Originally Posted by
Wintersewer
Archa,
I had the same experience. The technical aspects of FMQ came easily. I am still working on learning a pleasing design. For me that is the hard part. I need to doodle on paper more often.
I also find some days better than others. I used to doodle a lot, maybe that's why this was "easier" than I expected.
Originally Posted by
miriam
Tammi, I think you started with a decent working machine. Then I think you researched a lot before you started. Some of us just dive in and learn by trial and error. You have used the experience of others to learn. Why not success? I think you are right about sponges taking up too much space - my fingers don't want to be hit by the needle bar screw.
Ok,.. then I should stop waiting for the other shoe to drop then and just enjoy? Thanks
I did have the needle bar clamp sort of graze me with the sponges. I let out this weird "nnnnaaauughhh!" noise that made DH laugh out loud. I guess in retrospect it was funny.
Originally Posted by
salederer
I've been doing free motion quilting for just a little over ten years, since I first learned to quilt. I've found that it takes practice, practice, practice! the best thing to practice on is a sandwiched piece, simular to the quilt you will be working on. Don't go too fast. A nice steady speed, keeping your speed and movement of fabric together. Also if practicing on a large piece have it supported on tables or something to keep the piece level with your machine. Good luck.
I must say that I an really enjoying that table I modified to fit the machines in at bed level. I think it's made a huge difference. I use the machines on top of a desk at our sewing circle, and I fought a lot more with my quilt last night when I was there than I do at home.
Originally Posted by
Sarah in Brooklyn
I think you're just a natural - and lucky!
Thanks Sarah! And I love your avatar!
Originally Posted by
sulyle
I started FMQ at a charity group sew-in. Nobody told me it was hard so I just started in and had no problems quilting baby quilts on a Janome Gem. Then several years later I took a machine quilting class. So many rules. It took all the fun out of it and robbed me of my confidence. So I'd say if you're happy with your quilting, just keep practicing and enjoying. Before I start quilting on a project I always do a few minutes on a practice piece to get my rhythm going and I also make sure there's plenty of room around my machine to support my quilt project but other than that, no rules.
FMQ with rules? That sounds so counter intuitive! after all the F does stand for "free"... which is not the first word I used when I tried free motion embroidery on a slant with a horizontal bobbin way back when.
I'm glad to hear that I don't necessarily need to change anything at this point (other than a smaller sized needle and more practice time)
So, one thing about practice is that it uses a lot of fabric and batting. What are some of the ways to "Save" fabric or batting? I have some cheapie fabric i picked up but that's not going to last long, what about batting? I could swear I saw someone throwing another layer of fabric on top after they'd practiced all over one sandwich, but I'd think that may cause problems... the threads are harder to pierce or move out of the way, aren't they?
For now, I'm just making draft dodgers and such out of them, but I'm going to run out of doors soon.