Free-motion machine quilting is great. When there is no set pattern, you cannot make a mistake.

What do you guys think?

Ummm........... you haven't seen my attempts LOL :D:D

My sister just told me to practice on the quilt I'm making for her b/c she'll never know the difference ( she doesn't sew).
But I really can't do that. It's going to be a beautiful quilt and I don't want to ruin it!!!
Not sure what to do about this except practice practice practice! :thumbup:

...Until you look at the back :-D :-D

But, if you use a fabric with a small print on the back and match the thread you can barely see the quilting. A trick I learned until the FMQ becomes better. Ann in TN

What about pleats and puckers? :-D :-D JK, I get those with stitch in the ditch, too! I'm too terrified to try FMQ! :-D

I have never had a pleat or pucker even with stitch in the ditch. I do baste my quilt very well. If you are worried about that basting spray keeps it together really well and if it can't shift you can't have a pleat. I do use an attachment that moves the top and bottom fabric at the same rate. Puckers might be a tension issue.
Ann in TN

Maybe tension in my shoulders. I don't really have a big issue with the puckers, although I will get a little one every now and then. I don't have a lot of room with my machine to maneuver, so FMQ seems like it would be hard to do. But I'm practicing on small pieces and working up to it! I will eventually conquer my fear (maybe!).

May I ask what attachment you use? I am still a newbie - very much so!!

REALLY....I'm just starting to do FM and I have not succeeded yet...Though I did a quick baby quilt with spiral circles this wk...It's OK