Originally Posted by
Teeler
S124- nice job! How do you get "real stitch lengths" in there?! Every time I FMQ I seem to just have these teensy-weensy, almost non-existent spaces between stitches. Am I not moving it enough? (Practice)
Another thing I noticed more this time than the first time was a real need for additional space to the left of the machine. My hand kept falling off the bed of the machine. Must go find that 'foam surround' tutorial here on the boards and make one. (right tools will make practice go better!)
Well, as for 'real stitch lengths' they really aren't very consistent, but they get better with practice. Some of my stitch lengths are 3 times the length of others, but no matter, practice is what it takes. I did make one of those foam surround for my 301A and it does definitely help to keep the quilt moving around at an even pace. Also, the gloves help too. What else......oh....my 301 tension knob had a tendency to move down to 0 on it's own...and the tension on the back side of the quilt was very loose, so I had to keep checking that. Taking short breaks to manuever the quilt and rotating the quilt to get a new angle helps. I used an imaginary line and divided the quilt into quadrants (see Leah Day videos). That also helped. Basically practice is what it takes.