juliasb

I was quilting along on a quilt this morning doing some feathering. When all of the sudden the tension blew up on the quilt and I had birdsnest beyond big on the underside of the quilt. Of course I stopped, tore out the mess and that took a good half hour or more. Then went to the machine and made some adjustment and got a nice straight stitch perfect straight line stitching. So I went back to the quilt and started again. Within minutes there was a 'pull' and when I looked again at the underside for a second time it was the largest birds nest I have ever seen. I went through the same clean up of the quilt removing the entire birdsnest and checked out the straight stitching again. It was perfect! For a third time I started again and the same thing happened when I started with my first curve. This time I pulled it all out and stopped! I checked again and there is perfect straight stitching no problem at all. So now I come to you all and am asking does this happen to any one else? Is it something I am doing wrong? Is the machine broken. Is this normal with some FMQ? Do I need to just put it aside for the rest of the day and just stop wigging out? This is so frustrating. Not the quilty day I was hoping for. Any help to fix this problem will be helpful.

Tartan

I would give the machine a good clean. I would floss my tension discs and clean and put a drop of oil in my bobbin case if your machine allows that. I would check the thread path going to my tension discs to make sure the thread is not catching on anything. What kind of spool of thread are you using? When I use a cone of thread behind my machine, it occasionally will wrap around the extra spool pin on my machine causing a mess. Stacked thread on a spool likes to feed from an upright spool holder and cross wound thread likes to be on a horizontal thread holder.

Irishrose2

I had that happen with the quilt on my machine now. Neither of my favorite FMQ machines could handle the thread I am using. Switched out the machine and so far, so good. I don't want to switch to a heavier thread because it won't match the sections that are done.

juliasb

I just switched out the Janome for a Brothers and so far so go. I have been playing with different machines on this quilt and was just so shocked when this happened. The Janome has always been a work horse. I am using the Glide thread that I usually use with out a problem, It looks like I will try something else with that machine, but not on this quilt.

juliasb

I just finished taking a break to do the things you mentioned. I cleaned the machine and oiled it in all places that would allow oil. I checked for threads that might be caught in the bobbin area. I am using a spool holder with an extension post that is as high as the machine for the thread to glide easily into the machine. I am using a cone thread and am careful to have the cone turned so the thread feed off the cone closest to the machine in an attempt to prevent any pulling from the spool. All of your suggestions are great and I am doing them all.

Iceblossom

Some days just don't go well... the other thing I'd look at if you continue to have problems is if you have to adjust the foot height. With my friend's set up we had to move the foot depending on whether we were using her warm and natural or my poly bolt, and sometimes the foot would just slip a bit. As I recall, with that set up a dime was supposed to be able to move freely under the foot at normal setting.

And keep in mind that even a brand new needle can have a flaw in it, so if you have yet another problem, I'd do a complete rethreading, new needle, and maybe try a different bobbin too.

Tartan

Tye only other thing I can think of is, check your manual to make sure the bobbin is going into the bobbin case in the right position for the thread to come out. I switch between machines and sometimes need to refresh my memory on which bobbin feeds which way.

Gay

I would also check the bobbin casing for anything that might catch the thread. Had a similar problem last week, slept on it and next morning took the plastic casing out & found a needle hole on the edge, which prevented the bobbin working properly but kept catching the top thread. A nail emery board & lots of filing did the trick.

sewingpup

don't know if you are using a long-arm or a sit-down....but all the suggestions are good.....also needles flex some and sometimes when doing curves you may be having some of this needle flex as the quilt is moved...solutions to that could be a larger needle or slowing down …...I did have a big problem with the occasional huge bird's nest with my new Bernina….finally took lots of pictures when it happened and then left the bird's nest in place and took the machine to the shop.....the tech was there and looked at the pictures and said it was very helpful as was leaving the bird's nest in place....it only was happening occasionally....turns out the timing was ever so slightly off so when the stars aligned and the wind blow from the right direction....a bird's nest happened...good luck!

rryder

I have had that happen when I forgot to lower the presser foot while FMQ which means that there is no tension on the top thread.

Rob