Help?!? My first quilt - needle problems...
 

Hi everybody. I'm new to the site and hoping someone can help me. I have pieced together my first quilt, made my sandwhich and have started machine quilting it with my free motion foot. I'm trying my hand at the stipple stitch and did about a 4th of the quilt last night without a problem. I was actually pretty proud of myself. But...today has not went as well. So far I have broken 4 needles. I have a Singer Fashion Mate 5500 machine (nothing super fancy). I am unable to turn the feed dogs off with this machine, I can only cover them with a darning plate that came with it which is just plastic. When the needles break it seems as they though they are hitting the darning plate (judging by the sound I hear)?? I sew fine for a couple or 3 minutes and then it happens suddenly. I have double checked and my needle is in the center position and the plate is secure and correct in it's placing. I'm wondering if anyone has any input as to possible causes? I'm getting very aggrivated. :( Is it possible that I could be moving my quilt too quickly and actually bending the needle over the plate? Also... what needle size do you suggest to use for machine quilting (100% cotton and low loft polyester batting). Thank you so much for any help you might be able to give me.

the needle size is dependant on the thread being used- not the fabric being sewn-
you could easily be pulling too much- bending your needle to hit the plate- it takes some time practicing to match your hand speed and machine speed. set your quilt aside- make a practice sandwich & do a little practicing- to get into a rhythm again...what did you change today from what you were doing yesturday? what kind of needle are you using? the size of the needle needs to be right for the thread- if that wasn't right you would be having stitch quality/tension problems or thread breakage- so it is probably correct. but the type of needle may not be right for the activity- but i bet you are just pulling too much...relax- put on some music- get into a flow- practice a bit-

Foot goes fast, fabric goes slow, practice, practice. Going around curves will make the needle break if you are going to fast w/the fabric.

I would assume the darning plate you put over the feed dogs is for straight stitch, small hole?? If so, don't use it for FMQ. I took a class and the instructor said not to lower feed dogs. It went fine. I usually do lower them though but it might not be something you must do.
try doing FMQ with the feed dogs up as usual and don't use that cover plate. use your main one that hopefully has a wider opening. good luck. sometimes it's just a bad day over all.

If you didn't put in a new needle today, do so now. A dull needle is not our friend.

I agree with trying to FMQ with the feed dogs up. Some quilters have better control doing it this way, although it probably depends a lot on the machine as well. If you do this, *be sure* to set stitch length to 0 so the feed dogs don't move!

My best guess is that you are pulling enough to bend the needle. Maybe try a needle one size larger. The bigger the needle, the harder it is to bend.

pulling the fabric too fast which is bending the needle would be my guess. I had that problem when i first started practicing FMQ

Hi again everyone. Thank you sooo much for the input and suggestions. My car broke down last night (started with breaking needles and ended with car trouble...it was a bad day INDEED), and so I'm just now getting the opportunity to sit back down at my machine. I will check/try everything mentioned here and see how it goes. Thanks again!!

Hi and welcome to the board from Northern California. Love your name. Thanks for the thread as I am going to try to do some FMQ. I will pay attention to this thread and see all the suggestions. BrendaK

I agree. If you move your fabric too fast, the needle doesn't have time to completely come out of the fabric, so you catch it and deflect it. Doesn't take much. Because the needle is being pulled out of it's correct path, the needle goes down at the wrong angle and hits the plate.

That is so frustrating!
Question: have you tried sewing something straight and thin (like piecing). It would be interesting to know if the needle goes ok for that or if maybe something is actually misaligned?

You read my mind. That's the next trick I'm pulling out of my hat.

try cleaning your machine of all the lint, then try and rethread top and botton thread, then try again see if that helps.

Ok Ladies.... some progress! Straight stitching worked just fine with 2 layers of piecing. So... I took my free motion foot and modified it in a way that kept it raised just a bit higher above the fabric than it had been previously. So far... 30 minutes of quilting later... no flying needle fragments! (Although I have no doubt I have just jinxed myself.)

I had modified the foot from the beginning (as I had seen several do in tutorials in order to keep it from actually bouncing and riding too tightly against the fabric). I'm sorry I forgot to mention this earlier.

I'm wondering now that after quilting successfully for a while that first day, if maybe the height adjustment I had made settled/shifted a bit over night, losing the original placement I had set on it. Which caused me to wonder... if certain points of my sandwhich weren't quite flat enough as I quilted across them... and the extra bit of thickness caused a touch of hesitation under the foot... could I have accidentally pulled the fabric harder at that moment to keep it moving without realizing, and as a result bent the needle over the plate just a hair? I looked at my plastic darning plate again and all of the needle impacts were made just right at the edge of hole but never in the same spot.

Am I grasping at straws? I know 99% of people would just be grateful and move on, but I'm the type that wants to understand so I can hopefully avoid, or have a better chance at solving future issues. Especially since I'm new to quilting, I'll take all the information I can soak up from all of you.:o

Although I'm sure that there are 'naturals' out there, most folks need hours and hours and hours (and months) of practice to achieve consistent Free Motion Quilting (FMQ). It is normally advised to work on small practice pieces before attempting quilting a quilt. So having said this, you should consider yourself ahead of the curve. If you do a search on this board for FMQ and Free Motion Quilting, you will find lots of info. The one thing that you will quickly see is although there are lots of suggestions, it's really a matter of trial and error. Every machine and quilter are different and you need to find what works for you, and you will need lots of practice.
I would have 2 suggestions: first, if there's a place you can take a FMQ class near you, I would advise it. This is one technique that really benefits from hands on instruction.
And second, because you seem to be catching your needle in the fabric, i would see if there is a hopping foot available for your machine. This foot presses the fabric down when the stitch is made then hops up so you can move the fabric. Because there is pressure on the sandwich, the needle has a better chance to clear the fabric before the next step.

I love your avatar. I am an Arkansas Razorback (transplanted to Florida). My first large quilt was a wedding gift to my nephew. His bride graduated from U of A. I was born and raised in Arkansas and my family is all there! Hope you have a better day!

Jeanette Frantz