Ok, got another question. I am practicing FMQ with some small square sandwiches and when I lower my darning foot it appears that there's not much room for the quilt to move freely. I brought one for my specific machine. I kept it up instead of lowering to see if I could still quilt but not so successful. Also I noticed on the back of the quilt instead of tight flat stitches theres loose loops around the thread not sure what I'm doing there. I set at zero, tension at about 4. Any suggestions? Thank you.

There is supposed to be a gap between the foot and the sandwich. This allows the sandwich to move freely.
Yes, the presser foots needs to be lowered, I have forgot and ended up with a mess on the back of my quilt :oops: :lol:

Bring your bobbin thread up to the top before you start quilting. Hold onto both threads while taking your first stitch or two :D:D:D

Can you post a picture of what the bobbin thread is doing? Sometimes it is easier to diagnose a problem if we can see it :D:D:D

Are the loose loops all over the back? Or just when you are starting out?

The foot has to be down so your tension will work - that's why you have loops on the back.

Does your machine drop feed dogs or have a plate to cover them? That will allow you to move the sandwich under the needle.

You didn't say what brand of machine you are using. I have a Pfaff and it has a "middle" position for the foot so that it doesn't ride on your quilt and still isn't fully up. If you have an owner's manual you might see if it gives instruction for setting up for machine quilting.

Thanks for the info. I should have metioned that yes I do bring up the bobbin thread. I have a kenmore. The feed dogs don't lower and I know it came with a cover because I looked on the box at what it came with and it said a cover but this machine was given to me some years ago and I never really used it until recent since I've discovered I love quilting. I took the advise of covering them with tape and or business card but again when I lower the foot it is very difficult to manuver the sandwich through and it bunches up as I try to gently feed it through with my hands. I will send a pic at the stiches so you can see the back. Thanks for you help. I really appriciate it.

It makes sense to have to have the foot lowered to prevent the loops in the back but having to lower the foot causes problem running sandwich through. I'm determined to get this right but need help to figure out prolem. thanks again.

One thought is that maybe your darning foot isn't on properly? I did this once.

it's on right. It's a low shank and only goes on one way with metal clasp around the shank with a screw that keeps it in place. I'll keep messin with it. I may even take a picture with foot down while quilting and have daughter take picture so you can actually see what it looks while in process of quilting. thanks. Off to church now.

Yes. Please send picture of foot.

and move your quilter slower too. too fast and you can get large stitches.

Some thoughts...

Do you have an adjustment on your machine that controls the pressure on the foot? Loosening that may help. And be sure your feed dogs are lowered. Is there a spring on your darning foot? There should be a little bar or something that likely is positioned over the screw that holds your needle in. I had to bend that part on my darning foot so that it would lift the foot higher on the upstroke so that I could easily move the quilt sandwich.

Also, how thick are your quilt sandwiches? What type and how many layers of batting are you using?

A picture of the foot would be helpful in trying to give you good advice here.

I was thinking same things as AzWendyG. Both of my machines have an adjustment for the amount of pressure of the presser foot. And to make sure that the "arm" is placed over the screw for the needle. And the degree of loft for the batting.

If the dogs do not lower and you have to put card over them then that does take up precious space to allow the sandwich to move freely. Try a thinner card or tape. "Eyelashes" are caused by moving sandwich too fast. Smaller one will disappear when washed but not the larger ones. But----- Sound like a good excuse to get new machine where the dogs drop!!!!!!!!!

I don't use the darning foot, I can't see what I am doing as well. I use the embroidery foot for my embroidery machine. It is more open. The down side is I can only use my embroidery machine for FMQ.

Does your foot "hop" up and down as you quilt? If you have a darning or quilting foot on I think it should and if it doesn't maybe it isn't the right foot or is't on correctly.

You might find this helpful. She talks about the problems you're experiencing.
http://freemotionquilting.blogspot.c...-or-speed.html

I bought a cover for my little Kenmore Jr, I think at Hancocks. It's just a little plastic gismo to cover the feeddogs that don't drop. Google the Kenmore with your model and see what you come up with. I don't use it any more since I have my Janome.

To be honest, I don't change the tension on my machine when I FMQ, I use my embroidery foot (which is probably the same as the darning foot), I don't adjust the tension, I do drop the feed dogs, and I do bring the bobbin thread up to the top.

