- I practiced on a tablet with a good drawing app (my tablet is Android, so I use Picasso or Kid's Doodle - both are free), I still do when I want to try something new. That way I can go over and over it, and it's always with me when I know I'm going to be out with some time to kill. I did this with feathers. I practiced in my spare time, maybe 15 minutes a day for about a week. When I finally sat down at the machine, they turned out looking like feathers.
Of course that's the one quilt I forgot to take a pic of before I sent it to the charity quilt people.
- I also saw on Pinterest or somewhere that someone tapes a pen to their needlebar or presser bar and practices moving actual paper under the machine for the muscle memory (don't run the machine, put the pen low enough to draw). Brilliant!
- Tartan mentioned in another thread that if batting and fabric were getting too expensive that disolving thread in the bobbin case would work. This is another brilliant idea.
- I've seen music mentioned. I like blues. That works for me.
- A glass of wine is often suggested. Hard alcohol, not so much. Ditto, when I put my back out and thought the pain killers made me mellow so it might work (and I was stir crazy). Yeah, not so much, and de-stitching my glove from my project sucked. I guess what I'm saying is relaxed and in the right frame of mind is important.
- My practice pads are often a few feet in size. This lets me spread my wings and try different things. I like it because it lets me plan a whole cloth sort of thing if I want to. Definitely larger is better than smaller in this case.
- One thing that was suggested to me, I haven't adhered to it as well as I should have, is get good at one particular type of FMQ. Make it yours. Once you've mastered that, then move to another pattern. I've always been a generalist though. I like to dabble in a little of everything. I don't think either is wrong, it depends on your personality.
- A table level with your machine is almost essential. Additionally, it must be at an appropriate height. No dracula arms!! Your shoulders should not be keeping your ears warm. In fact, because you're pushing the fabric around, leverage is good. If you can raise your chair a little higher than usual, this is good.
- Re: gloves - some people don't like gloves beause they're too warm, etc. There are lots of options out there. Sponges, FMQ grips, gardening gloves, white board erasers, those grippy things you use to open jars, etc. I don't use Machingers because they have latex in them, and I'm allergic, so there are lots of other things I've tried. I do like the Fons and Porter gloves. They're short for my freakishly long fingers, so I just cut the tips of the fingers off, and that helps me deal with cut threads and such as well.
- Take lots of breaks. As was mentioned 15 minutes at a time. You won't feel it today. You'll feel it tomorrow. I'm really guilty of not taking breaks often enough and then I get sore. It's not as bad with the frame as it was with the DSM, probably because I'm moving and advancing fabric, etc. The DSM, I didn't have to do any of that, and I could really get sore after a long session.
- Be kind to yourself. I don't think what you're doing looks bad at all. I like that you're journalling it. Some people catch on faster than others. You'll pick it up at your pace, no one else's. For Instance, my brain already sort of works "backwards", and moving the paper instead of the pen made complete sense to me right from the get go. Some people take longer. I have other deficiencies that more than make up for it. I can't draw, sew, or cut a straight line even with a ruler.
- And of course, as everyone has mentioned: Practice.
I'm sure I'll think of more afer I hit submit.
Hopefuly though, this generates more thoughts.