I've been doing FMQ, for 2 years now. Self taught.It took me a solid week of pratice for 3 hrs aday. I've never used a glider or spray. The item that helped me and I could'nt do without are my gloves. I did'nt have the quilters gloves, I used regular gardening gloves, the kind that have hard little bumps on the palms.About the 2nd day of struggling with the fabric and bunching and pulling, and my stitching looking like haywire, I started doing alittle more research. And my gloves are a must.
Hand quilting is an art all in its self, and thats how I did all my quilts. But since I have found FMQ, thats how I make all my quilts. Slimply because I can finish alot of my quilts alot faster and move on to more of my ideas. I use my hand quilting for embellishments on my quilts now.I keep my machines cleaned often because alot of lint and fuzz will build up. I also change my needle about every 3-4 quilts.