Free Motion Quilting Troubleshooting: Ugly Thread Tension
Here’s a very important free motion quilting troubleshooting post on diagnosing and fixing ugly thread tension issues. You may have seen your thread suddenly start forming large loops to the front or back of your quilt. Why is this happening? It looks very much like a thread tension problem, but no matter how high you crank your tension dial, it won’t go away.
Let’s learn more about free motion quilting and troubleshoot this looping thread issue together! Jump ahead to the part of this post you most need to read:
- Free Motion Quilting Ugly Thread Loops
- Speed & Movement – Free Motion Quilting’s Bicycle
- But Why Loops? Why Does It Look Like a Tension Issue?
- How to Check If You Are Experiencing A Tension Issue
- Another Problem – Changing Too Many Things
- How Do I Fix It? How Do I Get Better Speed Control?
- Focus on Your Foot – Where Speed Control Comes From
Free Motion Quilting Ugly Thread Loops
Ugly quilting stitches on a beautifully pieced quilt. I know of no more scary thing to a beginning quilter. Seriously, I should make a horror movie and the slasher guy would be the loopy back of a quilt. NOOOOOO!!!!!
My weird humor aside, this is a problem, especially for beginners to free motion quilting. It’s understandable for you to be bothered by loops of thread on the back of your quilt:
But what is going on here? Typically thread loops pulling to one side of the quilt like this are a sign of a massive thread tension issue with your sewing machine. It could also be a sign that you forgot to drop your foot before starting to quilt.
With a modern home sewing machine – if the foot is not in the down position, your top thread will not be under tension, and ugly stitches and big loops of thread will follow soon after.
But look closely at the image above…
Notice that the loops of thread are only showing up in certain areas. Usually the same deep curve. Some of the quilting has nice tension and no loops of thread at all.
This is all I need to see to troubleshoot this free motion quilting issue. These ugly looping stitches were not caused by bad tension. They were caused by bad speed control.
Speed & Movement – Free Motion Quilting’s Bicycle
Yes, we’re learning to ride a bicycle! Well, not really, but this analogy works really well. When riding a bike you’re doing lots of things all at the same time: balancing your weight, pedaling to move forward and steering so you don’t crash into a tree.
When free motion quilting, we’re doing lots of things at the same time:
- Controlling the speed of the machine with our foot on the foot pedal.
- Moving the quilt under the sewing machine needle.
- Forming a quilting design (or making a mess).
Here’s the thing you might not have heard before – when you are first starting free motion quilting, balancing the speed of your machine with the movement of your hands can have odd consequences. If you don’t have a good balance of speed and movement, it’s like steering a bicycle badly.
One of the consequences to bad speed control is looping threads pulling to the front or back of your quilt.
Back to the image above – notice how the thread tension looks off in the same places over and over? The quilter making these stitches likely felt comfortable moving her quilt in that direction. Her hands sped up when making that shape because the movement felt natural.
But because she didn’t also increase the speed of her machine – pressing harder on the foot pedal – the balance of speed and movement was off.
But Why Loops? Why Does It Look Like a Tension Issue?
To keep it short and simple – thread acts weird sometimes.
It’s important to remember that free motion quilting on a home machine is using your machine in a totally different way. You are used to having the machine do most of the work for you because all other sewing machine techniques use the machine’s feed dogs.
When free motion quilting we aren’t using the feed dogs, or the little teeth under the presser foot. The sewing machine is no longer in control and stitch length, width and direction are all literally in your hands. We do this so we have complete control over the quilting design and freedom to move the quilt in all directions.
But because we’re using our sewing machines in this new way, there are going to be consequences. One is ugly stitches. We all have to stitch through a selection of ugly, unbalanced stitches at the beginning before we learn how to make pretty, perfect stitches.
Back to the bicycle analogy – no one rides a bike perfectly on their first try. No one makes perfectly balanced stitches when free motion quilting the first time.
How to Check If You Are Experiencing A Tension Issue
Of course, you may wish to double check and make sure you’re not experiencing an actual sewing machine tension issue. Here’s how:
- Replace your darning foot with a piecing foot.
- Stitch through two pieces of fabric.
- Check your stitches.
If your stitches are nicely balanced and show no sign of a tension issue, then your sewing machine is just fine. I firmly believe if a sewing machine can sew (piece), it can free motion quilt too.
