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.

Well if you get to FMQing as well as you wrote that post, you'll be GREAT!

I don't understand why such tension issues. Tell us what you are using - thread, foot, settings, etc. Are you using a FMQ/darning/"hopping" foot? Does the machine work well otherwise? Let's see if all the wonderful folks here can give you a little help.

I did my first FMQ attempt last night and it was disastrous! So, I understand totally. After about an hour of playing with it today I discovered, that with my machine at least, the best settings for stitch length and tension are the same as if I'm piecing. With that discovery, I made a small (about 8x8in) sandwich, spray basted it, and took it to the machine. I just started moving the fabric around... and my next discovery --- that I shouldn't go too slow or too fast... had to find the right "speed" and that's what I'm going to continue practicing. I'm not trying to create a "design" and I don't care about crossing lines, I'm just moving the sandwich around and trying to work on how the stitches look. IF, and I do mean IF, I can ever master that, I'll try to control the direction of my stitching and hopefully will end up with something quilt worthy! Anyway, just know you are certainly NOT alone!

I applaud your determination! Hopefully someone here has the same, or similar machine and can provide some tips. The usual advice is FAST machine SLOW hands. When i took a FMQ class, that was the first thing she told me, I was running my machine at too slow a speed, so step on it! I am a very slow sewer so this was hard for me at first, but it really helped!

I've been "practicing" for years and I still can't do anything except something like loop de loops, but I keep on practicing. Please don't give up, eventually we'll "get it".

Thank you all so much for being there for me (and for the hug ;-) ) It certainly does help to know that it is not just me.

Sadiemae I would for sure be in the hot bath if it was not mid winter here- my cast iron bath never warms up these days, but I did have a looooong hot shower! (good for the tight shoulders)

To answer some questions, yes early lace and Dandish, I have the proper foot but no mcd, I do not have the gloves- maybe that would help. I have the extension table thing for my machine and I do think that much flat surface is enough for a piece of this size, although I can see it would be difficult to quilt anything full sized with that setup (as if)

PaperP- I too had heard the fast stitch slow hands but that was giving me the scar look (stitches so tiny and all on top of each other). I am trying medium speed now and have cranked the top tension up as far as it will go. Seems to be giving some sort of result, so fingers crossed...... I have also started making notes so I can remember which combination of problems I am practicing at any one time lol.

Quiltnan I am a keen doodler- never known to waste a boring meeting at work without filling a blank page with swirls ;-)

mtspools- I hear ya! My piecework is starting to look lovely and lovelier without any quilting at all, but I do so want to learn!

Vicky I feel for you at the County Fair, but well done getting out there. Buckeye I would like to do a class but I work full time and on the weekends there is always so much else needing to be done- it is hard to find one but maybe I need to prioritise it higher on my list! I dont have any real life quilting buds- you guys are it!

I would work more on piecing except I do have this one small project all pieced and I promised to give it to my mother ages ago and I have posted before about how there is nothing like your mother to make you feel bad about your inadequacies and I really want to be able to quilt it and get it out of my sewing room and into her living room (where, bless her, she will show it off and tell everyone it is great, just like other things I have made for her which were, in retrospect, pretty wonky)

nance ell, I guess I should have spent more time with the blank sandwiches- you stick at that and let us know how you get on!

Here's to persistence and to all of us "getting it" one day, sooner or later

Thanks again, you ladies are the best.

You should try having a glass of wine before starting the machine again!!

This too shall pass! You will triumph. That's how I was with piecing, but have only FMQed one table runner so far!
Chicken, I guess! Kudos to you. Keep working at it.

Maybe you are not following your bliss. I have not seen your quilting, but your writing is wonderful!

Oh, do keep trying. My recent first try, I ripped it all out. Asked some questions here & tried again. For me,
I found I had to increase upper tension way more than I would have ever thought (by trial & error) & again, for me, medium speed, with both hands & machine. I do not expect I will ever get good, but adequate enough to finish a small project.
Made me happy : ).
Good luck.