The loops happened when your machine is going faster or slower than you are moving your fabric around. You have to find the speed that is right for you. If your machine is running at a slow pace, you must move your fabric at a slow pace. If your machine is running at a fast pace, you must move your fabric at a fast pace. Once you find your comfort level, your stitches will be even and non-loopy on the back.

To practice, I use the prequilted fabric. There's usually a piece or two really cheap in the remnant bin at the fabric store. I use contrasting thread so I can see my stitches clearly.

Ok. I took out my feed dogs and all else that is required and it appeared to be a bit better except still getting loops on bottom. I know I will have to do much practice to improve and also since I have an old machine it's probably not as forgiving as the more newer models with better features but I'll keep chuggin along. I have a couple pics I'm attaching so you can see my machine and the darning foot. Thanks again.

I had that problem the other day and I solved it adjusting the tension. Dealers don't recommed to adjust the bobbin tension but I had to because I couldn't just fix it by changing the needle tension.
If what you are showing is the back of your quilt then your needle thread tension is too loose (or your bobbin thread tension is too tight)
Before changing anything, saw a straight stich on the sandwich to see if the tension is fine, then continue trying with the darning foot and tensions.
Good luck!

Thanks, also went online and found the cover that belongs with my machine so I'm ordering that so I don't have to remove the feed dogs everytime i quilt. Also I saw a turtorial where the woman used a sewing silicone on her surface to make it more slippery and she used an extention table and sprayed that too to make it move more freely so I'm going to try that too. Just want to be able to quilt my own quilts if I can. So expensive to send off and doing straight stitch to sew together is ok but might as well learn this too for experience and fun.

The eye-lash looking loops are caused by going around the loops too fast, you either have to slow down your hand speed or increase you foot speed. You need to adjust your tension.

It is looking much better, just having issues with hand/foot speed coordination. Keep practicing, you'll get it.

Thanks for the encouragement. I will do that.

The feed dogs are not the reason for the problem you are having. You need to adjust your tension. Start with the standard tension. If your machine works fine sewing a straight line with the regular foot, switch to the darning foot and try again without changing the tension. The secret here is to sew very fast but move the fabric slowly. You will learn to achieve even stitches, but while you are learning they may not all be the same size. Is OK. It takes time. If at the same tension it doesn't work, adjust your tension little bits at a time. Make sure you have a nice sharp needle and good quality thread. With your machine I wouldn't try anything smaller than 40 wt. Fine threads don't work well on all machines.

Also, I may get in trouble for saying this, not every machine works well for FMQ. I can say this from experience. I had a Kenmore and no matter what I did I got eyelashes on the back. I had 3 different feet and sometimes I couldn't do it with one, switch feet and the other one would work well for a little bit. It was completely unpredictable. When I switched to an older Bernina I can say that I achieved good FMQ. What I am trying to say is not to put all the pressure on something you may be doing wrong. It may just be your machine.

Keep trying but don't change more thna one thing at a time, otherwise you will never know what fixed the problem.

Maride is right about it might be your machine. I have a Singer, which is now my back up machine, it will not do curvy motions, so I thought it was me, but my Janome does them and loves them. But, the practice won't hurt you. Good luck. Remember to have fun, cause that is what quilting is about.

Thanks so much for all the info. I was thinking the same thing about my machine. I know down the road I do want to get a more updated sewing machine that has more options and works better with quilting.

Marguerite,
I spent 2 hours on sunday solving this problem. In the end I adjusted the tension on the bobbin casing moving it very slightly to the left. ie if you think of a clock face one second at a time. Left because a you tube said was the way because my loops underneath. If loops on top to thwe right.
remember where the screw was when you start as a precaution in case it doesn't work.

I read somewhere on here where someone had mentioned they did the same thing. I took my bobbin area apart a little bit yesterday looking for where you adjust your bobbin tension. Not really sewing machine knowledgable but the only adjustable dials on my machine are for the stitch length and needle thread tention but bobbin tension where do I find that?

My mother and I both were having the same looping on the back problem on an intermittent basis with our new Kenmore machines. I did a search on the internet and found a site that said to be sure you thread your machine with the presser foot up. If you thread with the presser foot down, the thread does not seat in between the tension disks properly. Once we started doing this, we have not had the problem again (except when I forgot to put the presser foot down).