Another thing to check even before switching back to piecing – make sure your foot is in the down position for free motion quilting. Because darning feet are designed to hover over your quilt, it’s really easy to think the foot is down and find that it’s not.
Remember – a foot in the “up” position means the top tension discs are open. No tension on the top thread is going to make a mess really quickly on the back of your quilt.
Another Problem – Changing Too Many Things
To get back to free motion quilting, simply reattach your darning foot.
Notice – I didn’t mention adjusting tension, dropping the feed dogs, or changing anything else on your sewing machine at all. In order to free motion quilt, all you need is a darning foot. That’s it. Here are a few darning feet I use, and a foot set I absolutely love:
Back when I originally wrote this post, sewing machines were pretty simple. I could help just about anyone get started free motion quilting, teach you how to break your darning foot, and you’d be ready to stitch!
Now in 2023, fancier sewing machines are made with lots of preset free motion quilting settings, darning feet can automatically drop your feed dogs for you, and the height of your foot can be adjusted minutely on one of a million setting screens.
While it’s nice to have so much help, most of this stuff is unnecessary because it doesn’t fix the issue.
Remember – looping thread is caused by a lack of speed control. That’s a balance between your hands moving the quilt and your foot pressing on the foot pedal.
So don’t change a bunch of stuff on your machine. Just attach your darning foot. Don’t change needles. Your top thread and bobbin thread should be grooving together just the same was as they always do. Don’t confuse yourself or your machine by adjusting a million seetings.
Just attach your darning foot and try free motion quilting again. If the scary ugly stitches reappear, you are definitely dealing with an issue of speed and movement balance, not a tension issue.
How Do I Fix It? How Do I Get Better Speed Control?
Now that we know it’s not your sewing machine, it’s time to get into the solution! Here are two speed control practice ideas to try:
- Running your machine at a set speed – If you run your machine at a steady, set speed, you’ll have less to worry about. You can focus on moving your hands slowly and smoothly while the needle bounces up and down at a steady rate.
When I originally wrote this post we didn’t have start / stop buttons. Now start / stop buttons are commonly built into cheaper sewing machines and very easy to use. Set your machine to run at a medium speed, hit “start” and work on balancing the speed of your hands moving with the speed of your needle bouncing.
Just be careful though! Using a start / stop button means the sewing machine will keep stitching no matter what you’re doing. Watch out for how close your fingers get to the needle and use a big enough practice quilt that you don’t stitch off the edges. - Stitching on a marked line – Quilting a marked or printed design will also make this task easier so you can focus on your stitches and not have to think about the quilting design. Just in case you’re worried this is cheating – it’s not! Beautiful quilting motifs and symmetrical designs requires the design to be marked.
We have focused on quilting on a marked line with multiple Quilt-as-You-Go Quilt Alongs over the years, but the most popular is Building Blocks. Click Here to find a printed fabric panel of the Building Blocks Sampler Quilt on Spoonflower.
This quilting panel will give you lots of space to practice at balancing the speed of your machine with the movement of your hands. Make sure to pick up 3 yards of this design if you want to get all 42 blocks in the set.
Once you get comfortable with quilting either at a set speed or on marked lines, you will get better at controlling the speed of your machine and balancing it with the movement of your hands.
As you quilt more, you’ll notice when your hands are moving more quickly. You’ll put your foot down and increase the speed of your machine. It’s a natural process that comes from practice and doing lots of free motion quilting.
Focus on Your Foot – Where Speed Control Comes From
I’m not a fan of the “pedal to the metal” advice to stitch at the highest speed your machine has while you learn how to free motion quilt. I believe that we all have a comfortable speed within us, and for some it’s slower than others.
Another thing – I quilt barefooted. I simply cannot quilt with shoes on. With a shoe on, I don’t have as much control over what is happening with my foot.
I also quilt with the ball of my foot on the top of the pedal. My toes hang off the top because I have more control over the middle part of my foot than my toes. Feeling the pedal and all the speeds your machine has, and being able to go from fast to slow and from slow to fast is a skill that will definitely come with time.
No, your first attempts at free motion quilting will not be perfect! Stop expecting them to be!
Quilt your first trial quilt and get all those ugly stitches out. Learn how to move the quilt, how to control the foot pedal, and balance that ratio between your hands and your foot. It’s a lesson you cannot learn by thinking about it, you have to DO IT!
