PenneB

Hi All--I have a "new to me" Pfaff Quilt Expression 720. I'm told it has about 6 months use prior to me so relatively new. After exploring all the various stitches and functions I decided to try some straight stitch quilting on a baby quilt. Pieced with Art Gallery fabric, Warm and White batting and Art Gallery fabric backing. I made a new bobbin (using the Pfaff bobbin) with my King Tut 40 wt thread, inserted a new 90/14 needle and took off--only to have skipped stitches immediately within the first 3 inches of sewing! I've completely rethreaded the machine multiple times and changed the needle thinking maybe I had an imperfect one out of the package, lowered the foot pressure--all with the same results. It sews beautifully on two pieces of fabric with no batting. So it either doesn't like my quilt sandwich or this operator has alot of error! Any and all thoughts appreciated!!

Peckish

Try a 16 needle. Most of the time this worked for me, when I was quilting on my DSM.
Another thought is you will get skipped stitches if you're moving the quilt sandwich too fast. The needle will bend ever so slightly as you're moving the sandwich, and will miss the hook. You can stitch slower, but a larger needle will also help with this because it will be a little stiffer.

PenneB

Thanks Peggi--I will give both of those a try! That makes sense--I wasn't sewing fast but I certainly may have inadvertently been moving the sandwich too fast in an effort to manage the bulk--and I certainly didn't think about the needle! Great lesson today not only for this machine but for all others!

Jingle

I mostly FMQ on my DSM and I always use a size 16 needle. No thread breakage or other issues.

thimblebug6000

Sorry for your problem, I wonder if the 40 wt is too thick for the bobbin tension? I usually use a 50 wt in my machines, but they are not Pfaff

Three Dog Night

You may find some help for your problem at www.sewingmastery.com. She does videos of Pfaff machines and she has the QE 720 on the site. She literally will post a video for every part of the manual starting with unpacking. I have a Performance 5.0 and refer to the videos for the Performance 5.2 as they are basically the same machine.

PenneB

Thank you thimblebug6000--it may be. I plan to try a smaller testing quilt and see if it makes any difference. I normally sew with 50 and quilt with 40--it might just not like the 40!!

PenneB

Thank you Three Dog Night! Yes--I love those videos! I haven't found a solution to my issue yet but I am going to keep looking!

oldmanquilts

There's lots of variation in needle types. Switching to a larger needle may not help. A lot of us use "top-stitch" needles in the appropriate size. They have a longer and bigger eye than a "universal" or any other. This allows for longer dwell in the thread underneath. The little extra lag gives the hook a better chance.

Then there's "timing." Likely what's happening is you attempt to move the fabric before the needle has cleared. The needle bends and the hook misses the loop. The larger needle will help some, but practice works best. FWIW- I consider 100-16 (top-stitch) to be a minimum for any quilt sandwich.

K8jugs

Did you get to the bottom of this at all? I’m having the same issue. For the first 4months it was fine and now skips stitches… but I’ve realised it’s after you use the thread cutter on the machine. Sewing when the bobbin thread is up it’s fine but using the thread cutter and then that’s it skipped stitches from 4-10 skipped stitches as it can’t find to bobbin thread I assume. Is yours after using the cutter by any chance?