Jump in there and get your feet wet girl! I found a great quote this weekend that is going to be my mantra for this year ~
Whatever it is you’re scared of doing, Do it. Make your mistakes, next year and forever.”-- Neil Gaiman

Mistakes are how we learn..and learning leads to Love..and you DO Love your quilting? Right? =)

I completely understand your fear. If you are concerned about ruining your quilts... start with a small simple project that you have not invested a lot of time making. Table runners, placemats, lap quilts or baby quilts are a good place to begin. Confidence comes with practice. Google "free motion quilt tutorials" or check out youtube for inspiration. Don't expect perfection, just do the best that you can. Everyone has to start somewhere. Just relax and enjoy it.

Little Gracie
 

I win! I've had mine for two years and turned it on twice. Sigh! It is intimidating to me. I thought I'd be "smart" and loaded a whole bunch of warm and natural on it so I didn't have to reload too often. Shouldn't have done that as far as I'm concerned. Such a waste of money sitting there. I love the idea of it, but I wish I hadn 't spent the money on it. Sigh! Good luck and I hope your braver than me.

I agree! I got a juki and frame around 1st of dec and it's still in the box. Really need to take the time to learn how to use it!!!

The Juki is a joy to sew with, on or off a frame! I have a Tin Lizzie, four years now, and I don't use it as often as I should, maybe 10 small quilts each year. Everytime I do use it, I kick myself for not doing it more often because it is so much fun! I even try to do stuff after watching a Sharon Schamber video and can come sort of close to what hers look like (if you squint from 10 feet away!). I've given my muslin practice pieces to the dog shelter and our own dog has an impressive number of quilts, but they are like practice sketch books. Every drawing you make doesn't turn out to be a masterpiece, but you will see progress as you go.

People, people, people...it seems that we are all related!! When I got my long-arm it sat for at least 3 months because I was terrified of it. My advice is to jump in and quilt. Get some cheap fabric, make a sandwich and go for it. If you mess up, big deal, it's only fabric. But keep your first piece and look at it in a month, 6 months and a year..you will be so thrilled with your learning progess. And RELAX! Have fun and enjoy yourself..you can do this!

I agree, just take some fabric you don't care about or just some plain muslin (I recycled some old curtains we took down), make a sandwich and just start playing. You can find ideas for stitch samplers on line I'm sure (there was a class included when I bought my LA). Then you could even use the completed sandwiches for pet quilts or as a machine cover (my dealer takes the ones they use for class demos and packs the machines for deliveries (they reuse them until they wear out).

I was that way with my new machine when I got it I was afraid I would wreck it somehow. The lady at the store said just use it that I could not possibly wreck it. But yes I know the scared filling.

OK ! What is the difference between a mid-arm and a long-arm machine. I would like to buy a quilting machine but have no idea what to buy and then there is ...... mid- arm and long- arm to consider too!!!

Try watching some of the many, many videos on YouTube. It might just get the creative juices flowing.

Wow, sounds like there are a lot of ladies that have the b-line/juki set up or the juki/xx set up. I was scared to death to try mine! Set it up, loaded a quilt top and went for it. Boy was that a disaster! My tensions were all off, I forgot to put my foot down and worse even, I didn't have a stitch regulator so my stitches were tight and small or long and loose. I made a mess of that quilt top and had my kids help me take all the stitches out. I learned quickly that you don't start with a quilt top! Go to joanns, get several yards of dark solids and a few yards of warm and natural. Load it all onto the frames, use WHITE thread so you can see your stitches and then go for it. Now something you should do before all of this, balance your stitches before using the machine on the frames. Cut a small piece of the fabric, make a sandwich and sew on that as you normally would. Balance your stitches and then move to the frames. Once I figured that part out, the rest was just getting the feel of the machine on the frames, kinda fun and zen like after a while. Have fun, remember, its a quilt and there is no such thing as quilt police! LOL

A mid arm is one like a Juki machine or even a tin lizzy, a long arm is like the ones you see at quilt shows, the big heavy duty ones that cost as much as a small car!

I know how you feel. My friend let me use her old embroidery machine since she has a new one and I am scared to death of it. I have had it for 6 months now and not even attempted to try it.:(

Wish you were closer, we could encourage each other. I have the same feeling. I bought a Bernina 830 and the quilting frame to go with it back in August and still can not use it. It is just so overwhelming to me. I totally understand the guilt.