With that being said, I have an old Singer machine I bought in 1984. It wouldn't drop the feed dogs, but had a cover. I understand your problem with the cover in place because it was very difficult to move the quilt sandwich around on it as well. I found I could do better by not covering the feed dogs. With the hopping motion of the darning foot, I was able to move the quilt without interference from the feed dogs. It was not an ideal situation, but the only way I could use the machine for quilting.

I bought the new Kenmore machine when my old Singer finally quit and I love it. It will drop the feed dogs and has the needle up/down feature I was looking for.

I hope you get your machine working properly.

Yes I do thread my machine with presser foot up. Since I haven't used this machine in ages I think it would be wise to bring it in to get serviced and make sure everything is correct on it. I've also been looking online for a new sewing machine that has some of the features I see on some of these tutorials were the needle stops in down or up position,and feed dogs lower automatically and all but while looking I also would like one where it cuts thread when your done so you don't have to pull your quilt out and cut top and bottom threads. In the description of the machines I'm looking at how would they describe this feature? I've been reading them but it's not really clear. Thanks

you have to have the foot in the down position to sew or there is no tension on thread

The tension adjuster I used was on the bobbin holder . If you take it out of the machine. Quick clean inside. Look carefiully at the side you should find a screw with a straight slit. Turn it very carefully. Left wards for bottom loops.
Right wards for top loops.

thanks, is the screw on the right side? I saw one on that side when I took the bobbin holder out.

Marguuerite, I have a Janome, I'm not sure on yours. The side depends on where you begin.Pull out bobbin, pull out the casing case and just look and try very small steps.(screw is on the underside of casing)
I even put a quilt in a show with eyelashes. No comment made. My machine always has had the problem. I'm saving for a Bernina \Aureora 400 with a BSR (£1,490)
The BSR regulates the stitche size as you move fabric.

Thanks for advise.

What did you set at zero? Could it be the lower tension??

I know you sent this to me a while back and I don't think I view it. But did so just now and boy what a relief. I think too its the speed of my hands and feet.....just like learning a stick shift on a car. thanks again.

I have the same machine, or at least very close to it!

Mine is a Kenmore purchased in 2001, and it's 385.12312. (So one of the rebranded Janome's). If you have the same machine, or even a similar one - you SHOULD be able to drop the feed dogs. Embarrassingly enough, even though I've been sewing on it regularly for over a decade, I didn't realize it myself until recently!

If you open the cover to the bobbin case, and look on the right hand side next to the bobbin case, do you see a metal lever and some icons that look like little hills? That's the lever to drop the feeddogs. If you pull out the metal lever and shift it to the right, that'll drop the dogs....mine are a little stiff (from not using it for over a decade :roll: :lol: ) so I have to stick my finger behind the lever and give it a push to get the feed dogs to pop down. To pop the feed dogs back up, just shift the lever to the left again (you might have to stick you finger behind the lever to push on the side of the dogs). Amazing what you find out when you actually READ the manual. :oops:

Also, with my practice swatches, I would get loops like yours on the bottoms if my top tension was too loose. I can always tell if the thread tension isn't right, as the machine sounds like it's straining. I find I need a tension of 5 with the walking foot and about 4 with the darning foot, but ymmv.

One more thing.....if your machine ever starts sounding whiny or grindy, or like it's eating up the bobbin thread, it helps TONNES to take the whole bobbin casing apart, clean out all the dust/lint and rethread the whole thing. I keep trying to convince myself I 'need' a fancy new computerized machine, but it's amazing how well my little Kenmore sews if I just clean it out once in awhile - purrs just like new. I've never had it serviced either. That's the beauty of the older mechanical machines, you don't usually need a shop when you have issues.

Hope this helps!

My machine won't even work with the presser foot up. It beeps at me to lower the presser foot. What's up with that? I also have the FMQ foot that adjusts the height so it's easier to make changes when dealing with thicker quilts.

Good luck, I've seen the eyelashes on my own stuff when I started too. I adjusted the tension alot and it seemed to fix the problem. Although sometimes I get "driving" like it's race day at Daytona and have to take a deep breath and slow down a little.