Continuing problems with 1st attempt at machine quilting.
 

Everyone must be getting tired of my problems with trying to machine quilt for the 1st time but I have more...sigh...

[Thanks, everyone for your help. I was trying to machine quilt a single size bed quilt to give to my "honorary niece" for Christmas. After the first few seams in the ditches, there were pleats/tucks at the places where the stitching lines crossed.]

I took out all of the quilting and started again, using the advice from here including decreasing the foot pressure and upper thread tension, and did (from center out) 5 or 6 seams, some length- and some widthwise. So far so good. Then the machine made a funny noise and there were birds nests of thread on the back.

I cleaned the bobbin case and took out the seam, tried again and the same thing happened, BUT when I tested it out on my sample sandwich, it s always perfectly fine. This has happened 3 times. Each time, the sample comes out fine.

To top it al off: I decided to stop for now (so much for finishing by Christmas) and was folding the quilt when I noticed that the stitching of the very first seam looked strange. I pulled gently at a stitch and a long piece the top thread came out (like opening a feed bag).

Does anyone have any idea what is wrong? I suppose it needs servicing. It is a Janome 6600 and the place where I bought it is gone.

Well that sounds very discouraging. I didn't read your other post, but, I am sure suggestions ranged from putting in a new needle, making absolutely sure it is inserted correctly, bobbin turning in the right direction, inserted correctly, threaded correctly, start off with different bobbin and thread, etc.? since it sews okay on a small sample are you sure you are supporting the quilt itself so there is no drag? Sorry if this has all been recommended and if you have already tried all of this. Also, if it is a computerized or electronic machine, turn off, unplug, wait a minute and restart everything. I hope you can resolve it because it becomes very frustrating, speaking from personal experience. Let us know if any of it works. Good luck.

I did a lot of those things: changed the needle, rye threaded the machine and bobbin, turned off the machine. I try t support it, some is on my lap and some on a card table on my left side.

Should I try again? I suppose I will go over the whole quilt and look for more mistakes. I am getting worried that the fabric will wear out.

Why not make something smaller to practice on, say some placemats or a small size crib quilt made of whole cloth. I know this has nothing to do with the machine but I always starch and iron my backing.

Are you using a walking foot and using a 80/ 20 weight batting? They are a thinner and not as poofy weight batting. So people try and use the poly and that just won't do to machine quilt with. I am assuming that you have either pinned or tacked the quilt in enough places before quilting to keep it in place while you quilt it. Now about the needle. You should have a jeans or quilting needle in there to pierce though all those layers. And lastly, the thread you are using, is it a new quilting weight thread? Sometimes old or the wrong thread can be the culprit and cause all of the tension problems. Or something caught in the tension disks.

All the problems described above sound like they could be tension related. Are you free motion quilting or are you doing walking foot quilting?

You can get bad threadnests on the back of a quilt when fmqing if you forget to put the presser foot down because the tension discs do not engage unless the presser foot is down.

If if you are not fmqing, and your presser foot is down as it should be, then the thread nests could be a result of too loose a tension on the top, or a mis-threading.

The section where your top thread was laying along the surface and pulled out like a feed bag string sounds like too tight a tension on the top thread. Which is the opposite problem from the bird nests. Did you maybe loosen the tension after you'd quilted the first part?

Rob

Sounds like tension issues. Did you remember to put the presser foot down? The tension disks do not engage unless the foot is down. I had an FMQ instructor say that was one of the most common problems when quilting on a domestic machine. Because you often decrease the foot pressure, it may be difficult to notice you have forgotten to put the foot down. This sounds like the problem with that first seam that was just laying there.
As far as the funny noise then the bird's nest, I would bet that your thread jumped out of the takeup lever. next time this happens stop and examine your setup without changing anything. Look at the takeup lever and make sure that the thread is still in place. If it jumped & you are using a walking foot you may have to up the tension a little bit. If you are FMQ, slow down a bit.

Are you hitting multiple layers on that spot? It may be thicker in that spot and the machine has a harder time going through it, kind of like hemming jeans. Maybe you need a different sized needle?? Try a size 16. Your sample sandwich may not have the same seams, etc to go through, so that is why it is fine when you try it. One time on this board, someone mentioned bobbins going out of wack. Try a new bobbin and also check to see if your thread spool is not catching the notch (some have them) that the thread is catching on. Turn the spool so that the slot is at the right of the spool, or on the bottom. Also, sometimes, the thread on the spool is wound "funny" so that the thread does not come off the spool evenly and catches. It is so frustrating to have FMQ problems! Sometimes, just turning off the machine and walking away for a few hours does the trick!

Hope you find out the problem and can get your quilt finished.

If I even thought the machine needed servicing, I'd get that done first. Then you will have eliminated a potential reason for the issues you are dealing with. In my opinion.

Don't worry about asking for help. Everyone here loves to help!

Are you using a hopping foot or a floating foot to FMQ with?
If it's a floating foot, is it just barely touching the fabric? If it is too high, it can cause all kinds of trouble.

Sometimes my thread jumps out of the arm that goes up and down and then I get a mess, so check that your machine is threaded correctly. Also, at one point, when I first got mine, (I have the same model as the 6500), I was putting the thread where it is supposed to go when I fill a bobbin, instead of where it is supposed to go when I sew. So, check that.

Watson