QuilterMomma

Are you wearing any rubber type gloves? They have those rubber gloves you can buy at the hardware store that are nice and strong, like the machininger gloves that are twice as much, that work real well so you can grip the fabric better. I use the ones my husband sells instead of the quilting ones because they are three times less. They last for a very long time. No not the rubber gloves at the doctors office. They come in blue, purple, orange.
One thing that I taught my girls on their fmq, is to think of when you rub lotion on your hands and body, you don't just slap it on and let it fly everywhere, you take smooth strokes and with sincerety. That is how you approach fmq. I teach this at our local quilt shop.

Pat G

So many of the things Sam said rang true with me. I was so intimidated by FMQ but one day I got tired of feeling that way so I grabbed a tablerunner I had made awhile ago & just went at it. It was just a meander but it looked so darn good I ended up doing every runner I could get my hands on. My work hasn't really improved a lot but the finished work doesn't show my imperfections. Impresses other people so I guess that gives me a pass.

Sneed

First thing I did was straight lines up, down, and back and forth sideways until you get the feel of moving the fabric in all directions without actually turning the fabic...all this while controlling the foot speed. Then move on to gradual swirls and loops. I'm still trying to coordinate controlling my motion and speed as a go around a swirl. My hand motion tends to speed up when doing that . Then try some C's. Going up and around and then back. Then some stippling is always good to get the flow of the whole thing. After you're happier with this the Leah Day tutorials are good to watch.

Always check the back after doing a little to make sure your tension is good. I, like many, am guilty of quilting away without looking only to find a total mess too late. Last week I posted pictures of the goof I made of quilting the folded backing to the quilt. Happy to say I updated that today saying that I was successful at getting all of that unstitched. You might scan through the comments to that post for many good suggestions on removing those bad stitches, etc.

Good luck..I was you not too long ago. Still have much room for improvement, but maybe someday I'll get it all to work right together. Meaning...my hands and foot and brain. I still have trouble with the brain part being able to look ahead and know what I'm going to do while the machine is roaring along.

christyld60

I would also like to "thank you", all....I am still practicing & trying to find my own FMQ style/technique and it is great to get so many different but usable ideas.

MargeD

I can already see your progress, and as they say practice makes perfect. So hang in there, we didn't learn to quilt in a day when we started out, baby steps and you make it through and make better quilts.

Reb

Thanks for showing the improvement in your sample pictures. Encourages me to keep trying.

mckwilter

In order to build "muscle memory" consider doing FMQ with paper and pencil. Practicing stippling this way helps you to think your way out of tight corners. Think about using lined notebook paper to practice loops and circles to help develop consistant shapes and sizes.

When I FMQ, I set the speed adjustment to a medium speed and unplug my foot pedal. I start off the edge of the quilt sandwich and hit the on/off switch. In this way, the speed is always the same, and I only have to worry about moving my hands in a smooth, consistent motion. When I get ready to stop, I work my way back off the edge of the quilt sandwich before I stop.

Another thing I was taught was before I begin to FMQ on a real quilt, practice with pencil and paper for a few minutes, then warm up on a practice quilt sandwich. This helps the muscle memory to kick in.

Good luck and keep practicing.

redbreast

As you have read from everyone, you need to practice a lot and then it really becomes fun to FMQ an entire quilt. One thing that I have learned is that once I get what I call fairly good, it all leaves me if I don't use the FMQ for a couple of days. So when it has been a while I still practice before I start another project. Believe me it is worth a few minutes before you start again. I have tried to just sit down and start quilting and end up ripping it out because I am not happy with the way it looks.

ArchaicArcane

• 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.

Knitette

You don't have to practice on plain fabric! If you have any with large flowers or some such on a plainish background, you can practice doing an outline, going round leaves etc. This will help you with corners and control.