I have issues...
 

Does anyone else feel this way? I am a perfectionist and am so inspired by the art of quilting; however, my struggle is with the actual quilting part. After working so hard to piece a quilt together, it feels like such a letdown to stitch in the ditch on my little sewing machine. I have tried machine quilting on my home machine, but it is very limiting, and just can't look as good as I aspire it to look. Does anyone else feel like "what's the point of quilting if I don't have a longarm?", and what area do you focus on to substitute for the fancy quilting done on these machines. I don't mean to sound like a whiner, I just need another way to think about this. Maybe i should focus on hand-quilting....

I have to agree. I bought a Craftsy class on free motion quilting, and have yet to "read" it. I do know the technique calls for a lot more practice than is in my nature.. I see such beautiful stuff on this site and not all of it is done on a longarm, but I have not mastered anything more than SID.

I used to feel the same way as you, but as I have quilted my way through many quilts, I have gained the experience needed to feel good about what I do. Some DSM can be very limiting with a small throat area, but it just calls for imagination....I have 9 inches of throat space and do all my own quilting, even up to huge king size. Go to Leah Day's website and watch her FMQ....she is an absolute master at what she does. Her videos gave me ideas for quilting and I couldn't wait to try them out. Don't get discouraged when your fmq doesn't look professional, it takes lots and lots of practice. Something else to think about is maybe taking a class in fmq. My LQS gives classes once in a while.

Hand quilting is an art in itself. I just don't seam to have the patients for it. Most LQS in my area have LA's to rent time on. Why not take a class from them and use there LA? Your quilting does not have to fancy, it is only one aspect of the finished quilt. Remember if your not happy with the piecing of the top no amount of fancy quilting will make you happy with it. Keep trying with your DSM. I have seen beautiful award winning work done on one. Whether you hand quilt, LA, or use your DSM it all takes hours and hours of practice to get right. Good luck, keep us posted.

Maybe your strong suit for now is designing the tops that you would love to quilt. Do you have a longarmer that you could collaborate with? I am getting into machine quilting, been a hand quilter for over 30 years. The learning curve is huge. I did some smaller pieces on my 9" Mega quilter to get the feel of the machine, and moving the quilt. It gave me more confidence to put the machine back on the frame and try more on there. I think everything has stages, and you are ready to jump to a new stage in your quilting life. Thank goodness quilting has sooo much to offer, traditional, contemporary, hand or machine work.

Being a type A personality is tough. I have had to learn to let a lot of things go. It is a challenge to find what satisfies a person, our tastes change quite a bit over time. My problem is I put so much of myself into my quilts that when I give them away as gifts, I feel a bit let down. Like someone moved out! They become a part of me. My choice of pattern, fabric, color, quilting design, etc. These are all my choices. And, probably the only thing I will ever have control of!!

The search for what satisfies you will make your quilting world expand. You will always need to know more, accomplish more, perfect more, try more. No, you are not whining, you are on an adventure!

I do all my own quilting on a Juki with a 9" throat. I don't quilt tops in the queen or king size. Most of mine are twin, maybe up to full size and large throws. Lots of smaller quilts, wall hangings, baby quilts. I don't have a large number of FMQing designs I feel I am real good at, but I do have a few and that is what I use. I do loop-d-loop, loops, stipple (large and small) hearts and leaves and some just random fillers. You can do a lot with just one or two designs. and then the learning curve is not so steep. You can add designs as time goes on.

I know how you feel. I told myself to just go with the flow and I would be able to get to where I wanted to be as a quilter. It takes time to evolve but its worth the wait.

It takes a lot of practice to reach a level of perfection in machine quilting. I know if I dwell on what I think is perfect I won't be happy with what I get done. It hit me one day, lower my level of perfection. My quilting looks better with each quilt and I never allow myself to think it could be better. It will or it won't.

I know what you are feeling. Hang in there with each quilt you do you will get better and better. Maybe you could strive for improvement instead of perfection.

Not really. Designing the top and then working with a LAQ for the perfect quilting design is very rewarding in itself. Hand quilting is also viable as well W's qayg blocks.