susanwilley

I am trying quilt a baby quilt that I need to complete in time for Christmas. It has all come together really well...until now. I have it all pieced, layered and have begun quilting. I have had no problems until now. I use a walking foot and stick to quilting around the shapes in my blocks. This quilt is a baby quilt made with baby clothes so the majority is the stretching fabric used for baby clothes. I have a few straight lines going across the quilt and I have sewed around a few of the little animals and flowers sewed on the clothes. Now, from out of no where I'm getting the birds nest on the underside of the quilt. At first it was just these little tiny loops so I stopped quilting and tried to find a solution by sewing on scraps of fabric. Now it is a blown out birds nest and I cab't figure out what to do. I'm so fustrated I can't see straight. I think this problem was discussed not to long ago but I can't find it. Just my luck! Can someone help?

donnalynett

Rethread your machine including the bobbin. Did you start with a new sharp needle? Sometimes if I move the quilt too fast I get birdsnests on the back.

jennifer winters

try cleaning the machine i would try a new needle too.i would start with these first.

susanwilley

Thanks donna and jennifer! I have tried to rethread the machine and the bobbin and cleaned the bobbin area. I'll try that again and a new needle. Maybe I am moving it too fast. Thanks again, I'm off to try again.

thepolyparrot

Birds nests on the back almost always means that there isn't enough tension on the needle thread.

First thing to check - are you lowering the presser foot? (I don't even want to guess how many times I've forgotten to do this - that hopping foot looks like it's lowered sometimes even when it isn't. If the presser foot isn't down, the upper tensioner is not engaged.)

Second thing to check - when you re-thread the machine (by the manual) make sure that the presser foot is UP. If it's down, the tension disks are pressed together, keeping the thread from seating between them correctly. This will often resolve itself, but sometimes, it won't.

valleyquiltermo

I just had that happen to me today. It was because my thread had come out of my tension so rethreading did the trick.

Sandee

Clean, rethread & check to see if maybe the tension needs adjusting.

amandasgramma

And, if that doesn't work, make sure you pull the bobbin thread up before you start sewing. You need to needle down, needle up, then pull the bobbin thread up and out. I get horrible nests if I don't do that!

Aubrey'sQuiltingCreations

When my long arm was doing this it was a tiny little lint ball in my bobbin case was the problem. Amazing how something so little can cause such a big mess.

quiltingcandy

Are you using a domestic sewing machine or a Long Arm?
When that happens to me, it means I have put my bobbin thread in the wrong direction. But I only have a domestic sewing machine. My Janome (a 6600P) was very bad about it, but my 60 year old Singer 15-91 was not as bad - but it was enough to make me say mean things to my machine.