Originally Posted by
cjsews
I was told to lower my speed and put the pedal to the metal. This way your speed is consistent. One said FMQ is like patting your head and rubbing your tummy at the same time. Lowering the speed and stepping on the foot feed all the way eliminates rubbing the tummy. You just have to concentrate on moving your fabric at a consistent speed
Agree. Our guild offered a free motion class with the Sulky Company representative and he also stated to lower your speed and press the foot pedal all the way down. It does work as you only have to focus on moving your fabric not how fast your machine is running. Another tip he showed that I found useful was to anchor your arms, hold your fabric with your fingertips and move only your hands in a circle area in the spot you want to work in. Hard to describe but imagine anchoring your elbows to your body and then moving your arms/wrist in a circular motion without moving your elbows. It limits how far you can go before you have to stop and re-adjust. Which has been one of my problems, going too far from the stitch field and loosing control.
It does take practice, been practicing for about 6 years now and still need lots of practice. A good way to practice is to make mug rugs, placemats, smaller projects. A friend told me recently in trying to use up her stash of fat quarters is to cut them into squares, circles or ovals layer two of them together with scrap batting, stitch and turn, then practice free motion, and use as "dividers" between her nesting pans and rarely used (holiday) larger dishes platters etc.