I have not ever done free motion quilting. One machine I had couldn’t lower the feed dogs,. I am just content with straight stitching.

Sorry, but someone here will,have all the answers.

Theresa

Looks like a tension issue to me.

Are you trying to machine quilt it with straight stitch? For that you need your tension to be engaged by lowering your presser foot. Otherwise there is no tension on your upper thread and your machine cant form a stitch. Your stitches are not fully formed stitches and they will not hold, at all.

Not sure if you are trying to sew and piece or if you are talking about doing the actual quilting. Either way you wont get a stitch without the presser foot down and the top thread engaged in the top tension discs.

Does your machine make a good straight stitch when just sewing?

I think you dont have the tension engaged and your machine is not forming a stitch as a result.

Your stitches look to be quite long, like a basting stitch. Does it just look that way in the photo?

Is your foot really a "free motion" foot or just an open toed foot? I have both on my Bernina. The open toed one I use for doing things like satin stitch, sewing on buttons and some zig zag work. It sits squarely on the fabric when the presser foot is lowered and I use it just like a regular foot with the feed dogs up, but the advantage is that you can see your work better with an open toed foot.

The other foot is meant for free motion work and even with the foot lowered, it does not hold the fabric down under it and you cant really sew with it. For this foot, the fabric is meant to be held in a small hoop that came with the machine for doing small motifs. You move the fabric by moving the hoop.

How much have you practiced with the free motion? If your regular stitches are showing good and good tension, then it's less likely to be a tension issue. But if you aren't practiced with keeping your pedal and hands balanced and consistent with free motion, it can show up with the funky loops that look like a tension issue. The feed dog usually handles the fabric, but with it down the human has to do that job.

Instead of doing crazy jigs practice, try following the lines on the fabric. Follow a straight line, curve around the corners to run back across the fabric. You may notice more looping in the areas you feel confidant going faster- slow it down, even out your speed control between your hands and pedal. If your machine has a speed control you can just set and not worry about the pedal, then set it and concentrate on your hands matching the speed.

It looks like the upper tension is too loose, and stitches look too long for making such tight curves.

I've never done free motion quilting, tho...

Rho, are you sure that you have the upper tension discs engaged? You have to lower that lever even if you using an open toed foot. It simply wont make a stitch if you dont.

Thank you all for taking the time to respond, I'm touched. A few years ago I know I used my free motion foot to quilt a charity piece but I can't remember details. Theres several stressful things going on with me now and I just don't have the patience to practice stitches for a month. Not to mention Baby is almost 2 months old and I want to ship gift already. I stitched in the ditch around the 30 blocks. The back looks great! Tomorrow I hope to stitch the edges close and get that sucker completed.

Oh, Rho. I hope things are easing up for you. sometimes we have to shift gears and go in a different direction. Baby will enjoy the quilt, no matter how you did it.

As I tell my kids, ’Deep Breath ’.