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!!