Pennyhal

Fmq is not the easiest thing I've been trying to learn to do, but I haven't given up learning how to do it! Practice with your machine does help a lot...the more you do the better you get!

Austinite

I recommend a pair of grippy gloves, lots of tables and surfaces to make sure your entire project is supported, the drag can be murder on your body and mess up your stitching. I like Leah Day, Crafty Gemini is really good, Cristina Camelli on Craftsy is good, and Jacque Gering has two Craftsy classes on quilting with your walking foot that really taught me a lot. I'd only really considered SITD or simple lines with my walking foot, Jacque really

Austinite

Changed my perspective. Sorry, phone being weird.

Helen Carr

Before even going to the machine, on a piece of paper draw the design over and over until you mind and hands have it in your memory. Then you can quilt it much easier. good luck

carolynjo

Good luck with your FMQ. It takes practice, practice, and more practice but you will enjoy the process if you hang in there.

Stitchnripper

What everybody said, plus practice, practice, practice. I am still learning my new to me PQ 1500. I have experimented with threads and needles. It works best with a polyester thread, and breaks thread sometimes if I move the quilt sandwich to the left. But it really boils down to practicing after you have watched some or all of the videos. I call it the "sweet spot" where your hands and the machine are in sync and you can hear it and feel it. I don't get it all the time but I know it when I do. Good luck, keep us posted, and practice, practice, practice!!

Innov8R

I am learning to FMQ and simply don't have the feel for it that comes with experience. I bought some plastic templates and pounce to mark with. I have some faint lines to follow and I have learned a couple of patterns that I can probably do without marking soon. With the lines, I spend my "limited" brain power concentrating on even movements and stitching, not where I am going next.

Gelly

To help with muscle memory of FMQ, you can also just print out some designs on cheap paper, use an old needle in your machine with no thread and practice following the lines. Once you are comfortable with that, then you can move on to the practice sandwich & thread. The first time I tried FMQ I worried so much about the layers of fabric & batting, thread tension, & trying to make every stitch look perfect that I couldn't relax and just try to get the movements down. Practicing on paper w/the machine & no thread removed a lot of the stress. Drawing things on paper as practice didn't seem to make sense to me since when I draw I only use one hand & the movements are nothing like when moving a quilt on a machine.

kat13

If you make a quilt sandwich and practice, practice, practice!! It's like writing with the needle as your pencil, and your moving the paper (fabric)