WMUTeach

You are not alone. I am sure many others feel this way including me. What I do is use a practice sandwich, and then I do a real "mystic" thing. I close my eyes and envision How I want my arms and hands to move the quilt, I am a free motion gal, and then I dive in. I quilt with music or a book on CD and when I get tired I stop! I know, when I return to the piece my work will not be exactly like how I started but no one and I mean no one but an expert can tell the difference. If the expert is that picky then I don't need their opinion. I continue until finished and the more times I do this the better I get at FM and the less fear I have. Be bold, Be brave and Be the best DM quilter you can BE today. Have fun!

sewbizgirl

Anxiety... yes! I think that is pretty common. But, it's not a quilt until it's quilted. So I jump in and start and it always works out. Just choose a quilting method you are comfortable with and do your best.

MarleneC

I hesitate to on FMQ even though I have done it and took a one day class. Somebody suggested using felt--I might try that. I also like Angela Walters' suggestion to just do one block at a time and not worry about the entire quilt. I also like just doing 1/4 of the quilt at a time so that there isn't so much quilt to the right of the needle.

Pennyhal

I used to be nervous when I first started quilting. It was because I didn't want to "mess up." I was afraid of making mistakes. Then I heard how quilters would intentionally make a "mistake" to show that only God was perfect. Well, I don't have to intentionally make a mistake. I do fine just making mistakes unintentionally! I am now of the midset that mistakes are okay. It's not like I'm going to enter one in a show. It doesn't matter if you cut the fabric the wrong size or get the blocks all in the wrong order, or the colors do not go together. You just fix the "mistakes" or just leave them in there and make do. No one else cares that your quilt is not perfect nor do quilts have to be perfect to be enjoyed. Just get out the scissors and go for it. Enjoy the process!

MadQuilter

Yes, I still have self-imposed limitations when I get ready to FMQ. I recently worked on a desk runner for my hubby and when I first started I was almost paralyzed to do anything past STID. DH hinted that he would really like to have it at his desk and I gave myself a push and just started doing it. No marking, just free-form with contrasting thread. It turned out great. Are the patterns even? NO. Are they consistent? Not really. Can anyone tell by just looking at it? No. He had so many compliments and some of his colleagues told him that they want to buy one from me. That is quite a compliment for a completely scrappy project.

I do spend a lot more time preparing and planning the FMQ path. I do it with pencil on paper. Not necessarily to scale but enough to give me muscle memory from repeating the patterns. It makes such a big difference.

117becca

i don't quilt on my machine, but was watching eleanor burns this morning and she reminded me that you could machine quilt using a darning foot and dropping the feed dogs.

no pleats and puckers that way!

MargeD

Personally, I would say go for it, start simple. When I made my son's Triple Irish Chain quilt, I just quilted diagonal lines across the squares, much easier than hand quilting my daughter's full size quilt with hearts, the first and last quilt I ever hand quilted as my carpal tunnel won out. I am or was a self-taught quilter, hand quilting one stitch at a time, but since I was self-taught, nobody told me about any "rules", so I didn't know I was breaking dozens of them. After my son's quilt I made a king size quilt for our bed with pieced basket blocks, including a pieced handle. I made a medallion style quilt with 4 quilts in the center, set on point, then plain blue blocks around them where I quilted feathered wreaths (see, I told you I didn't know the rules) and all done with black sashing. Did I make mistakes, I sure did, but by the time I finished that quilt, I knew a whole lot more about machine quilting, and I've never looked back; but now I balk at FMQ, but I'm getting there - see you're not the only one with an irrational hesitation. I know I can do it, I did great when I took a long arm quilting class, but one day soon.

Alice PD

I too have fmq anxiety. Here are some things that help me.

I actually draw out my entire quilt top fmq design. I use rolls of Golden Threads quilting paper (very thin, vellum paper). Vellum Quilting Paper 20yd Roll
2340 - 12" wide
2350 - 18" wide
2360 - 24" wide (Works great for tracing a pattern onto your quilt, without having to place a mark on the quilt. Tears away cleanly without pulling stitches.) You can actually sew on top of this paper.
You can get it lots of places, even Amazon carries it.

I tell myself....I am only quilting a 6 inch square. When I do that, even if it is what I think is challenging, I figure, I can do 6 inches. 6 inches isn't all that hard.

Lastly, I make an 18 inch block, sandwiched just like I will be quilting, then I either mark my design on the fabric, or pin the Golden Threads Vellum paper with the design already on it to the sample. Then, I quilt it. This almost always points out areas I need to reconsider, or it fills me with courage. Then I am ready to go.

Hope these hints help.
Alice

ccthomas

I think that may be why there are so many UFO's.

vschieve

FMQ on my DSM is my favorite part of making a quilt. The more you do the better it gets. Kinda like when you learned to ride a bicycle; shaky, clumsy, scary, have a few falls, and then finally comes the day when it is smooth sailing. All worth the struggle to get there. It is all about timing and rhythm.