marshaKay

The good news is, that those stitches will be super easy to remove. Clip every 5-7 stitches and just pull from the front. Always look for the silver lining. Learning from your mistakes, almost makes the struggles worth it. Good luck with your next attempt. I'm sure it will be lots better. Shine and sparkle all day today!

ManiacQuilter2

Whenever I changed thread, I always check out the tension on a test sandwich. If my Bernina did this, which it does occasionally do, I just take the top thread off and then carefully re-threaded it. Always test out before you start quilting. It may take a little extra time, but then you know for sure that you won't need Mr Ripper.

Onebyone

I remember how I felt when I saw this on the backside of my quilt and it was from a quilt shop that did machine quilting! Her excuse was she changed bobbins and didn't check the underneath afterwards. She was very casual about it, said it happens all the time, no big deal and she was upset that I was mad at her not that she messed up. It took me a long time to trust any other LA.

Karamarie

I always have a bobbin genie under my bobbin. That stops the bobbin from spinning when you go around corners fast.

Onebyone

I use bobbin genies for all sewing. I never have bird nests.

Lady Diana

If your tension is ok on straight stitching, THEN DON'T MESS WITH YOUR TENSION. When you get "eyelashes", you are moving too fast, so either slow down with your hand movement or speed up your machine. You are moving faster than your machine can lock the stitches. Also, you need to be using a 90/14 topstitch needle. It has a larger eye and makes a little larger hole, so your threads lock better. DID I SAY, DON'T MESS WITH THE TENSION....Remember, if you tension is OK straight stitching....your tension is fine. These are all things I learned in a Free Motion Bootcamp. That was fun! Best wishes...and don't fret, you will get there. Try some practice pieces. You will do fine.

jillmc

Please don't give up! I had stitches like that when I started-mine were from moving the fabric too fast. I was watching YouTube videos, and did not realize most of the videos were "sped up" and narrated....I thought I was supposed to put my petal to the metal! When I slowed WAY down, my stitches improved. And be sure that your quilt sandwich is never caught on a corner of your machine bed-that makes for tiny stitches in my experience. And, yes, when you first try to FMQ a "real" quilt, it feels much different than on a practice sample. Just be sure to puddle up the small area under your needle and relax and enjoy! You have gotten some great tips here....now go practice!

Editne other thing that really helped me was quilting gloves. I purchased Machingers, wore them out, and now I use gardening gloves-anything that has some grip on the fingertips.

Bree123

With FMQ you just quilt a small area, stop the machine, then re-position your hands. The number I hear most often is it takes 8 hours of practice to feel somewhat comfortable with FMQ. I didn't have much money for fabric so I re-did that practice sandwich maybe 7-8x, grabbed some old flannel pj's that I cut up to make a changing pad for my nephew that gave me some more practice & then went to work on my niece's crib quilt. That first quilt was a lot of work, but by the time I finished it, I felt pretty comfortable with FMQ. There's nothing wrong with straight line stitching -- it truly is beautiful in its own right. But if you can get in the practice (an hour a day for a week, or 20 minutes a day for 21 days, or one marathon weekend), I promise it really does get easier.

klswift

The best advise being given is to take a picture of your current settings before you start adjusting. You think you will remember, but after playing for awhile, it will all be jumbled. But, I agree with the others in try slowing down just a tad.

rryder

[QUOTE=kellyer21;7514901]I'm a little confused. My bobbin is a drop-in, no bobbin case. Am I missing something?[/QUOTE


when you open the bobbin compartment to drop your bobbin in there is a black dish like thing you drop it into. That is the equivalent of a bobbin case. You need to remove it periodically to clean the lint out that gets packed under it or you will start to have all kinds of problems. There are a couple of pages toward the very end of your manual that show how to remove it and also how to put it back in correctly.

When you remove it you'll see that there are two screws on the side. One has a Phillips head and is probably painted green. The other has a slotted head. At the moment I can't remember which one it is that you use to Chang ether tension. But that is what I was talking about when I mentioned buying a second bobbin case. But that's not something you need to worry with at the moment.


Rob