kate henry

As I did when I made my king size quilt, with pp blocks, by the seat of my pants. My DD did the quilting on king size. She then turned me loose on 2 other lap quilts I made. She is the most wonderful person, she gave me so much encouragement, help. She is also my care giver, we are together 24/7. I did some very special quilting believe me.

MadQuilter

I doodle A LOT. You should see my writing pad at work when meetings get boring. lol Doodling and repeating a specific pattern creates muscle memory which will help your brain guide the hands once you have a sandwich under the needle.
I do not use an important top on practice runs or new patterns. That way I don't have to concentrate on being "perfect" - instead I can focus on the pattern.
I took quite a few craftsy classes and each one taught me something new or a different way to approach the sandwich.
As everyone has already stated - just practice and you will see improvements in no time.
It is important to find what Cindy Needham calls the hum-purr. That is the sweet spot between the speed of your hands moving the quilt and the speed of the machine. Once you got that, the rest gets easier.
When doing curves, don't speed up or you'll have long galloping stitches. (Ask me how I know)
Finally, have fun with it.

June N

Ausgirl is right, Lori Kennedy is the best. Her blog is so easy to follow. I have learned a lot from her blog and tutorials. She is doing some reorganizing so us newbies to her blog can start at our comfort level and find her easier motifs to start with. Check her out.

Altairss

I watched a bunch of video from the people already mentioned and then just went for it. Did small sandwiches and then runners. For me since I have airbrushed for years it was easier because I had already trained myself to use my hands to follow where my eyes were going. I look at where I want the thread to go and use my hands to make that happen. Also I had to learn to make my hands go the same speed as the thread was going. With my Pfaff I need to do a waltz no rush slower speed working together. With my Babylock Jane I am able to move much quicker as she can really move but still its learning your machine and what speed your hand and eye works with your machines speed. And learning to control it. So basically practice and find what works for you. Quilt management is important as well as how your quilt moves across your surface. Hang ups with the quilt and jerky movements can cause some strange things to happen. Ask me how I know. And remember to check your back often. I have had beautiful stitching on the top only to find the back was full of eye lashes cause I went to fast in corners or really loose as my tension was off.

Becky's Crafts

I had read about some people doing FMQ here & some of the finer points. I had put together an Antique Teddy Bear quilt for a great grandson with a lot of plain background. I felt I needed to do something to it, so I did a smallish meandering which I basically pictured as puzzle pieces & it came out totally awesome!! I was so proud of that quilt!! Practice helps, but I never have the time, so I just choose a design and go for it!! I still get nervous about destroying my quilts sometimes, but I figure if I don't try to FMQ, I'll never get better! :-) So far, so good! Everyone has loved what I've tried.

Jingle

I just started doing it. The first was lousy but I have gotten better. I just move as I want. I don't try anything fancy.

bjchad

I didn't see anyone here recommending a thin flat batting for your first attempts. I found it made a big difference when I was starting out. Something on the order of warm and natural or warm and white, Hobbs 80/20 , there are others. I also feel a mostly cotton batting shifts less against the top and backing than poly which makes things easier. After you get some practice you can branch out and try other things to see how they work for you.

ekuw

You have to be OK with it not being perfect. I'm not even a perfectionist, but after I spend a lot of time piecing and love the top, I want the quilting to look as good. I too just "went" for it. I'm not great at it, but can do a respectable job meandering, loops and stippling. Just keep at it and try to lose your fear of making mistakes. You will, but more than likely you will be the only one that knows that. I am taking my first class this weekend and am really looking forward to getting some actual instruction.

suern3

I tried a few things, like out-lining a panel , something I read about. Then I found Leah Day's website and she has so much information about setting up your machine to speed control and many videos. Look on youtube for her stuff. Recently she has some on Craftsy, excellent! Her website is Daystyle.com. You can practice and practice but if you don't have some direction it can be frustrating. I am also one that the doodling does not work for. I do much better with my machine than with a pencil! And if you are a perfectionist, it will be hard for you. You just have to work through it. Good luck and I hope you keep trying, it really can work for you. Even if it is a struggle, once you have completed your own quilt, it will be worth it!

Mdegenhart

I just finally decided to let go and do it & not worry about whether it was perfect or not. i'm working on my first one & it is taking forever because there is so much quilting but it is pretty[ATTACH=CONFIG]528940[/ATTACH]