The more you move your hands, the more you move your foot, the more you concentrate on creating simple designs in free motion, the easier this will become. Piece up something simple, even if it’s just plain fabric and quilt the snot out of it.
Get through those ugly beginning stitches because I promise you, you will find beautiful stitches in there.
Let’s go quilt,
Leah Day
Here are a few more quilting tools I use for free motion quilting. I don’t promise these will take away scary ugly stitches, but I do promise they will make quilting feel easier on your home sewing machine:
Thank you so much for this post! Very helpful to know I am "normal", a have a practice quilt ready for basting so I will remember my hands and feet when I try!
Leah bless you – this is the post I've been needing
I've been having the same problem and probably unconsciously knew I was moving the fabric a bit fast but wasn't convinced – now I am. I will have to LEARN how to SLOW myself down when trying to quilt next and hopefully that will be another element of FMQ 'cracked'
What a nice explanation! And your observations reflect the observations I've made about my own quilting and the vicious loops. You're absolutely right–things will get better with time. I also would like to suggest that sometimes students have not such good luck with different wt. thread in the top than what's in the bobbin. And those vicious blobs occur even when straight stitching so you know it's your tension then and things must be adjusted before free motion quilting, imho.
Thanks or clearing that up some more for me!
Great lesson!! I needed to hear that from a pro. Thank you for the pep talk. =!=
Hi Leah,
I'm wondering…if you leave the feed dogs up…don't they chew the heck out of your Supreme Slider when doing free motion quilting?
Hilary
Hi Hilary – With my feed dogs up, yes, my supreme slider does get chewed on a bit around the needle area, but not badly.
If you turn your stitch length to 0, the feed dogs will just go up and down, and not actually feed upward, so I have never ruined a slider by using it with the feed dogs up.
Try it and see what works for you!
Leah
Hi Leah
I like to practice my free motion quilting on placemats. No need to piece them, just cut out some pretty fabric.
Did she have one of your bobbin washers in her machine? Ever since I put one in mine I haven't had a single loop!
I had to give up on the Supreme Slider, though. It kept wanting to be "applique" on the back of my quilts. Not a good look! 😉
We call 'em "eyelashes." : ) And I feel they are from the top tension being too loose and bottom too tight. When my machine is set right, I get none, regardless of the speed I go. I typically FMQ at med/fast with no eyelashes… if my tension is correct. Many people need to loosen the bobbin tension & tighten the top in order to free motion. You don't agree?
~Monika
with the 7700 from hell. (lol)
Monika – I rarely mess with my bottom tension. If my bobbin is feeding smoothly for piecing, I don't really like to loosen it for FMquilting and then have to tighten it again. I to lazy to remember to change it every time!
As for your 7700, have you tried free motion with the feed dogs up? All I do is put on the D1 straight stitch and turn the stitch length to 0. With tension on Auto it stitches beautifully!
Good luck!
Leah
Hi- I find that with my machine I get loops on the back when going forward and to the right, but the tension is fine when I stitch backwards and to the left. I thought it was the machine, but I am wondering if it is because I move my hands too fast in the directions I feel comfortable with. But in the directions I don't feel comfortable with, I move slower and this is the speed I should be using all the time! I will have to play with the quilting and see if this is true.
Hi leah. As a free motion embroiderer, I really like the pictures. In textile art terms, your students are doing what is called feather stitch when it is done in circles like this and whip stitch when it happens on a straight line. It is a very useful technique for us. As you know the top/bottom tension balance is a very fine adjustment and every machine is different. I find that a tiny tightening of the bottom tension and I mean tiny, less than a few degrees clockwise, will sort this out. however, as you know there are lots of other things to check, like needle size, foot pressure, stabilization, thread type and thread feed etc. The best solution is to play and experiment in order to know your machine.
By tjhe way, I have been watching your project from day 1. congrats on a job well done
Thanks for the awesome tips !
Ive got a machine where you cant do anything with the feed dogs, you have to use a darning plate, but I think the whole speed/coordination issue is also something I have to tinker with, cause I dont think its the tension on my machine (unless im wrong). I found that the loops also cause notorious jamming on my machine.
Any input on darning plate and loop issues for a newbie quilter is much appreciated
using an old kenmore ultrastitch 12 in case you need to know.
Hi there, darning plate dilemma solved!
