Uh-oh - sounds like a vintage sewing machine collector in the making. You already know how lovely two of them are. ;)

Yes, if you're going to do FMQ, I think you should absolutely have a machine that's well-suited for it. (I am a practiced enabler! ;) )

The vertical end-loading bobbin will give you a beautiful stitch, even flying through loops and sudden turns. (It sounds like we could be up at altitude any second doesn't it? ;) )

Some front-loading vertical bobbins cause trouble, but my Lady Kenmore 89 has a front-loading bobbin and she is a great machine for FMQ. Same thing with my Kenmores from the 70's - an 1802 and an 1803.

The open area under the arm is much smaller than the Singer 15, though. I did a queen size quilt on the Lady Kenmore, but it was a real struggle at the beginning - the middle of the quilt. The 15 is way easier for that, although it's still a struggle.

I haven't done a lot of free motion embroidery, but it really is fun, isn't it? :)

Next time, you could write on a piece of water-soluble stabilizer and sew over that. One wash and it's all gone.

Become friends with someone who likes the quilting and share..

Oh no - don't be afraid! We all mess up here and there, but there's not a whole lot you can do to ruin the quilt.

Not long ago, I quilted a great huge chunk of my daughter's king size quilt - the backing is black and I decided that I wanted the quilting to show, so I used white bobbin thread and black thread in the needle. I didn't realize that the bobbin tension was too tight and I ended up with a MESS. It took days with a seam ripper (and bifocals!) to get all that out of there. After it was washed the first time, you couldn't tell there had ever been a problem with it.

I've quilted over folds in the backing fabric and over little snippets of stuff that happened to be lying on my cutting table. I've used the wrong color of thread several times. I'm 100% terrible about backtracking - you can see double tracks on every darn quilt I make, no matter how hard I try to stitch over the first line of stitching.

But, I don't expect perfection any more - I try for it, but I learned to accept "good enough." My quilting isn't going to look like Irena Bluhms or Hari Walner's (unfortunately) but that's okay. It looks a lot better than it did a year ago or three years ago. I see every little jig and jag and goof, but I'm happy with the progress I've made.

Make some muslin sandwiches and get to playing - it's so much fun! And those practice sandwiches never have to go to waste, either - double them up and use them in potholders or hot pads. Cover them on both sides again and do some more practicing. When they're stiff as a board, use them inside tote bags or purses in place of timtex. :)

So I saw some pictures of small quilts on this thread. What are you using them for??? Do many of you do these small projects?

Baby Quilts, Lap Quilts, Doll Quilts, Book Markers, Table Toppers, Wall Hangings, etc.

Check out this site for fantastic video and written tutorials on FMQ: http://www.daystyledesigns.com/articles.htm (scroll down to middle of page).

Good luck!

I too cannot FMQ. I have practiced until I gave up in disgust. I bought some stencils at Joanns and transfered the design onto the quilts and sewed them using a walking foot. They turned out wonderful. I am attaching a pic of my granddaughters quilt, look at the sashing, it has the stenciling, between the blocks is cross hatching, and on the black and white blocks there are half circles from corner to corner ( you can't see them) give this a try. Good Luck

Another idea is to trace a pattern on tissue paper, tape it on a block with painters tape and slowly stitch over the tissue paper. I have done this on some pillow shams and table toppers, not a whole quilt yet. It's a step towards quilting your own, then do some stitch in the ditch in the areas you don't use the tissue paper. Good luck!

Wow! I never would have known that you did it that way. Something else for me to check out.

Everyone, please continue to share & teach - it is so very cool!!

There is a book on Amazon that teaches you how to use your walking foot to quilt. It looked pretty interesting. I have tried, heaven knows I have tried, to be good at FMQ. I have come to the conclusion that I was put on earth to give the Long Arm quilters work.

I donated my miniature quilts to http://www.alzquilts.org

I also make table runners, wall hangings, lots of different things. I do a sewing machine placemat with pockets too.

Looky what I found on Craigslist! Going to call about it tomorrow morning. $50 including the cabinet! How can I not? FMQ here I come!!!

