Some time ago, in my lurker days, someone gave a tip that has made a signigicant difference for me and I cannot remember who it was, but sure want to thank them. She said, "when you are quilting, don't tug and pull and maniputlate the quilt, just let the machine do the work. WOW, what a difference that made, especially in SID, for me. I used to think that I had to pull on each side of the seam to expose that seam and no matter what I did, or how hard I tried, my SID was a disaster. So, now I let the machine do it. Now, if someone could give me the magic bullet to FMQ, I am open to discussion. I have done some successfully, but also had some near disasters. I think that the biggest problem is being able to really see the pattern so that your flow is even. When you can't see the pattern well, you (I) hesitate and then I have a mess. Any solutions? Mainly I was working on black with a small red and white figure in it and the chalk was not doing it.