Ive spent the last 3 months trying to master basic free motion quilting on my Singer patchwork Q which doesn’t allow you to drop the feed dogs. The results were horrible eye lash stitches on the back & me being convinced by on line info that it was my hand v machine speed at fault. (my manual instructs to use the darning plate) Break through! I ditched the darning plate, set the stitch length to the shortest .5 in my case, tension on auto & it works a dream!!!! Perfect stitches, easy to control, no eye lashes. I’m ecstatic. I can now crack on & stipple quilt my queen sized disappearing nine patch quilt!?
Wonderful! That is so great to hear Margot!
Thank you so much for the lesson – this is exactly what I needed. I'm just beginning and each time I try, I get those loops – now I finally know what I can do about them 🙂
Really interesting post – Thanks
Thank you for the advice. I never could determine why my FM stitching is good most of the time, but loops some of the time. Now when it happens, I know that I do not have to re-thread the machine or play with the tension or change my needle. I have a button on my machine that controls the motor speed. I generally decrease it by 50%. I tend to have a heavy foot and even with the pedal to the medal, the slower speed makes it easier to control hand and foot motion. I also can not sew with shoes on. I have taken classes in the past where I took my slippers with me to put on. I do get some strange looks.
Interesting reading. I have had loopy problems but found that the only time I had it was when I forgot to lower my presser foot. It looks very cool but does nothing for my quilt. I use a Janome knock off by Kenmore and leave my feed dogs up. My quilting actually comes out pretty good.
Fantastic post Leah!!
You have a real gift for putting things into words to fully explain.
I find when I am teaching, some ladies just 'get it' straight away and others just take a bit longer.It reminds me of taking my boys snowboarding and one of my son's friends, now keeping in mind none of them had ever tried snowboarding before.My son's friend just 'got it' while my boys had more difficulty and needed more practice : – falls!!!
Good post, I had to learn all of this by trial and error.
Love you purple socks!
Robin
Спасибо за статью! Она все объясняет! Я как-раз сейчас нахожусь на этом этапе.
What a great post I have been having this problem for ever so long and was hoping I would get the answer. I normally work with feed dogs sown but am going to try with them up.
What are your views on using a straight stitch needle plate instead of the multi stitch plate which comes with most machines?
Is it worth spending the money do you think?
Thanks so much for this post!!! I consider myself just past beginner at FMQ (maybe amateur?), but I still have this problem when I do my "test piece" sometimes! I always assume its thread or tension, never really thought about speed issues. Now I can focus on that more and see if it fixes it for me next time it happens 🙂
Why haven't I followed your blog before! It's wonderful! So great! And very learning for a newbie like me! Thanks!
/Mari
Hi Leah,
I'm hoping you will answer this question. I read that you do free motion without putting your feed dogs down. Can you explain how you do that? If I don't put my feed dogs down it's pretty much inpossible to move my quilt in any direction except forward. Do you loosen the pressure of your pressure foot? Any advice would be much appreciated.
-debby
Chester NU
crowefan0517@yahoo.com
What a great helpful post!! I just spent weeks pulling out those nasty loops from my latest quilt and I'm ready to start again– so this is right on time for me.
What great information! I get those nasty loops from time to time and wondered what I was doing wrong. I've messed with tension, but up and down, and I notice I got fewer eyelashes when I quilted slow, but that just wasn't my speed. I feel much better about playing with this more now.
I also know I should slow down. I generally break at least one needle each time I free motion quilt. Thank you so much for the new inspiration
Good post, Leah. I knew it was not my tension but never figured out it was hands vs feet until now! Thank you!
Hi Debbie – It really just depends on your machine more than anything else!
I own 4 machines right now and one of them does work best with the feed dogs down, but the other 3 work better with them up.
It's one of those things that I just encourage everyone to TRY. We've all be told feed dogs down, but what if most machines work better with them up? You don't know until you try it!
Maureen – I prefer to use the straight stitch needle plate if it's convenient. New machines are now coming out with a needle plate converter that pops up to a single hole.
If you don't have the automatic kind and have to unscrew your needle plate each time, that can get really annoying. Just always remember to change needle plates before you decide to zig zag stitch!
Cheers,
Leah
You're a doll! I wish I'd seen this about a year or 2 ago when I was first starting out! I always sew barefooted too! I remind myself to keep those shoulders loose and slow down on the curves!!
thank you so much! I am a new quilter, and just starting free motion. And yes …I to have those "eye lashes" on the back. I will keep practicing! Thanks for all the advice.