Practice and determination is what it takes.

Maybe you should just give up on the quilting for a while and write articles for magazines!! I'm still laughing, but No, No not at you! I think you could earn enough to take some one-on-one lessons!

Good Luck!! :thumbup:

Tip for everyone trying Free Motion Quilting (FMQ)

Put some music on! Listen to the music and RELAX! Don't worry about getting it right...it will just flow out of your hands and onto your quilt if you relax and go with the flow.

Works for me anyway.... :)

Im not sure if it will help but I have a friend that does a bit of FMQ and she has a seperate bobbin case that has had the tension adjusted for FMQ she changes the case if she is sewing

Love this post! I, too, have tried several times and found I could quilt by hand so much faster and only a few stitches had to be removed and redone. It is one thing to manage a small sandwich under the needle than to handle a quilt under the needle. Someday, if I live long enough, I might finish one sandwich whereby I exclaim "I did it!"

I'm laughing too, not at the problems, but been there and still there, I started quilting my red, white, and blue quilt yesterday, it was going well, put lots of saftey pins to hold it all together, first block I did was perfect same with the second, finally getting the ideal of it all, so I quit looking at the back side and just sewing away, back started to hurt so, I got up and look at my quilt and I couldn't believe it...freaking puckers every where, made me mad and I put it up, gonna have to get the seam ripper out and just not into that quite yet...

What a great story teller she is!

I have just bought a Janome Horizon and was hoping to do FMQ, I am scared now!!

After taking several machine quilting classes, I too am in the practice, practice, practice stage, and it still looks soooooo bad that I do not know whether to laugh or cry or just stick to hand quilting!

It's hard, I know - and I took classes as well, and my teacher told me to relax, not to try too hard ( very difficult thing to do). I was trying to meander, and it just looked awful! I let the whole thing go completely and focused on what I do know how to do Later I went back with a large mug of tea, some good music with gentle rythms, and just went for it. It did work then! The moment I start to "think" it goes wrong. Try some incense, relaxing music, anything to get you "in the mood" and try again, without any expectations. Perhaps that would help?

If you can, try to position a pen or marker into a vice that holds it steady and upright. Then move the paper around under it, as if you were FMQ'ing to re-train your brain. When we doodle, we move the pen around the paper and I think when we start on FMQ our brains want to do what they know and it causes a dis-connect.

That said, the best I can do is follow traced lines and do loopty loops but it's a million times better than it was a few months ago. I think there might be something to the wine suggestion. Everyone on here swears by it. If all else fails, there's always that.
;)
Good luck. We've all been there.

It took you time to learn how to write so well. And it will take you time to FMQ so well. Don't be so hard on yourself!
Of course, this is coming from someone who is "rotary challenged" as well as "FMQ challenged". I practice some but usually I just piece a charity quilt then dive into the FMQ right on the piece. It has gotten a little better over time.
If it was the 70's I would have smoked a joint then FMQ'd....but alas those days are long gone. Stick with it. I have (as well as many here) posted about my crappy quilting. In fact I am going to a friend's house today who is a wonderful cross stitcher. We always play show & tell when we get together. I am taking a small wall hanging I made that has some of my terrible FMQ work....luckily she knows squat about quilting! But I still have pride in my work. As today's FMQ is better than last month or last year. Not being brought up in a crafty family all aspects of quilting is brand new to me at the ripe age of 55. Now I just take time to laugh at myself!

After checking out your purchase, I think that possibly, you went for your doctorate before you got your plain ol' standard degree. Those designs look daunting, to say the least. Draw yourself out some easy swirls on a sandwich and try that, then progress from there. I sure bleed for you as I have struggled with FMQ and probably always will, and I don't have much time left to get-it either, but I do the best I can and let it go at that. No sense beating a old dead grandma, I will never be a Charisma, but I forge ahead the best I can. So, I assume that you are much younger and you just keep trying and eventually, you will progress to acceptable and maybe even to "wow".

