I've lowered the tension.. then lowered it more... it's down past the 1. It definitely breaks less now that I've lowered the tension, but it still breaks occasionally. And the tension seems more finicky with the non-hopping foot than the hopping one, it just doesn't look quite right every time I sit down and I have to play with it a little. Maybe it's just the nature of the non-hopping foot, I was just curious because I haven't heard other people having the same problem with it.

When using a floating foot like the Janome fmq foot for ruler work, I've found that I need to sometimes adjust the height of the foot so it is just skimming or hovering slightly over the fabric. If it's too high off the fabric it can allow the fabric to move up some with the motion of the needle, that can cause stitch formation problems, particularly skipped stitches, it's possible that that could also contribute to thread breakage. Try using the thumb screw that is on the Janome foot to lower it a bit and see if that helps with the problem. You might also want to move to a larger needle when FMQ--Sometimes on my PQ1500s I've noticed that even if a needle seems to be correctly matched to the thread (thread the needle and see if it will easily slide along the thread) I still need to go to a larger size needle when FMQ--I think this has to do with the combination of thread and fabric.

I go back and forth between using my hopping foot and the Janome FMQ foot on my PQ1500s depending on what I'm doing. They each work better at some things than others for me.

Rob

I have the Juki 2200 QVP ... my foot does not hop.

I remember after I bought the machine I viewed Leah Day's video and one of the first things she mentioned was the hopping foot. (an aside ... I never did understand her aversion to hopping feet - My Janome and Husky both hop and they have never bothered me). I thought ... wait ... does my foot hop? So off I went to the sewing room and nope ... my foot does not hop.

I wonder if they modified the machine at some point? Or do I have a weirdo??

One other possibility you might want to check out is if there is a tiny burr somewhere in the bobbin area or around the needle hole. If there is, the thread may hit that burr more with one foot than with the other, causing shredding and breakage. If there is a burr, usually it will buff out with some fine emery cloth. Try feeling around the needle hole with your finger, and also around the bobbin case and hook.

I don't know anything about Juki's but I know plenty about thread breaking & the frustration that comes with it. Have you tried a different size needle? Maybe a bigger size? I found that usually does the trick for me anyways. Good luck!

Are you using a top stitch needle? That solved my problem with thread breakage.

Listen to your machine. At times I have problems with the thread breaking. I find that when this happens I am doing something to cause it to happen. I think I am moving the fabric too fast or too slow for the speed of the machine. I can tell by the sound that it is going to break. Wheather I am doing FMQ or ruler work I know the instant before it happens but not in time to stop the breakage. Very frustrating.

Hi Cheryl, I’m just getting started with fmq and I have your Exact Same problem. I hacked the Juki foot, raised the presser foot tension, spent hours trying to get the correct thread tension. But I still have skipped stitches and difficulty with the tension. Both Leah Day and Christina Cameli use floating feet on their Juki’s so I know it’s more than possible. Did you ever find a solution to this problem?

I use the hopping foot on my Juki with no problem and it FMQ beautifully, have you disengaged the feed dogs? I use a microtex top stitch needle size 14.

Non-hopping foot. Be sure the foot is quite close to your fabric.

Watson