From: Becky
My website: http://becky-beckysblabber.blogspot.com/
Subject: Free-motion quilting mess
I’ve been trying to learn how to do free-motion quilting on my home sewing machine. This is where you actually “draw” with the needle and thread in all directions, in designs that hold the actual quilt all together.
Every now and then my machine starts making horrible noises and grinds to a screeching halt, and I find this horrible mess on the back of my quilt. Ugh! Time to take a break.
From the front, it looks like normal stitching, maybe a bit looser than normal, then suddenly my machine starts making strange noises, and comes to a screeching halt. I usually have to dissect and cut apart the thread from the needle on the top before I can flip it over and see this mess on the back. I honestly don’t know why it happens, but it does from time to time. My tension is good, and the bobbin thread’s been pulled to the top. All the possible culprits have been eliminated. If you have a clue, please tell me, because I haven’t. A clue that is…
Are you lowering the presser foot? Even though you are not using a regular presser foot, you need to lower the arm so the tension disks are engaged on the top thread.
Have you tried turning it off and on?? LOL
No seriously, I had similar problems and I was told the tension needs to be at zero and to drop the feed dogs. This helped enormously!
If it still keeps happening maybe its time for a service?
Good luck
Lush :)
Sydney, Australia
That has happened to me before. I think I was using the wrong bobbin size? It used to happen a lot on my old Singer, but on the new Janome it hasn’t at all…knock on wood.
You need to lower the feed dogs on your machine, first. Also, if you have a Pfaff make sure the black walking foot thing is up (if you don’t have a Pfaff, that won’t make sense so ignore it!)
Most importantly, check your tension. the bobbin thread bunching up like that is almost always a tension problem.
when in doubt, rethread your machine. for me, 99% of the time, any error like that is due to the tension being off and rethreading fixes it right up.
Heya, i had this happen when I started to free motion, i have a brother innovis nv400, so a home machine.. i had also been told that a tension of 0 and drop the feeds.. it ends up that I needed to of course drop the feed dogs which it looks like you did anyway to be swirling around. but i had to turn the tension dial way up to 6, (i normally sit with it around 4-4.5 for normal seams and applique.
might help, might not, but it did take a lot of persisting and playing with the tension, i avoid at all cost changing the tension on the bobbin, but seriously, keep trying, i love Leah Day’s approach, she makes little practice squares and keeps them so you know how much better you’re getting .. look her up :) good luck