Usually when FMQ, you have to lessen the pressure on the foot, although I don't know if that's the reason for your problems that you have.

When you do FMQ are you dropping the feed dogs? I do not think that FMQ should make the tension go wacky. Call the dealer or the manufacture of this machine for helpful hints for adjusting tension. and FMQ.

Yes, the feed dogs are down. I've looked online a lot and this is the biggest negative of the machine, but people seem to be able to work through it by making the tension tight, changing needle location (side versus center), using metal bobbins, and using new needles. I might try using a different foot and see if that helps too.

I many times have used my walking foot to do decorative stitches as the quilting...my favorite is the feather stitch, but depending on your machine, you may have many stitches that would work good for machine quilting. Maybe make a sandwich of fabric and batting and try out some of the decorative stitches that you have.

Check this out!
http://blog.petitdesignco.com/2012/1...king-foot.html

Thanks! I decided to make a small log cabin table runner this weekend just so I can use the walking foot. I'm excited to get to the quilting part!

Have noticed that some walking feet have a single hole for the needle to go through. If you want todo zigzag you will need a footplate on the walking foot with a rectangle hole for the needle to jump from side to side for a zigzag.
If doing straight stitches I was taught to go up and down in different directions same as sewing seams.