Gracias por la explicación, parece que me has visto por un agujerito.
Thank you SO much for this article! Now I know I was just on a learning curve in the beginning. Doin much better now. I can just hear a big, collective sigh of relief from new FM quilters!
Thanks for the informative post! I'm a new quilter as well. I think I've only quilted 2 or 3 small quilts on the machine so far, and am still fighting those darn 'loops'! They can be quite frustrating! But at least now I know what to watch for.
Thank you so much for this article. I have been quilting for 2 years and I always end up straight line quilting my quilts. I have practiced FSQ and I have never been happy with the results. I think once I follow your advice I just may be able to "get" it!
Thanks for the info! Today I quilted my first freemotion sample it's 30x20cm ( the size of a magazine). I didn't get any loops in the back but I got extra long stitches. My problem is I get too many peaks. I know I have to exercise more and more… Just when I tought that the Key was low feed dog and 0 stitch….oh well more things to try. Would you give it a Look to my exercise in free motion? Is in my blog it's in spanish but pictures are universal. My main problem was not sticking the wadding and the background. I have some trapunto-like areas. What I loved was the tip about machining barefoot. Before buying my Husqwarna I had a curso machine that I used for dollmaking andpiecing and the only wat I could work with it was barefoot. There was no other way to control it. When I upgraded I put my shoes on, but it may be time to take them off again. Thanks for the post and the comments
Amazing information, cannnot begin to thank you for your articulate explanation. I have battled this war for a number of years and basically have quite trying, lots of tops waiting for me to win the war.
I feel armed for battle now thanks to this perfect explanation of what makes absolute sense. Sometimes things just need to be put in front of us for us to notice 🙂 your the best..
Regards
Hi Leah,
I love FMQing on my Horizon – when it's working. Sometimes it goes through fits where the top thread breaks every 2 to 6 inches. I can find no reason why. I do use the blue dot bobb., I re-thread, change to a new needles, and still have trouble.
Have you experienced this on your Horizon? Do you have any tips?
Thanks so much! I really enjoy your blog!
Rilene
Oh my goodness this is exactly what I needed to hear… I seriously left my sewing machine in defeat to come look for help, and I found this! So I went and got two pieces of the fabric of my quilt… made a sandwich with the same batting and started practicing… and I got better! Then I started on my actual quilt and I no longer have those ridiculous loops! 😀 Thanks sooo much! You explained it just the way I needed it 😀
This post is still totally relevant! Thanks for the help… and thanks to all the commentors. Its my first FMQ try and I've already seemed to overcome the dreaded eyelashes!
This is absolutely awesome. I've been fiddling with the tension thinking it was the problem… but it makes so much more sense that I am the problem! 😀
FMQ feels like learning how to drive standard. The intuitive balance of the clutch and gas feel very much like the hand and foot coordination required.
Thank you so much for sharing your wisdom with us young'uns!
Thank you for posting this and I was hoping I could get some advice about this problem? I just finished FMQing my daughter's quilt and I see this a lot on the back, only the loops aren't huge. They are just barely loose enough so that the stitches don't look like stitches (the top thread is just barely wrapping around the bottom thread so that from the right distance it just looks like the bottom thread is just laying on the surface of the fabric). Of course I didn't notice this until I was finished with the danged thing.
Should I pull it out? I don't think I (or my daughter) really mind it that way because it's on the back … but I don't want to leave it there if it's going to affect the sturdiness or washability of the quilt. Thanks!
Thank you so much for this post! I just finished Free Motion Quilting my goddaughters quilt… it was my first attempt at this type of quilting and I had this problem with the back… I didn't realize it either until I was finished. You can't tell from pictures though… You can see one here… but the when you see the back you can see all my little mistakes. Thanks to this post my next will be much better! https://www.etsy.com/listing/113224628/personalized-name-applique-quilt-baby?ref=v1_other_1
Thanks!!!! I was trying to experiment to make patterns on clothes, as decoration, and I had incredible loops underneath. Your post was very helpful to make me understand the dynamics of motion. In addition I also realised that I had forgotten to lower the foot…..
I am using a Singer Inspiration 4210 (in spite of all bad reviews it works very well for me, for normal garment sewing) and since it has a feeder dogs cover I thought of trying free motion quiltin. I removed the foot altogether and am using a guard to protect my fingers while moving the material. It seems to work pretty well. I am super-excited!
