and I definitely fall into the latter category. :(

I am fairly good at piecing...I'm really good at hand quilting...

but at machine quilting...it's official...I suck!

Practice! Practice! Practice! I am sure it isn't as bad as you think. Everyone has to learn.

Do what I did -- go to the thrift stores and buy old sheets. Get some somewhat cheap batting....sandwich then, etc. Then DRAW with felt pen, the design you want your quilt top to be (triangles, blocks, etc)...add borders if you're going to do borders. Then practice on that. If you're doing meandering, then just meander....but it's a LOT cheaper than practicing on something you've paid big $$ for fabric and put a lotta heart into.

As I hate to waste any fabric, I'd suggest buying two single bed sheets and sandwich them with a lightweight batting and quilt that. Get a plain and an easy to follow pattern (ie large floral). Machine quilt it on the floral side and then you can easily check your stitches on the plain side. By following the outline of the sheet design, you don't even have to mark it. When you're done practicing, you'll still have a lightweight quilt that is useable if not beautiful!

I learned by quilting on uphoolstery fabrcs wiht no batting it is thick enough with out the batting. ask at any of your upholstery shops they may be happy and let you have major boxes of scraps. I got 12 moving boxes full of that stuff. I even made a couple of quilts out of it.

These are great ideas- thanks.

Practice is what it takes :D:D:D

Do whatever you like to do! Hand quilting really is an art! I'm hearing a lot of quilters say they like being able to take it slow and easy!

We all progress at our own speed! If you really want to do machine quilting, there are some great tutorial videos for FMQ on www.youtube.com.

In any case, don't pressure yourself especially if you find it distasteful!

I also love to hand quilt but really want to get good at MQ so I can finish more things before I croak!! lol

You can't decide you suck until you have put in 100 hours, that is what the FMQ teacher of my class told us!