Half of your problems may be eliminated if you bought a single hole plate for your machine. All the best with your practice...it does work...

Yesterday, I decided I wanted to fmq a holly leaf onto one of the tree skirts I made. Having never fmq before or even seen it done, I pulled out a scrap piece of material and traced my design onto it. I got out the foot and everything and just started, not knowing a thing about what I was doing but my motto when sewing is just go with it. Well, after 2 failed attempts, I figured I could just hand quilt it in, after all, it was a small leaf. But you've inspired me to try it again, so I did my research this time and found a 4 part toutorial on youtube

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39I5A3iyCtw

I've only watched the first one, but learned my first mistake was that my feed dogs were up (ooops!) hope it will help you! But you've inspired me to try it again, this time with feed dogs down, and it sorta looks like a leaf this time!

great tut thanks for sharing

I was doing similiar practices, then I came across this website:

http://www.daystyledesigns.com/freemotionfoot.htm

Please watch and learn how to modify your darning foot. I modified my foot and I am almost a pro at meandering within about 20 minutes of practice. Continue watching her quilting videos and you'll be a happy free motion quilter in a short amount of time with jumping joy!!! The slider for your sewing machine is very helpful and will stop your material from stopping or hooking on your machine and quilter's gloves that fit help also. Start with a new needle and sometimes setting your machine to a slower speed is helpful. Experiment with little or no tension. Good luck!!!
Swap

All great suggestions - did I miss any except the last one from Swap about changing the needle? Maybe to a different type? I have seen and heard about using sharps, quilting needles, etc. in different sizes? Maybe that will help in addition to everything else. You will know that "sweet spot" when your hands and machine speed are just about right. I know it, but, can't always make it happen!!

I'm sorry, but I am having trouble typing through the tears in my eyes from laughing so hard!!!! You sound like me and my feeble attempts at machine quilting and FMQ. I finally decided I would quilt on my embroidery machine. After playing with hoops, designs, water soluble stabilizer, etc. I had no better success than you. Well, I ended up doing you one better. Instead of spending $$$ on lined paper to practice on, I bought a long arm quilting machine. I got it just before Easter, and I have now graduated to a more controlled meander. As far as the fancy designs, I see none of those in MY quilting future. I even managed to make a curlique in my squiggles that is actually not too bad. So keep up the good work! And keep your sense of humor about it. After all isn't quilting supposed to be fun :!: :?: :roll: :lol: :?

First, I would urge you to consider that your machine may be out of adjustment. Let's eliminate that as a possibility first.
Go back to square one:
1) Un-thread the machine, both top & bobbin.
1a) Remove the needle plate and clean out all the lint that's in there. Use a small artist paint brush to help you.
1b) Oil your machine, following the directions in your manual. Use only sewing machine or Tri flow oil.
DO NOT use 3 in one, WD 40 or the like.
2) Put in a new needle 90/14 size. Make sure it is put in properly. Consult your manual if you do not know which direction the flat side of your needle faces.
3) Wind a bobbin with the same thread as you are using in the top. Use a good quality all purpose thread for practice. Make sure you have the right bobbin for your machine.
4) Re-thread the machine. Be sure your presser foot is in the UP position for threading.
4) Make sure you are using the single hole needle plate if you have one and that your needle is positioned exactly over it.
5) Using your straight stitch foot, feed dogs UP, and 2 layers of cotton fabric, sew a few lines of straight stitches at 12 stitches per inch.
6) Adjust your tension so that it looks perfect with no puckers. (Be sure your presser foot is DOWN whenever you adjust your tension.)If your fabric puckers, loosen the pressure on the presser foot (if your machine has this adjustment).
Number your lines of stitches and make notes of any changes you make. Only change one thing at a time.

If you cannot get the tension right at this point, then a service call is in your future.

