Originally Posted by CAJAMK
I did some practicing on small quilted scraps to get the feel of free motion quilting. Now I am working on my first charity doing FMQ and it looks like a disaster! I could really use some help and tips. I just want to do swirls all over the little quilt and mine look like jagged circles. I lowered the tension to 3 and I dropped the feed dogs...Oh I don't know...I am just upset but I really want to do a nice job! Please help...tips anything...thanks
I dove into FMQ last summer & am still learning. After a few practice tries, I just dug out all of the tablerunners I had made in the past. My work is still herky jerky but it doesn't really show up on a finished pc. I find I want to hide from very light colors though since the stitching shows up more. Stick to darks for awhile. I get myself boxed into a corner often & end up with points even now. I hate that but I'm trying not to be too hard on myself since I'm just proud of myself for getting this far. Everybody else think I do wonderful work. I tell them not to look too closely. LOL
Just take a deep breath & go at it. When they say to relax, they aren't kidding. Just stop once in awhile, take a deep breath, relax your shoulders & go at it again. Are you using the grip gloves they recommend? I'm using Machingers.
The biggest hope I get is from Leah Day's site.