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Every time I try to FMQ I don't do very good. I always ask my self. "Do You have to be a little good at drawing and if you are not does that mean you can never do it? I think use of a stencil marked is harder than if it were just free motion. Am I right about this. When I watch a you tube for example , just stipelling it looks so easy and they are just moving so graceful.
Suzanne
Asking a seamstress to mend is like asking Picasso to paint your garage.
I on't think FMQ is harder freehand than a stencil. I think its just practice. I can't draw but my FMQ does not look bad after lots of practice. I think stencils make it easier if you can't draw. I also do not find stippling or freehand easy
Brother XL-3500i, SQ-9050, Dreamweaver XE6200D
I plan to draw on tissue paper, then pin it to the sandwich, and follow the lines as close as I can when I do try FMQ. I'm not sure where I saw the idea, but it will keep me from making a mess I hope. I will try it on a sample first. I will use tissue paper so I can tear it away easily when I am done. I'll let you know how well it works.
If you always do, what you have always done, The results never change. Change is the wings you give yourself.
It does help to draw your design on paper before you FMQ it
Brother XL-3500i, SQ-9050, Dreamweaver XE6200D
Thank you dolphyngyrl. I have drawn feathers and stippling on paper but it does not seam to go in my brain.
Suzanne
Asking a seamstress to mend is like asking Picasso to paint your garage.
I would break it down into smaller steps and when comfortable with each step of a design then put it together to make more complex designs. This Quilt Along from 2012 with Leah Day is really good for getting going with FMQ.
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...1F4B76430BB141
~Vita~
www.dogstarquilts.com
Vitality...Thank you much for Leah Day's youtube link...This is free or us, and she is so GOOD at explaining and making it look easy!
I found that stippling was harder when starting out than it was to do loops, curls, stars, hearts. It gets better with practice.
I use white chalk for marking my feather spines but do the rest freehand. Trying to follow lines for quilting is more difficult for me. I use designs that I have practiced and can do without drawing. A way to start FMQ is to pick a shape you can do easily. One of my first was the stars that you learned to draw in grade school with loops between to move around the quilt.
I really like the Tuesday tutorial done by Lori Kennedy and she quilts between lines or marked points. Her site is www.theinboxjaunt.com/
I agree loopy designs are easier for beginners (well...after straight or wavy lines of course). When I first started FMQ I actually bought a stippling stencil! It didn't really help me that much. What I eventually realized is that it gets better after hours of doing it. It's part training your hand/eye/brain coordination and part learning what works for machine speed/hand moving speed.
Lori
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trying to stay grateful
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