rivka

I finally came to a realization just recently -- I don't have the time or the patience to do really complicated quilting. I let my last quilt just sit there for several months because I was feeling so despondent that I couldn't do really detailed and fancy work. I finally kicked myself in the behind, and told myself to accept me as I am ;) I do pantographs, and that's about it -- no freeform or anything fancy, and I've learned to accept that. I make functional quilts with basic quilting, and that's good enough for me at this point.

Thumbelina

Glad to see I'm not the only one doing just the easy stuff. I noticed that as soon as I push the button, I have a death grip on my machine. I'm so scared to mess up all the time. Maybe I'll be able to relax when my girlfriend quits giving her quilts to practice on.

suezquilts

Doodle Doodle Doodle

Can I say anything more? I have been LA Quilting for 7 yrs.
I started with Pantos... and doodling... practicing with the LA... hold the pencil straight up and down, not slanted.
This has helped me. I have asked to have my way with customer's quilt, someone who I knew who would listen to my ideas. They have been some of my best quilts.

Most importantly, have a design board... my design board, as I lay in bed (door open) I can look straight out at the quilt.
It is a good distance away. So at night in the dark it shows a different view of the quilt than in the daylight.

don't give up! Enjoy the Art!

CoyoteQuilts

I have not done it on my new 'toy', but I did do straight line stitching with my domestic. I didn't have a ruler, I just fixed the 'wheels' so they couldn't move and straight stitched left to right/right to left and it came out fantastic for a newbie.... I am planning on trying it with my new 'toy' when I get a quilt that I want to do that with, but it may be a little harder as the wheels I need to keep from moving are inside the base of my machine.

1barron

Yes I use the kiss method (keep it simple sweetheart). I also quilt for customers (mainly family). I took up FMQ about 5 years ago. My Aunt told me the most important thing is to keep doing and it would get easier. I also use a pencil and paper when trying a new pattern.

1barron

I pick up sheets and thin blankets at garage sales and thrift shops to practice new FMQ patterns on. Flip the edges and sew down. Give to someone after your have enough. I have 6 kids and didn't have to yell about them using one of MY QUILTS. They knew they could do what ever with the throws.

Annya

When I was doing my hearts I cheated. I traced the design onto paper then followed the drawn lines. It made it a lot easier when I am not good at it. since then I went to a machine quilting class and we were shown the right way to do it. But FIRST you must practice on a sandwiched square before doing it on your quilt.

Debra from Ks.

Hang in there. It gets easier as you go along. I've been machine quilting for several years. I still work on doing those feathers. They are not easy. I did go to a machine quilting market. There they had told me if you have trouble what they did was use a hand quilting stencil to mark the quilt or the practice fabric. Then try following the markings that way. This way you can get the feel of what they are suppose to look like. I got one of those chalk eraser . It seems to work for me. It marks over your stencil a lot faster. Give it a try and let me know how you are doing.

dgmoby

Everyone loves feathers, but really they are one of the most difficult patterns to accomplish. It takes a lot of daily practice. Quilting once or twice every week or two isn't enough practice to develop the muscle skills - it needs to be everyday until you succeed...however long it takes. So draw everyday, then after a week or two, get on the machine and practice. Each day should be 15-20 minutes. You WILL be successful if you practice daily. Keep your old practices, so you can see your improvement - you'll be surprised at how well this works!

Hooked on Feathers is a great book for learning easier alternative feathers, as well as Kimmy's CD mentioned above. But, you do have to practice daily. There's no way around the practicing. Also, classes are wonderful if you have them near you, if not, use DVD's and books.

Feathers are the hardest, so also try working with templates and doing continuous curves in squares/stars, using a ruler to SID (stitch in the ditch), chalk and stencils, and pantographs, as mentioned above. All these things will help - but you won't learn if you can't put forth the hours to practice. Longarm quilters put in hundreds of hours to learn, and they don't quit (too much invested!). They have so much invested in time, books, DVD's, classes, materials, etc. So, keep working on it. Practice, obtain some materials to help, and you'll succeed! Everyone succeeds, if you put in enough practice time :)

Good luck - and if you have questions, be sure to ask!
Debbie in Austin

jitkaau

I think the solution is confidence. Don't be hesitant when you do the loops for the feathers. Even if they are not like other people's loops - if you make fifty of them, they form a pattern and it looks like you deliberately wanted it to go that way. I call it "artist's licence"...just go for it and I think you will be happy. I am improving all the time, and that's what I want.I had four years training at art college before teaching the subject for many years, so I just draw what I want onto the quilt. When I do the quilting I half imagine that the needle is like a pencil and I'm thinking a few steps ahead of where I am at any given moment..However, I still can't afford a real long arm - I'm using a mid arm machine on a quilting bed.(Now to tackle the two quilt tops I made over Christmas Week...)