What am I doing wrong
 

Sat down to meander a quilt today on my domestic and couldn't get my machine to free motion. Everything was set up correctly, new needle, tension was lowered to lowest setting, feed dogs dropped, and using Onmi thread. About the fifth bump the thread would break each time. Changed needles again...still happened. Was I going to slow? Maybe too fast? What do you do? Finally gave up and ripped that out and did a slightly wavy uneven straight line. Deffinately not what I wanted to do. I know they say to practice, practice, practice, but I've been doing this for a couple years now, and I'm completely stumped. Help!

I've found that most of the problems I have when doing FMQ are related to movement. Moving too fast, too slow, uneven speed (especially when doing curves) can all cause bad stitches and thread breaks. I have the best luck on my Juki with Glide thread.

One thing you didn't mention is doing the whole unthread and rethread and then taking the bobbin casing out and the bobbin out of the casing and re doing that. Sometimes something very small can cause a problem.

Another important thing. If your presser foot isn't close enough to the fabric and the fabric 'jumps' slightly as the needle goes in and out, it can cause missed stitches and thread breakage.

My single hole ( straight stitch) stitch plate had a tiny metal bur causing my thread to break.
A machine repair tech found the bur and removed it by using extra fine sand paper.

I just took a class on domestic FMQ and of course, this happened to one of the participants. The instructor recommended a thorough machine cleaning and to then set everything back to straight stitching. Check to make sure the machine is working properly using the straight stitch and then set up for FMQ again. The learning process is already challenging enough without machine challenges.

Is your spool of thread horizontal or vertical? I had similar problem when the spool was horizontal. As soon as I put it on a thread stand so that it was vertical and everything worked properly.

Machines sure seem to act like a toddler, no reason for doing something they just do it. My old Juki froze up, wouldn't move at all, the handwheel stuck solid. I put it away for a long time. I had a new one to use. I got it out and low and behold it sewed just fine. I absolutely did nothing to it, same thread, bobbin, settings, and needle as when it froze up. I gave it to a friend, and she is still sewing with it.

Also make sure your quilt is fully supported on the table, if it pulls down away from the machine and drags, the thread will break. Is your machine set down into a flat surface?

I find I get the most breakage when my foot is not close enough to the quilt top.
Also, and you may already do this, if your machine has a speed control set that at a comfortable speed so that you can put your pedal right down and then only concentrate on how quickly your hands are moving. And, you don't have to go really fast.
Watson

my Juki 2010 started acting up the last couple days and I realized she hasn't been oiled in way too long (hides eyes in embarrassment) so maybe a thorough clean out and oil?