Free Motion Quilting with a Singer Touch & Sew 648
 

Hello all. I am a new member to the QB, and excited to be here. My question is about free motion quilting with the T&S 648. I recently obtained the machine which seems to work fine. I was hoping I could use it to quilt with. I ordered a free motion foot for it, but have not been able to get a stitch - I have put the pressure foot option on "darn". Also tried the feed dog option on "darn". And every other which way. However the bobbin thread does not draw up and no stitch is made. I noticed when I ordered the foot that there was a cover plate available for the feed dog area, so I am wondering if I should order the cover plate. Do any of you quilt with this machine, and if so do you have any tips? I'd be eternally grateful! Thank you.

Have you tried threading the machine? Sometimes this helps. Good luck and welcome to the board. Gina

I own one but haven't tried it yet. I don't own a free motion foot but will put together a test piece and see what happens.
Rodney

Alright, I couldn't find my batting. I don't remember exactly where I put it. My cloth storage system is a series of small boxes and it isn't working now that I'm getting a small stash built up.
I tried 2 layers and 4 layers of folded cotton and it sewed with both settings in "DARN" position. It did better with 4 layers, the tension was way too loose with just 2 layers.
I also just started sewing. I didn't try pulling the bobbin thread to the top or anything like that.
If the end of your bobbin thread is down inside your machine hold the end of your needle thread and turn your handwheel manually to pick up the bobbin thread. When the needle brings it to the top use something small to pull the bobbin thread out. Once your bobbin thread is threaded correctly you should be able to start sewing. Work with a test sample first to get a feel for it and to get things adjusted correctly.
I hope this helps,
Rodney

If you don't have a manual you can download one free from here. http://www.singerco.com/accessories/...manuals/search
I'm actually pretty impressed with the level of support Singer offers for their older machines.
I also forgot to tell you welcome to the site.
Rodney

I would like to thank Rodney for the information on the Singer website. I had a question and was able to get it answered with no problem by going to the site. You are so right. Singer machines may not be that great any more but the old ones are truly wonderful.

I formerly worked with Singer machines and I do not remember any particular problems with darning with the T&S. However, when I do FMQ now I have been told not to cover the feed dogs but to put the stitch length to zero. Works well on the newer machines and I don't see why it would not work on the T&S. You might try it. Just put everything else back to normal and change the stitch length to zero. Hope this helps.

The first thing I would want to know is if the machine sews properly before you set it up to FMQ. Sometimes it will seem fine in straight stitch, but if you do one of the decorative stitches, it will start skipping stitches on one side.

Which Darning foot did you purchase? I have one darning foot for my 301 that skips stitches like crazy. I didn't think it was possible for it to be the foot, but sure enough with nothing else changed, I put the original darning foot back on and no more skipped stitches.

Also, the best setup for a lot of machines is with the stitch length a 0, feed dogs up, like redbreast mentions. Leah Day quilts this way, and feels that it gives her a better stitch.

Now, the 648 is a slant shank, top load bobbin. This can be a challenging set up for FMQ. I'm not going to say it's impossible, because I can FMQ on a 411G or a 431G which is a similar set up, but it's not as beginner friendly as say a 301 or a model 15.

When you're starting to do FMQ, make sure that you bring your bobbin thread up to the top of the quilt, so that you don't sew the bobbin thread into the back of your quilt.

You are putting the presser foot down, right? Sometimes it's the easy stuff that bites you in the butt.