Originally Posted by quiltingcurious
It's just beautiful, love the brightness of the colors and your FMQ design looks very nice.
Thank you! I love my old gals. Like someone else, I have a second 15-91 for backup, but if I needed to, I could use one of my Kenmores - they don't have as much room under the arm, but I actually think they're the most "forgiving" with tension and skipped stitches issues than the Singers.
There really isn't much difference from one machine to another in how you manuever the quilt under the needle. The 15 has a little more room than the 301, but the process is the same.
Yes, that helps, do you start in the center and how do you mark your design on the quilt top.
I do generally start in the center. I do as little marking as possible. On this particular quilt, I didn't mark any of it, I just started doodling in the center and then moved outward toward the edges, dealing with about one square foot at a time.
Another one that I just finished quilting required some marking - there are 49 overlapping 14½" circles, a feather wreath in each of 49 blocks and 14 long chains of a fleur-de-lis type of design in the sashing/cornerstones. I marked the large circles and for the feathered wreaths, I marked the circles that I would follow for the "spine" of each feather, but I do the feathers freehand and the fleur-de-lis, too.
When I get to the borders, the narrow inner border won't require marking, but the big scalloped feather design will need to have the spines marked to keep them even.
Do you drop your feed dog? I tried that and it seemed to do better with them left up.
I do drop mine, but it's not necessary. Some people seem to find it easier with them up - whatever works best for you. :)
I also put my stitch regulator at the lowest position, but I'm am just learning to regulate speed (knee lever) and work my hands to make designs.
You're coordinating a lot of activity all at once.
I think I do a lot better when I draw the design a bazillion times on a Dry Erase board before I try to draw it on the quilt. That way, I don't have to think about which way to go next - my hands seem to move automatically to draw the design and I can concentrate on keeping the fabric smooth.