I have this problem and I should have known to come here first for a solution!! I haven't been sewing for a few decades, but for some reason, I've caught the bug. I got a new Janome for my birthday and this is my first quilting attempt. I've been on your blog reading all that I can, looking at the beautiful and creative things that you make and getting so excited to do it on my own! I even modified my darning foot that came with my new machine. I was set to do this and excited that I was getting the 'hang' of stippling…until I looked at the stitching on the underside in horror~~~it was a mess!!! I felt all my creative dreams crashing down around me. This discussion has helped me understand that practice is what I need. I also put the feed dogs down – having read through the comments I will now try it with them up and my stitch length to 0. I am determined to create something beautiful and to express myself in this media!! Thank you so much, Leah, for all that you share with us. I feel very lucky to have you as a teacher!
Thank you for this post. I too left my machine to seek help!
My straight line tension is fine, its when I go sideways! However, Im faster when I straight line. Sideways is skeery so I slow down and thats when I have problems.
I will take your advice and just trust myself more.
Thank you again!
Fantastic! Thanks so much Leah.
Well I can relate. Not sure that I took a picture of the back but I've since made samples and they match. Decided to practice free motion on the preemie quilts for the hospital. Some of my loops were so big I thought it best to remove them. Yep, all that thread and time lost to a week of pulling out the threads. Don't know what a Supreme Slider is. I did my loopy free motion on machine where feed dogs drop. On my machine where they do not, it's been a big problem as fabric will hardly move with plate or piece of freezer paper taped down with hole for needle. Practice, practice and I marked tension for each just to see. Thanks for the tips. http://www.jloscreativecorner.blogstop.com
After reading all the previous posts, I have decided I must have a heavy foot, and just like driving, I tend to take the curves a little faster than I should.
No more listening to jazzy fast-paced music either, as it gets me revved up and I find myself going faster as i sew, lol.
Thanks for putting this all in laymens terms.
I was almost ready to send my machine back. I knew you would have the answer. It's not my machine, it's me! Thanks Leah!
I wonder if you or your followers have had the same problem as me. I have tension issues ONLY when I freemotion backwards, I have a Janome 9000, and it appears as if tthe bobbin tension goes tight in reverse only. Thanks for sharing so many tips. You are a star Leah and I hope you can help solve this issue for me as I don't want to keep turning my quilt round to avoid uneven quilting!
This was such a HUGE help. I thought my machine was broken for hours! Thanks!!
I had loops on the back one time because I had previously wound a bobbin and a loop of thread was holding down the thread coming off the bobbin (basically not wound right). Once I fixed this, no problem.
Also, I started learning FMQ on my last machine that I could not drop my feed dogs. I used a supreme slider with the stitch length to 0 and it did not tear up the slider throughout making an apporx. 34X26" art quilt. (I could not find a feed dog cover to go with my machine, but not sure I would want one because it would propbably create a lip to catch it on and less room to move the fabric).
OMG thank you so much, I am a new quilter and my first to free hand quilts didn't have any loops, not perfect stitching some long some short but still loved them. My last two had the loopy back not bad but enough for me to notice, I am ready to start the next and wanted to figure this out. I have been up and down that darn machine, now I believe there could be a remedy and I won't have to throw the machine out the window. Time to practice speed.
I have been reading and searching everywhere for a solution to my loop/tension problem. I adjusted the tension, toggled my feed dogs up and down…nothing worked. It wasn't until my darning presser foot nearly fell off my machine that I realized the little screw holding the foot on had gradually loosened; consequently, the foot was not holding the fabric down sufficiently for the stitches to form and lock together, producing loops and actually blocking the machine. Just one more thing to put on your quilting emergency recovery options list.
Genette
Leah, new fmq'er. Pieced together the quilt top just fine. Purchased batting, enough to practice fmq, and have lots of loops and lashes not on the back of the practice sandwiches but on the front, just a little on the backside. I read your suggestions, raised the feed dogs, and had slightly better experience. But still lots of loops and lashes. I think, I hope the problem is human error, hand/foot coordination challenges. Any other recommendations?
My best advice is to keep working at it! Try quilting straight lines back and forth. Straight lines are a good place to start if you're really getting a lot of eyelashes with curves, plus you can practice easily by stitching in the ditch.
OMG, you are a genius! left my feed dogs up for FM and my Juki F600 worked perfectly.
