Hi, I'm new at quilting. I'm TRYING to machine quilt a baby quilt. I'm just trying to stitch in the ditch or at least go very close around the blocks. My problem is that whether I use a regular foot or even the even feed foot, the stitches come out extremely small and look really awful! When I do a test run with a small scrap of sandwich fabric they look fine. I don't get it! I have two old singers from the 70's and 80's but I don't know why that would make a difference. Please help! I'm getting so frustrated and obsessed, of course! :(

I use a walking foot or I also have a stitch in ditch foot. Just what ever feels better. Hope this helps.

it sounds like when you are on the quilt it isn't moving evenly, is it in a bind? are you holding up the weight or just letting the machine pull it through? You have to fluff it up so that it feeds through as easily as when you only have the small scrap under it.

I can't think of any reason other than your quilt is not feeding under the needle freely. Do you have pressure foot adjustment knob? It may be set too tight for an even feed, too much pressure pushing down on the quilt. It's probably an simple fix once you figure it out. :D

also try lengthening your stitches. that should help. too small of a stitch length doesn't let the quilt go through easily. good luck. :)

Are your feed dogs up?

Also check to see that your stitch length is not set on zero....I always increase my stitch length from 2.5 to 3 or more when quilting.
A friend recently called me to check out her husqvarna viking machine that was doing the same thing...we checked the usual things...threading and bobbin before noticing she had moved the knob to change the needle position and didn't have the machine set for any stitch. Sometimes it's the simplest of things that cause the problems.

I had the same exact problem. I decided it was because the quilt wasn't feeding evenly because of the weight. I got a pair of quilting gloves (or actually mine are gardening gloves) and I couldn't believe the difference. It just helps so much more to maneuver the quilt. The stitches were mostly normal after using the gloves. There are still a few places that got hung up and the stitches are small. But, it's a big improvement. I bought gardening gloves at Lowes for $2.50. They have the rubber dots on the fingers and palms. I think regular quilting gloves are lighter weight but the gardening gloves work just fine.
Hope this helps you. I know how frustrating it is when things don't go right.

I have to agree with the previous posts...
I don't think that your quilt sandwich is feeding evenly...
It is either being held down by weight or not fully supported that it can evenly feed through your machine.
Try putting something on the left side of your machine...either move your machine more to the right of the table or use a chair back or something to hold it, the weight...
And you will probably want to slow down...
I piece fast and machine quilt slow...so I can "feel" the fabric if there are any lumps or irregularities coming up with my sandwich...
Hope this helps.
K