Quilt in a Day Forums

i am having loose stitches on the bottom side of my quilt i am free motion quilting i am using my espire machine with feed dogs droped and darning foot on i changed the tension up to 5.0 am i going the wrong way with the tension

Hi there, I'm not familiar with your machine, so I'm guessing its a domestic machine. When I free motion I usually have my upper tension at 3 or just under. I usually try with a test piece first. Also I found recently that thread quality has a lot to do with it, I bought cheap thread & it was a disaster, I had to unpick some of the quilt I was working on (we live & learn!) I hope this helps & good luck.

do you have your pressure foot down? It needs to be with a domestic and some machines (not sure about yours)have a half way down place for your pressure foot

I have a seperate bobin case to adjust when free motion quilting. Also hold your threads when you start stitching and don't go too fast. Re thread the machine with the presser foot up. Good luck. geri

its the babylock espire i purchased last year in paducah the presure foot lever was down however thats exactly what the stitches looked like that i had not lowered it but i had already made sure it was down im using the thread on big spools from walmart its quilting thread but it is a heavier thread i have it on top and bobbin but i have used it before with no problem im just at wits end not mentioning how long it has took to un sew all i had already done

auntyrob is right--usualy a looser tension is better for FMQ.

Have you tried a new needle? I've had problems with dull needles. Someone on the forum recommended embroidery needles for FMQ since they are made for high speed stitching.

The only other thing I can think of is lint around the bobbin area.

Sharon C.

I have learned that not only is my HQ slow to start or tie off, it has a speed limit for meandering!

I just recently had the same problem. Looked like loose stitches on bottom. I adjusted everything possible. Finally I took off the cheap large spool , also took it off the bobbin; replaced it with good Guterman thread and it sewed perfectly. I took back one unopened cheap cone thread. My machine just won’t sew nicely with it.

qwe