Once the tension is properly balanced for straight stitching, make a small practice sample sandwich about 12 inches square. Hand baste in rows about 2-3 inches apart. Baste a grid onto this piece.

Using a pencil or marker of your choice, draw lines about 1 inch apart. Using each foot you have, starting with your SS foot, stitch on the lines. Make adjustments as necessary to get the best straight lines you can. Make one adjustment at a time and make notes as before. Do this with each foot that you have: straight stitch, zipper, SID foot, quarter inch foot, and finally, darning foot.

Make more than one sample if you need to. Be sure to make accurate notes. Keep your samples and notes handy for reference.

Now, using the foot that gave you the best results in your test, practice stitching a grid on a practice sample.

When you are satisfied with these results, go to Leah Day's website for more free motion tutorials. Her website is free, and you can watch videos all day.

I'd also suggest practicing free motion with paper and an un-threaded machine.

These are all exercises that I teach in my machine quilting classes. If you can find a class close to you, that would really open you up.
Best of luck,
Stephanie

I have practiced more on FMQ than anything in my life and cannot get it right. I am going to take a class in August to see what my problem is. I always get eyelashes and that is with new needle and fm foot. I just can't figure it out.

:thumbup: I got tickled just reading your post and agree that you are an excellent writer.

Are you sure you weren't spying on my first attempts at FMQ? I started quilting and FMQ this spring, so I am very green. Mom had hand quilted her machine pieced tops in the past, but I was new all the way around. Still have tons to learn. Won't live long enough to learn it all, but that's life.

I'm afraid I can't help a lot either, but with regards to the skillbuilder stuff you bought, ummmmm, I made my own. Okay, so it isn't necessarily as organized or as pretty as the bought stuff, but it worked for a newbie to FMQ.

I took some bleached/white muslin and a water soluable pen. When I saw a design I thought I wanted to FMQ eventually, I saved it do my computer. I've got a 17" laptop and some tracing paper. Opened the design in my computer (used the standard windows pgm), enlarged or shrank to fit and traced it off the screen using VERY LIGHT pressure and a soft felt tip so as not to screw up my screen.

If the design wasn't dark enough to see through the fabric, I went over it with a sharpie fine point marker on a hard surface (i.e, not on the computer screen!). Then I put the paper down, the fabric on top (right side up) and traced the design with the infamous blue water soluable pen.

Leave some space around the design and trace the next design on the fabric and so forth. When the fabric was "full" of designs, I layered it with batting and a backing (also used muslin). Played, swore and played some more. It's not perfect, but I got in a lot of practice, which reminds me I need to do some more practice swatches.

Originally, I wanted to order the skillbuilder fabric. I was going to order some for me and my mom (we're both new to FMQ, having just started this spring) and my mom informed me that she wasn't experienced enough yet to warrant the expense. Which made me wonder when would I be good enough to warrant that expense. Hmmmm. Do my own. If it didn't work, the blue pen would wash out and I could rip out stitches. Well, maybe except for the areas with 2000 stitches to the inch. Is it okay just to cut that out?

I have no doubt that the preprinted stuff is better, but for someone learning (me), the DIY version was a great proposition. I ended up drawing the design 3 times before I ever tried to quilt it. Not that some of the finished work looked like I'd ever seen it before.

I'll tell you what my problem is -- I want to fly when I can't even crawl yet. I enjoy watching Leah Day. She has tons of different free form stuff to practice. She also recommends using light thread on a dark background to practice. I got some chocolate fabric for that, then my mom "stole" it to use in a project. :lol:

I don't drink wine, but maybe my diet coke will do the trick? I've no doubt that you are persistent and determined enough that you will be a fantastic FMQ'er. When frustration eats at you and you're ready to chunk the entire thing in the wind, walk away. Do something else. You will not accomplish anything positive when you are frustrated beyond belief. Been there, done that.

Hugs,
M&M