fishnlady

I believe there are some machines that simply do not allow much in the way of fmq. They are tough to work with. If you have tried everything, and it seems you have, then you might take the machine to a shop and ask them to demonstrate how to fmq on it for you to see it done on your machine and see how much trouble they have with it.

lovedquilts

try doing meandering on small quilt sandwiches made from your scraps, once you get your rhythm and your stitches look pretty good I would then try different loops and motifs. Also recomend, if you don't already have them is Machingers to grip the fabric sandwich and a product called Supreme Slider to make the bed of your sewing machine slippery. One more thing check out Patsy Thompson's website, her videos are wonderful.

BrendaK

Love your writing, hate your woes (sorry about them). Hang in there girl it will happen. Keep smiling. BrendaK

CharlottsQuilts

I know exactly what you mean. I practiced all summer last year, to no avail. All my special quilts now go to the quilter, and the others get quilt in the ditch. I am handquilting one now too, which I like to do, but it's going to take me forever! I hope you have better luck than I did!

roselady

I feel really ashamed of myself, after reading your story. The first time I tried FMQ I felt like I had never sewed, and I've been sewing for 45 years, it kind of felt like an insult to me. I've practiced some but I give up pretty easily. The bad part is that my machine is doing everything right, even though it is a 25 year old Bernina without many bells and whistles at all. I didn't have to mess with any settings, and the stitches were great, when I could make my hands do what they were suppose to do, which wasn't often at all. I have always hand quilted and I love it, but as we all know it takes a long time. I have sent my quilts out to a LAmer but haven't been very satsified with the jobs they've done, I can't afford the best, and it seems that "you get what you pay for". I will try to be as persistant as you and put in my practice time. It sounds like you are doing everything right...if you can get your machine to do it's part.

Wunder-Mar

I might've done the same myself - am enjoying everyone's suggestions for persevering - gloves, dry erase board, shoulder positions, etc. VERY helpful and they encourage me to go back to the board myself and try FMQ.

mocha827

You probably have plenty of advice, but the best purchase I ever made was the Sew Slip teflon sheet that goes over the "quilting table" but under the quilt sandwich. The teflon is quite frictionless and it makes the movement of the fabric almost effortless. I hope you keep after it, because it took me most of a king size quilt before I was really comfortable with it. It is a fine tune adjustment to get the needle up and down at a proper speed to make your stitches look good. I found that the rhythm of my machine for FMQ was just about the same as the rhythm I use for piecing and I would envision the speed at which the machine would be doing the design and then make myself slow down to that rhythm. Good luck.

k9dancer

I have read all the posts in this thread, and I understand the frustration of the newbies to this art. I was there myself. However, to those of you who tried, failed in your own eyes, and gave up, I ask you this: What other skill do you possess that you were able to acquire the first time you attempted it? I would wager very few.

Those who have achieved skill in machine quilting did not do it overnight. A hundred hours of practice is just a starting point.

Also, I sense that some of you have tried to run before you could crawl. Would you try to race in the Indy 500 if all you have is a learner's permit to drive? Probably not.

Allow yourself the time to practice simple things first.
Straight lines are not as easy as they look. There are tools and tricks to make it easier. Ask a teacher to show you how.

When you move on to free motion, practice on paper long before you get to the machine, and when I say this, I mean practice simple shapes, like curves, before trying to copy all the lace at Windsor Castle.

Do this and you will set yourself up to succeed.

1000projects

I broke over 100 needles before I figured out my problems was how the over-sized thread spool was mounted. The thread kept "catching" on the edge of the spool. It was bang-head-into-wall type frustration, and every time it broke I said a bad word, which upset my then-young son.

Over time, things have gotten better, lol. I think a class will help!

Sorrelpen

Oh my I have been thinking of trying this venture myself! I may read and procrastinate a bit longer!
My prayers are with you and wish ou patience.
Penny