mjpEncinitas

Workshop with Cindy Needham. Moved me from total beginner to proficient in three days. She has a craftsy class which is supposed to be very good.

tranum

I thought about sandwiching a piece 27" square then giving it a shot. When done, cut in 9" squares and bind for potholders so I'd be making something useful. (4 sets with an odd one left over lol!)

Dolphyngyrl

books, craftsy classes, 2 live classes. One with Patsy Thompson(she also has craftsy classes and free videos by the way) was what took me to the next level. She gave me that Aha moment I needed after 4 years of practice. What also helps is doodling the pattern a lot before you quilt it.

kristijoy

I taught myself to quilt by doing a BOM in the quilt-as-you-go-technique. Each month I would FMQ another block, but the end of the BOM I was really good at it! If I was going to start with something big, I would start with a walking foot and make it simple!

cherylmae

I took a class thru craftsy and took on a couple queen quilts and then a king. I found it easiest to start in the middle of the quilt and doing a swerved line all the way down and then starting over again until one side was done and then start the other half. I spray glued mine together. Recently I tried the qayg block by block and free motion quilted them and just played. I found doing curly cues all over was easiest for me. Also did big circles and made rays coming from it like the sun and that was easy for me also and looked good. It was trial and error, some blocks looked better than others. Good luck..relax and have fun.

bneuen

his is a great class. Gave me confidence that I COULD fmq. Did a small wallhanging...WITH FEATHERS...that I still hang Not perfect, but it gives me a lot of satisfaction.

Still not proficient, but keep trying.

Wanabee Quiltin

I pinned like crazy and just sewed in the ditch. It was my first quilt and it was a huge Queen that had cost me a fortune. I think I was just determined to finish my quilt completely. Go for it, I think you will be pleased when you are finished. Fusible batting was awful for me later when I tried it and I guess I didn't have the right batting for the glue but pins worked so I kept using them

jmoore

I started my FMQ journey with a couple of hands on classes... Sarah Ann Smith here in Maine and Leah Day at MQX in Manchester, NH. Both were extremely helpful and made you feel comfortable in learning. I then purchased a couple of Craftsy classes and still enjoy watching them from time to time...I also refer back to them for design ideas. I still take FMQ classes about every year because every instructor has a different style and now that there are rulers, there is always something new to explore.

Karamarie

I also started by watching a few Craftsy classes, read up on it and jumped in. Like already posted I use the spray for basting. Another hint, use some kind of a patterned backing as any mistakes won't show as much as on a plain fabric.

MargeD

I'm pretty much a self taught machine quilter, and I do the majority of my quilting with straight lines and SID. However, since I am self taught, my first machine quilted quilt was king size, and somehow I even did feathered circles in the plain blocks. I learned so much quilting that quilt, but I was also also using the quilt to ease the grief of losing an older brother at age 53 from cancer. He lived in AZ and my sister and I were not able to go because we could not get a flight that would get us there in time for the funeral. However, I have frequently used quilting to get through the rough patches in my life, I don't know how I could have done it any other way. Quilting is my passion, my therapy and I love it.