I hear you and feel your angst. In 2005 I decided to purchase a pfaff grand quilter and 10' frame. It was about $3,000 (ouch) but I figured if it was costing me $200 per quilt sending it out to a free arm for quilting, I could be ahead in no time. And it happened just that way. In the last 6 months, I have completed 5 large lap memory quilts, 1 lap quilt, a queen sized scrap quilt, and there is 6 more pieced quilts waiting to go on plus I have basted 5 quilts for hand quilting. This will not solve your immediate situation, but it might be worth considering as you work forward. There are lots of these machines for sale second hand as people usually move up to a bigger machine with a bigger throat space. PGQ only has 9". Good Luck!

Check out Leah Day's blog - she is an amazing quilter who uses a DSM and on her blog she has a bunch of quilting patterns on there as well as videos of her doing and explaining each pattern. I have used her patterns on my LA and they are great. She even tells you if the patterns are beginner, beginner-intermediate, intermediate, intermediate-advanced and advanced! http://freemotionquilting.blogspot.com/

I horrible @ it also. I was even to the point of declaring my hatred for it. However. I recently did this black on black hidden star which obscured the effect. The way I saved it was by stitching around the edge of the star using white thread and the overcast stitch. That's as fancy as my machine gets. The star jumped back out and the added stitch detail highlighted the piecing. Instead of FMQ you can consider just highlighting the pattern and the piecing with accent thread color using any simple stitch.

Thanks for this thread. Learned a lot from it. I'm anxiously awaiting my first darning foot!

This is beautiful. Reminds me of a crazy quilt.

Yep, I have so many quilt tops also. And I usually send them out to be quilted, esp if it is a gift, because I do not want my machine quilting to ruin the quilt top.
But on another note, remember it is the design in the quilt top that makes the quilt, the machine quilting should just be an accent - it should never over power the quilt design.
For baby quilts, I have gone back to yarn tying them, I love the look of it and you can use different colored yarns. I also use my embroidery machine designs to quilt a quilt top. Works great for lap tops. But the bigger quilts are alot to handle.
Someday, I will go back and try FMQ. Because right now I am telling myself, make only wall hangings, you don't need anymore bigger quilts!
Great thread and suggestions and encouragements.

I don't think you will have time to make the quilt tops and learn to free motion quilting before April. For these wedding quilts you may want to send them to a long arm quilter. Another idea is to talk to a LQS that rents out their long arms. They also give instructions.

That looks great and thanks for the idea.

If you can do straight line quilting you already know the right moves. I think this tip may help you. Take any solid frabick. Cut a square about 9 inches. Make the sandwich using a sample block,or just draw a simple block for the top. Now in the old days we done things with buying a template. Get a piece of plain paper. Use a glass or a cup to draw around Think in your head of a flower or just simple circles. Draw four circles that over lap.Thread up and quilt along this line. It helps to pin the edges of the sandwich together.If this isn't enough then put the sandwich in an embrodery hoop. Just practice till you please your self. Its not hard. Good Luck to you. This can set your fears at rest and open a whole new world. You can cut out the design on the paper and pin it to your block. Most quilt department sell more complex designs. You can do it. Marvel

I called about the $50 Singer 15-91. It is sold. Sure wish people would take their ads off Craigslist when their item sells. Oh well...the search will continue. Plus - I went into a long explanation about quilting, machine stitching vs FMQ vs LAQ to my hubby - so now he is on board with why I would be looking to buy a 3rd machine & why it would be vintage vs new. Yay!

You won't believe this! I have a friend, who after hearing my angst over FMQ, the search I have started for a Singer 15 or 301, or ??, and so on...

She tells me: "I think I have the machine you are looking for (Singer 15)in storage and you can use it on loan...for like forever!"

She gave me the serial number, I looked it up & confirmed it is a Singer 15-91 with a cabinet! She won't let me buy it or rent it, but is adamant that I can use it "forever". How sweet is that? As soon as we can get things situated we will move it to my house.

Let the FMQ practicing begin!!! Woohoo!!

I have read that you can pull your bobbin thread to the top of your quilt before you start quilting so it doesn't get tangled underneath. Is that the kind of issue you are having? Good luck with your wedding quilts. :)

No - the bobbin thread won't "catch". I tried what you suggest. Didn't make a difference. Someone here shared that the machine I have - a Singer 403, is next to impossible to FMQ on for this very reason (Singer 400 & 500's). Has something to do with the horizontal bobbin case. Knowing this, I gave up trying to use my 403 & I began the search for a 15 or 301, recommended to me because of the vertical case & wider arm area.

I can't wait to see the 15-91!