what is the easiest FMQ to try for the first time?
#12
My first free motion project was meandered. I am a big fan of puzzles so it came naturally to me and looked fantastic when I was done. Meandering just reminds me so much of puzzle pieces! I've since used stencils, sewn a pattern through paper, when I needed perfect placement I traced the pattern on tissue paper & sewed through that. Whatever works! No rules! :-)
#14
Once I started doing FMQ, it was many months before I liked how my stippling looked. I did much better wtih loops and either stars or hearts. Once I got that down, I noticed that my movements were more smooth and stippling looked better. There are ways to help disguise your little irregularities, such as picking a thread that blends with rather than contrasts too much with your fabric (front and back), busy fabrics also distract from the quilting a little. Solids will show more goofs than prints, etc. The biggest thing is to get out there and try it. I like to work without patterns when I can, it's very liberating.
#17
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Join Date: Feb 2013
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My easiest is kind of a combination of stipple/meander, but with loops - don't know what to call that. I didn't do any kind of marking. I find that the easiest because I can break the stippling rule of not having any quilting lines cross, and can use a combination of big loops or small ones, depending on the space I need to fill up.
#18
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Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: Southern Indiana
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Thank you for all of your replies and pictures. I have always hand quilted and I like using stencils.. so the quilting itself becomes an art project itself. I would like progress that to my machine quilting... because machine quilting is much quicker
#19
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Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: Thornton, Colorado
Posts: 1,023
Meandering and stippling is fun! When I need a break from doing specific quilting designs (I do FMQ only....no stencils or marking!), I go to meandering. It is so relaxing...it sure wasn't when I first started out, but it is true the more you do, the better you get! When I do the meandering, I use a relaxed circular path when sewing all those curves. Then I proceed on to another circular path. This way, it comes out looking like a jigsaw puzzle without straight rows of curves. Hope this makes sense.
#20
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Join Date: May 2012
Location: Central Wisconsin
Posts: 4,391
My easiest is kind of a combination of stipple/meander, but with loops - don't know what to call that. I didn't do any kind of marking. I find that the easiest because I can break the stippling rule of not having any quilting lines cross, and can use a combination of big loops or small ones, depending on the space I need to fill up.
I do a lot of the number 4 from the post by Holice (post #13), in different configurations also. Something different to do.
Last edited by maviskw; 09-27-2013 at 03:56 AM.
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