Free motion quilting

[Cpbooks2]

Uugghhhh i need help! Every time i try to do free motion quilting the back of the quilt has ugly loose stitches with loops and their long i dont know what im doing wrong please help...

[bubba]

Make small sandwiches and practice, practice, practice!! I would also check your tension because clearly, something is not set correctly.

[Sondra]

Thread tension on top thread is too tight, and you are pushing fabric too fast for needle speed. Practice. Also Leah Day has wonderful FMQ advice and designs on YouTube and her website.

[auntiemern]

I would have to agree with Sondra. Best rule of thumb is your hands need to go slower than the machine. And much slower around curves. Practice, practice, practice, then practice some more. It isn't as easy as the experts make it look. Also welcome to the forum.

[JCY]

The kind of thread you're using could make a difference, too. My preference is King Tut by Superior. Make sure you're using a new Top Stitch 90-14 needle. (I change my needle after every quilt project.) You might want to consider taking a class (in person) with hands-on help. There are a lot of very helpful books out there, too. I agree, the secret is practice! Make several practice sandwiches ~12 x 12" or even a little bigger. Use the Machingers quilting gloves. Drop the feed dogs.

BOOKS: Free-Motion Quilting Made Easy, by Eva A. Larkin, Guide to Machine Quilting, by Diane Gaudynski, & Free-Motion Quilting, by Angela Walters were the most helpful books for me. They'll be cheaper from Amazon than your LQS. The Leah Day tutorials on YouTube also are very helpful. Keep trying. Good luck! JCY

[nyscpa2be]

Also, make sure your presser foot is down. When I was trying to FMQ on my Brother, I would often forget to lower it, and would get the rats nest on the back.

[CarrieA]

When I did my first one I had to use scrap fabric and mess with the tension a bunch before it looked right. Also be sure you lower your feed dogs. My machine has a free motion quilting foot that won't work properly if your feed dogs are up.

Good luck! It's frustrating I know, but I've done a few now and while I still have random issues pop up I have worked out most of the problems. Also a good tip is to remember to write down your tension settings, stitch length settings ect. so when you come back to do another one you already have a good set point.

[auntiemern]

Make sure your stitch length is set to 0 too. Once the length is set it doesn't really matter if the feed dogs are up or down.

[coffeebreak]

Practice first always...but...from what you say...rethread the top thread. I swear my Singer does this so often...that I will thread it and then do a practice swatch just to be sure. 9 times out of 10 I get those little loops on the bottom. I finally (after MUCH work and frustration!) learned, to always do test first as it will almost always be just a thread problem! Un thread completely and then rethread and try the test again. I have found..it works out every time!

[coffeebreak]

And also, if the stitches are "right" but just pulled to make the looseness on the bottom, that means you are moving the quilt to fast for the speed of the needle. Slow your hands down. It is odd as with the needle going so fast..your mentality is to "keep up" with the speed you hear, but work at it, and you'll be able to tune out the needle speed and get your hands going the right speed.