AshleyR

You'll get the hang of it. Check your tension - don't be afraid of it: that's why they make it easy to adjust it! I found the easiest thing for me to start learning with was making cursive "e"'s over and over and over. Keep doing those until you get your foot, hands, eyes, etc moving in together the right way! Then "graduate" to cursive "L"'s. Then spirals and waves, etc. Then quilt your name! Before you know it, you'll be posting pictures of queen sized quilts and saying, "Look what I just finished!"

raedar63

Hahahahah me too

jillmc

heh heh....it helps to know I am not the only one who breaks out in a cold sweat just thinking about it! :-) This board is so wonderful.....Thank you for all of the supportive words of encouragement.......I am just expecting too much too quickly I think. I tend to "jump in feet first"...my very first quilt was a queen size with MANY pieces. I took a class that was 10 wks long while my DH was on assignment in Mexico-and he came home to a humongous quilt on the bed! I had no clue what I was doing, and it still turned out very nicely-helped that I had a wonderful teacher-thanks Bev, if you are out there! :-) Wow. I am rambling....should be at my machine PRACTICING! thanks again.....if and when I get the hang of this, I will post pictures! :-)

omaluvs2quilt

When I first started, I didn't think I could do it. The very first time I was ready to give up, but I really wanted my quilt to be all mine. It did take quite a bit of practice, but I ended up fmq'ing my very first quilt using leaf cutouts made from freezer paper, ironing them to the quilt and stitching around them. I actually find it easier to follow marked patterns, I have a difficult time getting the scale correct when I'm winging it. A wipe board helps me to develope that muscle memory for simple patterns.

This board is definitely the best place to get tips and for problem solving, so many talented people! Best of luck to you, can't wait to see the final product : )

bunbytes

Most of my birthday requests were things for fmq - gloves, silicon spray, plexiglass sewing machine base extension, etc. I am determined to be at lease adequate at this skill. Check in with me next year this time!

emlee51

Practice seems to be the key word in this thread(pardon the pun). I'm using a lot of my UFOs for practice...they all were made for myself, so why not? Most of them are scrappies, so all I'm looking for here is warmth, not quilt show quality. I've also learned that your stitch length depends on the speed at which you move your fabric and the speed at which you run your machine. If you can get those two things in sync you can do a good job.

GGinMcKinney

For me it took lots of practice on 12" square sandwiches. I found I could just add fabric to top and bottom of the sandwich and quilt again without making a new sandwich and using up my batting. I quilted daily for weeks. I found it easiest to quilt my name or names of my family. I was already familiar with the motion so then the speed and moving came easier. I have a Janome 6600P. I have to turn the top tension dial almost as high as it will go then back off till the tension smooths out. The little dashes on the back went away with practice which has a lot to do with speed. Seems the machine goes fast and the hands move slower or something like that. After lots of practice on sandwiches I quilted charity quilts lap size and made baby quilts. The size of the quilt changes the feel so I slowly moved up to quilting queen size on my Janome. You can do it. Practice may sound boring, but it can be so fun to see the improvements. Turn on the music and relax. Try a variety of notions and tools till you find your groove. It is in you, just relax and it will be wonderful!!! Go, girl!

MasonsDad

I'm new to this also and as you can tell from my screen name I am a man with fairly large hands so when I tried to get gloves to hold the quilt with they were all to small. I ended up going to Lowe's and getting coated gardening gloves $6 for two pair and then setting my machine at half speed so I don't have to worry about my speed surging on me, and then all I had to concentrate on was my pattern and hand speed. It took me a couple of hours of practice and I was off and running with a simple meandering pattern.
Practice and visualization of the pattern is what helped me. Doing the meandering pattern I kept thinking of an open ended figure eight.
just my two cents, but hope it helps.

jude by the sea

Hi all, I am with all of you about having a nerve attach when I think I am going to begin the quilting process but once I get started I find I can't stop. I am loving the proces but am a total newbie to quilting so I try to practice, practice, practice. I have to restrain from putting a real quilt on my machine. Someone mentioned to me about putting a Teflon washer in the bobbin case which helped. Can anyone explain the washer thing to me... Where are the washers sold..I will try anything that will help make the job run smoother!

allsgo

I am breaking out in a sweat just reading this!


lol