mugirl113

I have a drop in bobbin and have never had any problems. My machine is a simple Brother machine...I drop the feed dogs...set my tension to about 7...almost the max...and pull up the bobbin thread before I start stitching. I also set my stitch length as low as it will go...which is only .2 on my machine. I don't even need to check the back of my quilts anymore because doing these few things always work. Once I started pulling up the threads and tightening the top tension, all my eyelashes and pulling on the back went away. Works no matter how fast or how slow I go. I have never touched my bobbin tension.

Oh, and I use a size 14 needle. Since I sew kind of fast, it helps keep up.

Good Luck! I hope you get it figured out!

Holice

This post hit a discord with me. Teachers are not sewing machine repair people. We might know our own brand of machine but do not know others. Contact the teacher before the class and ask if he or she might be able to help you with the problem and then make an appointment outside the class. Please don't take up class time trying to correct the problem. Take the machine to class that works for you. Also the one you will be doing FMQ on at home.
Another thing.....don't bring to class the Featherweight or little Jamone Gem..... You can't successfully learn on these little machines. Now what I just said has been my experience teaching many FMQ classes. Some people may be able to machine quilt their King size quilt on a featherweight but I can't.
Several years ago I was getting ready to teach my first FMQ class and called a friend from whom I had taken a class I asked her what she meant in the description by the statement "know your machine" and she said "you will find out". I did find out because two students picked up their new machine on the way to class which they opened up the first time and another student brought an off brand machine that her husband had bought her to use when at the summer cabin. Her's never worked and she kept saying "I hate these machines" . It just took up class time and denied the other students my full attention. So, my point is........get to class with the machine you know how to use and will be using at home.
I hope you will forgive my ranting this morning, but this subject just hit me the wrong way.

paulina

Those loops are often not a tension issue at all. It is frequently due to moving the fabric too fast with your hands.

CorgiNole

Might be a silly question - did you remember to put your presser foot down? First time I tried FMQ I ended up with a very impressive nest on the back when I didn't drop the presser foot.

Cheers, K

CorgiNole

I took the "Know your machine" class at our LQS. In spite of the description requiring that machines be in good working order, at least one was DOA and wasted a lot of time with the teacher. While I probably could have skipped the class as it turned out I knew my machine pretty well, I did learn some tips about cleaning and maintaining that are very valuable. I would have been very upset if someone unboxed a new machine in the beginning quilting class that has the the KYM class as a pre-req.

Cheers, K

Doreen

Some excellent advise on knowing your machine. We had some ladies not even knowing how to thread their machine! I try to read everything before I start.

MaggieBB

[quote=Holice]This post hit a discord with me. Teachers are not sewing machine repair people. We might know our own brand of machine but do not know others. Contact the teacher before the class and ask if he or she might be able to help you with the problem and then make an appointment outside the class. Please don't take up class time trying to correct the problem. Take the machine to class that works for you. Also the one you will be doing FMQ on at home.
Another thing.....don't bring to class the Featherweight or little Jamone Gem..... You can't successfully learn on these little machines. Now what I just said has been my experience teaching many FMQ classes. Some people may be able to machine quilt their King size quilt on a featherweight but I can't.
Several years ago I was getting ready to teach my first FMQ class and called a friend from whom I had taken a class I asked her what she meant in the description by the statement "know your machine" and she said "you will find out". I did find out because two students picked up their new machine on the way to class which they opened up the first time and another student brought an off brand machine that her husband had bought her to use when at the summer cabin. Her's never worked and she kept saying "I hate these machines" . It just took up class time and denied the other students my full attention. So, my point is........get to class with the machine you know how to use and will be using at home.
I hope you will forgive my ranting this morning, but this subject just hit me the wrong way.[/quote
Sorry to upset,Just looking for a little help. No class in progress, do it yourselfer. Thanks all for the helpful advice. will be trying some of these the next few days. Have had machine since 2004 and use it almsost daily for regular sewing.

sewmary

That was my problem. sped up the foot and slowed down the hand and got it.

sewmary

I use a regular old foot and that works the best for me. I learned to lower the pressure on the foot to 0, stitich length 0, feed dogs up, open toed foot to see where you are going and you're off! I finally found the control I could never get with a darning foot and no feed dogs.