Why didn't someone tell me this sooner 😉
Thanks
you are amazing! watching your tutorials inspired me to buy a sewing machine and start quilting. I was still wary of FMQ though. Gave it a shot yesterday, and after 3 hours of cursing, nearly gave up. I've made this gorgeous full size quilt top (I know, should have started small, but am never able to somehow!) Anyways I was in tears that I couldn't quilt it till I saw this post. My loops are already lessenin, my practise Sandwich gives me hope that I'll eventually quilt that top. Thank you for being such a great teacher .
This works the same on a longarm frame. If you have it on regulated stitches. If you go to fast, not only will the machine let you know, It will be a small problem on the back. Its letting you know that. Thanks Leah
I have followed your advice for fmq all the way from setup until now, half way through my first 40×70 quilt, I am perfectly happy with my results even though the looping has become prominent now, its all good, I knew I would find an answer for it here somewhere, great videos, great instructor, I'm an old guy just trying to stay busy and you help more than you know, thank you
You are so welcome! I hope you'll join our Facebook group so I can see your quilt!
The tip about your foot placement on the pedal is priceless. Thank you so much!!
I have sewn all my life. I'm retired now, started quilting 10 years ago . Free motion quilting scared me to death. I always got loops and breaking thread. Breaking thread was from too tiny stitches in practice. I called an expert free motion friend. I was doing every thing right EXCEPT I now know why the loops kept coming thanks to you. My hands go much faster than my feet on the controls. Thank you I am ready to sit and finish quilting the 9 quilts I have waiting to be freemotion quilted. Thanks for your help. Nadine
That's great Nadine! I'm so happy to help!
Iv been trying to learn to FMQ. I gave up bc it's hard and I can't get those ugly loops to go away on the back I tried your tip about going
Back to my peicing foot to check to see if it's the tension and no loops or bad looking
Tension with the regular peicing foot… but with the free motion hopping foot I have all sorts of bad looking
Loops on the back ? Unless I raise my tension from the pre set of 4 all the way up to a 7.2. I was hoping I could just FMQ on the preset tension since it works with the moral foot. If anyone has any suggestions that would be wonderful. I sew on a
Baby lock unity
Yep, this is normal and because you didn't experience it with piecing, but only with free motion quilting that's a sign it's probably not the machine. Try stitching straight lines and keep your hands moving very slowly. Straight lines are less likely to eyelash because there aren't any curves to pull the thread weirdly. Once you can make straight lines with balanced tension, then try a very shallow curve. Again, you'll need to adjust your speed and move your hands slowly, but run the machine at a medium speed.
Leah, thank you for all your video lessons, blog posts and overall sharing all your experiences — good and bad — so that we can learn. (Using a Brother NS2750) I'm having problems with my top thread making it to the back of the quilt and then getting hung up, if you will, where I have to stop and yank on the quilt in order to get it to break free that then leaves broken top thread on the back or a large loop. At times I will see where the thread loops out in front of the machine or needle area (as if there's extra slack in the top thread). I've changed needle sizes, type of needle, added bobbin genie, supreme slider, slow machine – slow hands, fast machine – fast hands. It doesn't seem to have a particular area where it gets hung up either; like sweeping to the right or left. This will happen in all directions, including going straight or reversing. I've had it in the shop, paid $110 for the repair and it's still getting hung up even though they said the lower bobbin was too tight. Any thoughts on what might be the issue? Any and all comments would be greatly appreciated!
Hmm…two things come to mind here Sherrie: the first is the height of your foot on the surface of the quilt. Top thread looping mostly happens when the top thread isn't catching properly with the bobbin thread and the excess from the skip gets caught back on the hook in the bobbin. So I would try lowering your foot height if that's possible for you.
Another thing is your thread – have you tried a different type or brand of thread? Also this is something that easily happens to old thread so how old is the thread you're using? I would get several spools of several types of thread and play until you find one that doesn't do this. Yes, I do think there will be one type that won't have this issue and you just need to find it.
Thank you so much for putting your thoughts out on my issue. I have tried different threads, from cotton to poly, all new spools. I will see what I can do about the foot and give it a go….in addition to raising my feeddog and setting stitch length to as close to zero as I can (I hadn't tried that before). I will keep you posted….not like you need something else to do! Thanks so much again, Leah.
