According to what I read online they recommend using an 80/12 Sharp Microtek Needle.

Check the reference guide here.

https://vw-superiorthreads.storage.g...ence-guide.pdf

It looks like the thread you have is 50 wt-cotton. The chart recommends Top-stitch needles.

Just to add a little to what Rhonda said- even though you are using a denim needle, due to the denim fabric and it is a large needle, I think you need to use a needle that is labelled "quilting" needle. I believe you would be better off with a 90/14 quilting needle or the top-stitch needle. If you look on line you can find diagrams of the different needles and how different the shapes are and why one works better than another for different applications.

You guys are amazing. I will def check these things. Always an adventure!

You may have a burr in the eye of the needle. I've done that after using an old needle thru the eye of a new needle to be assured of getting the new needle in straight, not realizing I was putting a burr in the hole doing this.

Hmm I’ve never heard of that. I’ll check it out.

So it is evidently Rowan 100% cotton thread. My machine now wouldn’t do fmq at all, only straight stitch. I switched to 100% polyester thread and that works. It’s just so odd. 2 hours playing around with this. I think it’s time for chocolate.

Re-check the machine settings between fmq and regular stitching. What is the main screen set on for stitching? Are you in the sewing or quilting settings for stitches. Certain stitches are locked out according to machine settings. Check in the manual to see if the machine settings are correct for the type of sewing/quilting you want to do.

Do you have a "lock" button on the screen? This can be accidentally pressed and it will lock into that stitch setting.

I don't know your exact machine but have other brother machines. Hope that helps!

I have a Brother Nouvelle 1500, totally manual machine. It would not even form a stitch at all unless it was a straight stitch. I had this problem previously with it and somehow I got it to work but this time to no avail. And it was still a little funny in the beginning but after I started doing fmq with it, it picked up. But initially still wouldn’t form a stitch right off the bat. Really crazy.

Are the feed dogs Up or Down? Can you turn the hand-wheel?