I am relatively new to quilting and have just been doing stitch in the ditch. I am getting brave want to branch out to free motion quilting and do not know where to start.

I am sewing an a Fleetwood Macine built in the late 60's. It is fairly rugged, but simple in design.

Will my regular pressure foot work, or do I need to purchase a different type of foot? My regular pressure foot is a zig zag foot.

What is a good stitch length??

My machine does have three positions for the feeder feet - dropped, medium and high, do I drop the feeder feet?

I have tried on scrap pieces of fabrics and can't seem to get the hang of it, not sure if I am doing something draastically wrong or it will just take a lot of practice or my type of machine is not capable of doing free motion quilting.

Suggestions and hints would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
978gray

The feed dogs need to be fully dropped and you need a darning or quilting foot. You just need practice after that.

hi gray as littlehud said practice practice, practice. here is a good site for lots of free motion info hope it helps you out. happy quilting

Yes, the feeddogs have to be dropped. And it helps if you take a stitch and then pull the the bottom thread up to the top and then pull the treads aside out of the way.

I don't have a fancy machine and I can make it work but I'm not so good yet. I make a pile of quilt sandwiches for practice.

There are some good demonstrations on YouTube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-d_cLN-ayE

opps! sorry i forgot to put link lol
http://www.daystyledesigns.com/index.htm

Thanks all for the info. That was a site I had not found. I guess the first thing I have to do is get the propper presser foot.

I'll be giving in a whirl on some scraps before trying on a quilt.

Something new to practice.

I must admit I was never able to do it with my regular machine. My shoulders and wrists just wouldn't cooperate. But Santa brought me a lovely frame and mid-arm and now it is easy as pie.

The main thing (After you get the proper foot) is the speed of your hands as they move the fabric & the speed you run your machine. If your hands move too fast, the stitches will be big & vice versa. That is the hardest thing for me to get coordinated! I start out good then slow down with my foot. Have even tried using the speed control on the machine instead of the foot control but, yes, as everyone said ....practice, practice, practice!!!

hi i always start about the middle and work from there finishing till i have pertty much cover the middle section and than i go out all around ,this way it,s quilted evenly i also have a just a regular sewing machine with a stitch regularter but use a table that i made from you tube .com (called how to make a cheap table quilting table ) it,s very helpful and cheap and easy to make for me this will do till i can buy my dream long arm quilting machine can,t wait you can also find it here on board if you click my name and see the list till you find the post when i posted it here ,hope i help you

One thing I've found to be vital is a pair of gloves that help you move the fabric around when quilting!! They can be the ones sold by Fons & Porter at Joann's or, practically the same thing, cheapo gardening gloves with the little grippy dots on them.