If my stitches are looped or loose on the back of my quilt, do I need to redo the quilting or will it be fine? It is not everywhere. Thanks
It’s totally up to you Dana. If the looping is bad it could snag on clothing and pull free, causing the quilting stitches to unravel. I’d look at the spots where the loops appear the worst and consider ripping out only those sections. Practice on your machine with smaller quilt sandwiches until you find a solution to the loops before moving back to a bigger quilt.
So glad to find you post. Was having trouble deciphering if it was machine or human trouble. Just reading comments I discover it might be the thread. Going to switch thread and see if it improves. Thanks
Thank you Helen! Yes, run through a few different spools of thread first. Then try adjusting your tension. But if neither make any change, most likely it’s a speed / movement issue, not a tension issue. This is VERY common for beginners starting free motion quilting so you’re definitely not alone.
I was ready to take my machine in to get the tension fixed–until I found your blog. Yes, I had achieved perfect tension in the straight runs, so it was my feet and hands that needed work. Took off my sandals and hung my toes over the end of the pedal like you suggested. Much, much easier to achieve a variable speed with the ball of my foot. The improvement was remarkable! I have hope that I’ll one day be able to quilt with one color on top and another color in the bobbin!
Wonderful! I’m so happy to hear you found this helpful. But no, quilting with two colors of thread is something I don’t advise. No machine holds perfect tension continuously. You may find it fluxes just the tiniest bit and you end up with dots of color pulling to the back side. It’s a recipe for endless headaches so just aim to balance your speed and movement and use the same color thread in the bobbin and top.
Great info. Will get back at it in the morning. I was in tears tonight as my first machine got through 4 12 inch blocks before my trouble began. I couldnt get it right so tried my second machine and it worked perfect on a test sample and messed up when I got to my quilt. I had always been told to change my upper tension for FMQ. Interesting I will try again tomorrow trying this information. Thank you.
Wonderful Kim! I understand how frustrating free motion quilting can be. Just remember this is using your machine in a totally new way and it’s going to take a lot of practice!
This blog post is just what I needed. I’m trying to learn to free motion quilt. Thank you!
And I sew just like you-no shoes, middle of the foot on the peddle. I’ve never known another person to do that. I’ve been doing it that way for 35 years lol
Thank you, just what I needed today. I’ve been tearing my hair out.
Thank you for this post. Especially for the photo’s of the back of the work. That’s exactly what mine looked today when I started FM quilting for the first time (okay and there were lots of enormous loops :P). But now I know I don’t need to worry and just need to practice. Getting out some big piece of cotton and some batting tomorrow first thing and gonna try again! Thanks for the explanation and encouragement 🙂
OMG i needed to read this. I have been going bonkers searching for the why i have loops with free motion quilting and this makes such sense! I sew with no problems. I have areas of my quilt which look excellent and then areas that have loops. I think the key…practice and get support from others who know more on the subject than i do!
I am about ready to give up also. I have a new Babylock Allegro and was doing fine until the machine just stops and you have to pull it out and then it leaves a small loop on the back.
It doesn’t do this going straight. It was working fine until this started.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
If the problem began suddenly and wasn’t happening before, it might be a problem a sewing machine repairman can fix.
I’m having this problem on my Bernina Q20 sit down long arm machine. It has dual stitch regulators which I usually have no trouble with. Any suggestions? I also have had issues with good stitching toward me but skipped stitched in the other direction. I have slowed down but that doesn’t seem to help.
Hi, Very interesting post, thank-you.
I have made my first quilt, and the backing, pressed, pinned and glue basted it in to a sandwich but have not yet had the nerve to put it on the sewing machine. I have been practicing FMQ for a good few weeks now and I don’t seem to be getting any better.
My problem is not so much the tension or speed (although that is not perfect) but the ease with which my practice fabric will move. I really have to pull it hard in the direction I want it to go in order to get it to move at all. My feed dogs are down, I have the right needle and thread in and my tension seems to be correct.
I bought a slider mat to see if that would help but all that seems to do is ‘launch’ the fabric when I pull really hard so my first couple of stitches are half an inch long.
I wondered if one of those horseshoe shaped devices that are supposed to grip the fabric and make it easier to move might help, but I think it might have helped more if I’d nailed it over the door and wished on it!
I’ve tried different feet, stencils, a ruler foot – all sorts of things, and all I’ve ended up with is a messy practice piece and an awful lot of gadgets.
Please can you help at all?