pstoner

I did an old (40 years old) top that my grandmother had pieced, it was made from wool scraps, a sheet and poly batting and did everything and anything I thought I would like to learn to do on it. It is now in my DD car as a lap blanket for my DGD's whenever they go somewhere and it's cold outside. Then I made a nine patch (see another of my posts) and then bought a whole cloth top and practiced on it. Now I am doing a custom top (practiced on paper many hours, then quilted a sample on my domestic with FMQ). Then just went for it. I am currently on the third row, but it has taken me all week to get to this row. I am going very slow and taking it one row at a time. Good Luck and just dive in, you will be amazed at how good you are at it after a few under your belt. Someone in another group I belong to suggested using an older comforter (you know the kind I mean-purchased for about 30 made in a factory) and just practice on those, you can usually pick those up really inexpensive from Goodwill and Stuff etc.

wesing

Do you have a dog or a cat? They don't care if the quilting is great; practice on a quilt for them, then you'll have the confidence you need to start on yours.

Darren

salmonsweet

I would drape all the tops over the frame and let them sit for a little while. (Like when you're auditioning fabrics, sort of.) I bet you, very quickly one's going to get brave/impatient/greedy for the honour, and will volunteer to be first. You know you're ready! Let it happen. :D

natalieg

I have a short arm, but had the same problem and was very intimidated by it. I let it sit for about 6 months before I did anything with it. I finally just loaded a throw sized top and said "oh well, what will be, will be..."! It came out pretty good! That was a few years ago.
Now I still get intimidated when I load a quilt, but it is in trying to figure out how to fit the pattern in the way I want it. I only have a depth of 5 inches to quilt in, so it is hard (for me) to "blend" it in so it doesn't just look like rows!

BKrenning

Double Ditto--and I used all of my practice quilts as the batting inside of table runners, potholders, trivets, etc. so nothing went to waste. Buy some of the craft size battings, load some really ugly fabric or old sheets and start playing with it!

Bobbielinks

Congradulation! Now get a cheater cloth or panel and play to get the feel of the machine. Next load one of your tops that maybe you don't like as well as another and play trying different motifs, free motion or ruler work, whatever. Each top you load and quilt you will gain more confidence. It's so easy to say this - I've been quilting on a longarm for the past 10 years and still get nervous when I load a customer's quilt top. But I know I can do it and once I get started everything falls into place. You'll do great - just relax and have fun!!

Sadiemae

I quilted a couple of cheaters to get comfortable with my machine.

RkayD

I felt that way when I first started quilting. It would take me weeks to finish a baby sized quilt. Now I can have one done in a day including the quilting and binding...2 days if life gets in the way. I took a break from quilting for a while but continued to read everything I could get my hands on. I was surprised that my skill level had improved 110%...and now that I am into it full time...I've improved 100 times over that. Its all about practice and being able to experiment. =) also not worrying about your little mistakes..use them as learning tools. You can do this! =)

edensgaite

Sheets and muslin is a good idea, or you might consider what I did. I bought inexpensive tops on ebay to practice on. Get one that has block construction, and an old sheet (I picked several up from a garage sale). If I made a mistake, it was okay. The quilt was donated in the end and I was able to practice without feeling like I messed up my own tops.

Yarn or Fabric

I also have issues with the loading of quilts - I have a weird aversion to it - I read about the Red Snappers and mine should be arriving this week. No more pins :) I really hate pins.
http://quiltsonthecorner.com/red_snappers

They have gotten nothing but rave reviews on the yahoogroups I belong to so I took the dive. I'm looking forward to actually using my frame now!