ok.. what am I doing wrong? 

I am using my ruler foot...feed dogs are not covered.

When i travel to the left, the thread breaks almost immediately - its shredding in the eye of the needle.  The other three directions, I get no breaks.

Should I try covering the feed dogs .... or maybe I should try a new needle?Do I speed up going left or slow down? 

I have a FM pattern of stars with loops that I want to use but that will involve going left a bunch.

If it was me I would change the needle first.

If the problem continues I would change the thread.

Can't change the thread....its the only grey spool I have.

Changing needle.

I found a package of Superior Titanium coated top stitch needles...I hope that works. Will see tomorrow... if the prior needle had a burr in the eye, one would think the Superior ones would be better.

Did you change the needle? That often is the issue for me

All of us are "guilty" of using our sewing machine needles and our rotary blades beyond their "Use By" dates.

In my cross-stitch and needlepoint days I even used my hand needles for too long. My skin is very acidic and I would wear the finish off my hand needles after months of stitching and they would drag through the linen.

Bought some gold-plated needles at a needlework store in Sarasota during one of our visits to my parents in the 1980s and I thought my mother was going to faint when she saw that small box of four embroidery needles with the huge price tag. Told her that they were an early Christmas gift from DH and she calmed down a little bit. DD has those needles now because she inherited my acidic skin and corrodes her needles, too.

Changed the needle.. it did nothing for the stitching. Tried added the feed dog cover. Changed the needle again. Made sure it is seated all the way up in the needle slot AND that the flat side is to the back (what my machine wants) Not sure what I did when I added the feed dog cover, but now it no longer stitches with the ruler foot. Took the ruler foot off, took the feed dog cover off and tried the regular foot. Normal stitching. Tried my Big Foot, does not form stiches. BAH!!!

Giving up for today...sigh

I have a thought. Recently I had some problems with my longarm and DBIL and I solved it over several days of trouble shooting. My observation is watching the thread thru the needle and the bobbin race going around. There is very little clearance between the race and the eye of the needle. I wonder if your needle is right for the thread you are using? The size and shape of the eye can make a big difference with different threads.

hum...maybe I should just go back to the original needle...and put up with a few breaks...at least it MOSTLY sewed...

How old is the thread you are using?