Now, before I start, I have to get the "practice, practice" thing out of the way. I KNOW that practice is vital to the acquisition of any skill, and I am willing to do it. Really. I actually embrace that concept. So please don't just tell me to practice, practice.

My problem is that I am practicing, spending hours in front of the machine (Brother NS30- pretty basic) without learning anything at all from it. It is making me grumpy and downhearted. Nothing is going right, and I have no idea why. I am, as a very wise swim teacher once told me "just practicing your mistakes".

So, I make no secret of being a bit impatient, and I thought that, for me, this product http://www.rgadesignquilts.com/store...products_id=16 looked like a really good tool. No danger of ruining something I had pieced myself, but yet the discipline of following something, rather than just meandering all over a blank sandwich. I purchased it (at a price far in excess of that quoted here, seeing as I live waaaaay down under) and I read it carefully. I kept it for a while because I felt I was not good enough at basic machine sewing (had had trouble with tension etc) and, when I eventually realised that I knew my machine and felt ready to embark on some new learning, I took it out of the packet, read the instructions, basted it (very carefully), set up some practice sandwiches to get my tension right on and, when I felt I had done as much as I needed to by way of preparation, I began.

I really was ready to make lots of mistakes. I am a beginner quilter. I understand that, but what I was not prepared for was for everything to go wrong at once. I thought that I would work along and have moments when I would see a few (of the many things necessary) go right and, in time, with practice, I would increase the number of balls I could keep in the air, so to speak.

I would first (so I thought) learn to speak and chew gum simultaneously, and then I would eventally be able to add in some extra multi-tasks until I could, one day, move the sandwich smoothly, keep the stitch length acceptable (ie somewhere on the continuum where it actaully looks like a stitch and not like a scar, and not like a piece of thread stretched across the fabric like a fairy's clothesline) I knew it would not be pretty, but I thought it would, for a few minutes out of each hour at least, offer the promise of improvements to come with, yes, practice.

So, what went wrong? Well, as advertised above, everything. I wont list them all but tension of course, was the worst. I followed the received wisdom and I experimented- dogs down and dogs up with stitch length shortened. Varied speed of the machine and of my arms. No combo produced a decent stitch unless I slowed down so much that I might as well have been hand quilting the thing. My shoulders tensed, my seam ripper glowed hot from over use, my floor filled up with unsightly worms of discarded thread. I became discouraged. I became angry. I went to bed and next day, I tried again.

With the clarity of the new day, I could see that my top tension was being ruined by me moving the sandwich. There was no other explanation. Of all the reading I did (and I read a lot) no one had a solution to offer on this. Except practice. Back to the s - u - p - e - r - s - l - o - w sewing. Didnt work much better. Fiddled with the tension wheel. From bad to worse. Changed the bobbin. Nah. Tried pushing, pulling, side to side motion. One worse than the other. Took a break. Tried again.

Now my conclusion is that, by moving the quilt (which is the whole point) I (a) stuff up the tension and (b) produce wonky lines, influenced, no doubt, by my fury at having parted with so much cash for a piece of fabric with lines printed on it.

If anyone is still reading, thank you for caring enough to get to the end. I am off to "practice" some more.

I am impressed with your determination...I have to admit I would have given up and taken a long bath by now.

Oh my ~ I do admire your due diligence. Wish I had some words of wisdom for you. Hopefully, someone with far more experience will be along shortly to give you some helpful ideas. (For both of us for that matter!)

i'm sorry that so much is going wrong. part of learning fmq is to train your muscles in certain movements. lots of folks buy a dry erase board and just practice the movements on that whenever they have spare time. some folks just doodle on paper. you might try one of those.

I feel your frustration! Stand up, relax those shoulders, take a deep breath. Remember to move your fabric slowly.
do you have the gloves? They really help.
One more thing...I think you need a hug. (((HUGS)))
Now go practice.

I hear you loud and clear, believe it or not I am in the chair right beside you.I have A wall hanging I want to do but am afraid I will wreck it with my FMQ. It sure looks good like it is(unquiled);-0 Good luck to you.

I feel your pain, my dear. I have given up for now but will try it again. I really would like to master FMQ even on an elementary level. Perhaps another day:) Loved your tale. Been there done that!!!!:)

I am so sorry for your problems, but I do sympathize, having been there myself. I would suggest that you take your machine (if possible) to a LQS and sit down for some basic lessons in FMQ. I know how hard it is to learn by yourself - you need a quilting buddy - anyone out there who is close and could help her out?

oh wow, I am new at this two, so sorry, read it all. I didn't have too much trouble doing the practice thing. Dogs down and using a special thingy for fmq, were you using a fmaq thingy, or just a regular foot? I don't think a regular foot will work, will for sure mess up the tension. I hope you get it worked out. Please don't quit, maybe you can take a class.

AMEN! Sounds like me! I've done classes and actually done some FMQ that worked, but right now I'm in the SAME spot you are in. Went to the county fair helping our guild demonstrate quilting, folks watched me rip apart my most recent FMQ failure and someone suggested it was time to change to a new needle. Trying that next to see if I can get out of this FMQ problem rut.

Sometimes you just have to stop, step back, and let the project get cold before you try again. I would suggest classes, or do like I'm doing - work on piecing for awhile to get some successes back in your life... until you feel better/ calmer/ happier and can get back to it.