CoolJulUtah

I am VERY new to this whole quilt thing and figured it is something I would love to do. My first quilt was a Yellow Brick Road lap quilt in patriotic colors and I LOVE it! I had it professionally quilted and it's awesome! I made a couple of others and they turned out great, too! So I'm a quilter, right??? Not so. I decided for my next quilt I'd make one for my grandson. I tried to do the meandering by myself. IT LOOKS AWFUL!!! There are no nice round corners and there is WAY too much in each block. I did so much meandering (if you could call it that) in the blocks that it would take FOREVER to unpick!!! I can't just have all my work on the quilt top go to waste though. Would you be able to tell if I unpicked it and started over? Would you be able to see all the holes the needle made? Sorry this is so long . . . I'm just at a loss at what to do! My heart is sad. :o(

Furza Flyin

Deep breath....deep breath.... It will all be ok. If you dont have to un-sew you are not a real quilter :) . We all make mistakes and dont like something we do. So, take a step back and try again. When you are learning something new. Alway use scraps to practice on first. Even if it is a new block. HUGS! Meet your new friend the seam ripper...

PaperPrincess

You can unpick it and the holes will close when you launder it. It takes a LOT OF PRACTICE to do free motion quilting (FMQ). It was brave of you to start on an actual quilt. Most folks practice on small items or practice sandwiches until they are happy with their stitching, then work their way up to a 'real' quilt.
Do a search on FMQ and you will come up with lots of tips.
Good luck!!!

tazzyjj

Dont give up...practice makes perfect...just gotta do what you can at the beginning...you'll master this before you even know it!! :thumbup:

sewgull

Keep trying. We learn from mistakes. Sometime I think I am a professional ripper.

irishrose

You can pick it out carefully. It won't show unless your needle was dull. The holes will steam out or wash out.

Did you make some practice sandwiches? I know it's not the same as a big quilt, but it will help you learn to sew backwards - my biggest hangup. Once I relaxed and let the machine sew backwards, things became easier.

Find a slightly rough surface like fine sandpaper and lightly trace swirls and loops with your writing finger. It will help train your brain to do what you want. Instructions will say use a dry erase board or paper, but the sandpaper will imprint your brain better.

Don't be hard on yourself, please. I am a new FMQer, too. Relax and enjoy each small area, then move on. Personally, I prefer less quilting. My quilts are for my family, mostly, and they are have been thrilled with them. No one has looked for imperfections. All that being said, I have to do some today in plain, unpatterned blocks. I am scared because there's no pattern or color to hide behind. I am thinking of appliquing something there so I don't have to do it. We need to be brave together.

Joan

Please don't be so hard on yourself....

Free Motion Machine Quilting takes years to perfect.

I took a class thinking that "I" would then be a FM quilter. What a joke! It is hard and takes lots and lots of practice.

Yes, you can take your quilting out.

I for one do a lot of stitch in the ditch, echo quilting, or straight lines. Don't be afraid to mark your quilt with a blue pen so you have something to follow.

(or better yet, like I do most of the time, sent to the Long Arm Quilter.......0

But, please don't give up!!!!!!!!

EagarBeez

Your more brave then me! I can't say I am a newbie, I have made a few quilts so far. I look for a little more challenge with each quilt I make. Believe me, I have made some boo-boo's. I was discouraged too. I made a post to this group, and everyone was so encouraging. Please don't give up.
Your learning like me with each quilt you make. I would pull the stitches out, you won't see them. I have to pull some of my blocks apart, not once but twice. I make the same mistake on the same block. I am making a log cabin.
I may never learn machine quilting and tried hand quilting several times. I think I am not too shoddy with the top, but, disasterous back. I tie all my quilts.
Good luck to you on whatever you decide, but, please don't give up

GABBYABBY

I totally agree with this.

Flying_V_Goddess

FMQ is a lot harder than it looks. I tried it once on a quilted binder cover I was making and it was so frustrating. Still sitting at the top of my closet unfinished two years later. On the very first quilt I quilted---a quilt made of light and dark denim squares---I just had x's going through every other square. You think sewing a diagonal line through a square would be easy, but even that was a chore.

You can keep practicing (I'd start on some smaller projects instead of a quilt) and if that doesn't work out you can just bring your tops in to a long arm quilter. No quilter in their right mind will think you're any less of a quilter if you go to a LAQ.