you get to your machine it comes automatically. Using a practice sandwich of a fq or 1/2 yard really does make a huge difference in what your stitches look like. I didn't do this until recently and have been fmq for 10 yrs. It DID make a difference and to the good. Plus do your trial on the practice sandwich to test your tension, types of thread, needle size, etc. If it messes up, you don't need to rip it. I've also found my machine just doesn't like some kinds of thread and no matter what I change to try to make it work, it doesn't. Eyelashing on the back is not a tension issue, usually, but not coordinating the movement of the fabric with the speed you're sewing. So in other words, you're moving the fabric too fast in relation to the speed you are stitching. I also highly suggest watching Leah Day on her website. She explains all of this plus you can watch free videos of her stitching hundreds of stitches. You can find her at daystyledesigns.com or the freemotionquilting project.com.

Looks good to me.

Great tips, and practice, practice, practice. You really should try to make a sandwich of the fabrics and batting that you are using in the quilt. Make it large enough that you can work out all the tension issues and machine related problems before you start on your quilt. Ask me how I know

The biggest reason I get nests when FMQ is because I forget to put the pressure foot down. When using what I call the FMQ foot - it's easy to forget as it doesn't sit down on the fabric even when the pressure foot is down.

I also have a Janome 6600 and I love it. I use the blue dot bobbin holder and always put a new needle in. I hardly have any problems with skipped stitches. I usually use Gutterman thread - but have used other successfully.

The quilting looks wonderful! And I love all the tips.. Sometimes while quilting, it is good to just slow down and take a breath and relax.. I always have to remind myself it is not a race to get it done..

Hi JanTX, I started on the FMQ quest about 3 months ago, I am on my second quilt, I love your pictures, you are doing great! I am not there yet but I am practicing. I love the tips you gave and will trying those too. I have an old Singer 15-91 it's working pretty well, not thread breaking or knots of thread on bottom side. Like you, I am getting some of the kinks worked out. I'm looking forward to see more of your work!! Debbie