Originally Posted by Brendat0426

This was my first quilt and I had so much fun doing it and cant wait to start another. It was also my first attempt at FMQ and it was nerve racking at first not being able to see the lines all the time. Once I finally accepted that it was just squiggly lines that did not really have any rhyme or reason, and I just did it, it actually became really enjoyable. It was just stippling so relatively easy.

As you will see in one of the pictures on the back of the quilt there are small birds nests that i'm not sure why that happened. I could not tell on my machine when it was happening and didn't know it till the end. Also could I trim them off or will that compromise the thread and then lead it to possibly pulling out? I'm keeping it for myself so not to worried about it, but just was wanting any ideas for future ones.

Thanks for looking.

Originally Posted by lalaland

If the nests are small enough and the threads are really close together, you could pull them out from the back of the quilt until you have a long enough piece of the top and bottom thread and tie them together in a small, tight knot. Or, just pull out as few stitches as possible, clip, and resew.

Nests can be caused when you change directions while FMQ and you are not moving the fabric as fast, or as slow, as your machine speed. That same thing will also cause loops on the back of your quilt. If your machine speed is slow, your FMQ should also be slow. As you practice, you'll know if you do better at a slow, medium, or fast speed.