Hi there. I have a question. I have fmq'd on my 301 in the past and had beautiful results. Now all of a sudden, I am having trouble with the upper thread picking up the bobbin thread....only when I fmq; no other times do I have this problem. Do you have any insight? I have changed the needle, bobbin, thread, cleaned the machine...everything I can think of. I only happens when I am trying to meander and I have never had this problem before. As a matter of fact, my 301 fmq's better than any other machine I have ever used...now I am all of a sudden having this problem. Any help/suggestions/ideas you have woul be appreciated. Don't know what to do!

Maybe you are moving the fabric faster? I notice that I get skipped stitches when I am quilting with my short arm if I go too fast.

From my experience, if you go too fast it will skip stitches or make a long stitch.
Consider the batting you're using too.

It's not a too fast issue. I sometimes happens as soon as I start fmq before I've had a chance to pick up any speed. :-(

Is your needle inserted into the needle bar as far as it will go? You may have a bit of lint caught up in there keeping the needle a smidge too low. If the needle is too low the eye will miss the hook as it comes around, The needle could damage your hook if the needle hits it.

Some other things to check:

Does your bobbin thread match the weight of your top thread?

Have you dropped the feed dogs? (not a necessity)

What kind of fabric are you using?

Is your needle big enough for the job?

Did you accidentally put a stretch needle in the 301? Stretch needles are off set a bit and not the best choice for a straight stitch machine.

I hope you get it sorted out. I hate it when I want to play and my machines won't play nice!