A long arm is 18" or longer, while a mid arm is ~10-17" in length. It depends on what type of quilting you want to do and how much room you have. You can research both types online.

I personally have a 26" Innova with a stitch regulator (controls the stitches) and a 12 ft wide table. There are many brands of midarms and longarms. Decide on your needs and see what works for you. I used to rent time on a Nolting and then a Gammill at my old LQS, but when we retired and moved, I had room for my own and selected what worked for me. Some smaller midarms/longarms also come as a sit-down table system these days as well as being able to buy a higher end Bernina, which has a frame that you could put it on as a separate purchase.

Go for it. Get right in there with a sample.

Now think back, when you were a young kid and you wanted to stay up late by yourself, weren't you scared the first time your parents went to bed and the house got real quiet and you found yourself up all alone? How about the first time you tried to ride a bicycle? Weren't you scared you would fall over? Weren't you scared to go to bed by yourself after watching a scarey movie? You survived all of those events and you will survive this too. Just find a nice quiet place where you can relax and read your instruction book from cover to cover. Then go back and read it again. Repeat to your self several times "I can do this" and then go for it. Start out using your machine at a slower pace and before you know it you will be just zipping along. Happy quilting and have a happy 2012.

Put in a practice quilt. Fabric that you won't be useing in a quilt and just have fun with it. That way if there is a problem you won't ruin a quilt.

I have been there done that. Just load a practice quilt and jump right in.

Remember, if at first you don't succeed...try, try again!

you just need to put some fabric on the frame and practice practice practice. Just start with a simple meander. Once you get used to the process, you will love it. It does take so much practice. Good luck and just do it

Be Brave! I've had my set up for 3 years now and the moment I am set to start quilting, be it my own quilt or a customer's quilt, Im filled with such uncertainty I usually have ti leave it for 24 hours. So that's what I do. It's the "time for the quilt to get to know the frame" time. When I come back after looking at the quilt from different angles I'm pretty confident with what I had planned.
MaryKatherine

This is also my suggestion - it seems to take off any anxieties and pressure when you make a "practice sandwich" - it gives you a freedom to just go for it and get the feel of it - just go slow and have fun......you will find your comfort zone.

I am right where you are now! My hubby, he is the best, bought me a Avante when I wasn't ready for it and I have still not used it! I keep telling myself that I can d o this and will eventually get to it. Don't give up hope. Like the rest said, jump right in and practice, practice, practice. I am told that is the best way. Good luck.

I wish I had a mid or long-arm set up to be scared about! But I understand and really hate having to read a bunch of instructions to figure out how to use something. Just want to do it. I bet you'll wind up loving it and quilting beautiful quilts. Keep us posted.

I was the same way when I bought my first embroidery machine. It sat there for 6 months before I got up enough nerve to embroider something. Just jump in there and do something.

I wish I had a set up like that. I would be slow at first but it would not take me long to get going...YOU can do it.

I kno what you mean--I bought a Viking sewing machine and didn't use it for 2 years. It didn't bite when I finally used it and maybe yours won't either. }:0)

I felt that way with my first embroidery machine from Singer. I didn't touch it for almost a year! I got over it and now it is not a problem to use any machine now!

Just go for it, if you need to get confidence in trying it, look for Yahoo groups that use the frame and/or sewing machine. You will probably find helpful tips etc. Most people feel this way about a new setup, it can be intimidating. The more you practice, the more comfortable you will be with it. Make "sandwiches" to practice on by putting scrap squares of batting between two fabrics and go for it.

Jump in with both feet. Throw on some icky fabric or buy some cheap muslin for front & back and practice. I just got a new Innova setup and am kind of feeling the same way but I think it takes practice. You won't wreck it!

I started with sheets when I got my Juki. I felt like I'd never sewn before. I also took a Xanax from my mother's medicine when she died. I guess a glass of wine would have had the same effect.

Hello, well I did the same thing when I got my HQ 16 . It just sat there , My husband asked me one day art you going you use that machine. I told him I'm scared ,Well the only way your going to learn is to do it. So I did it and I loved it.
I have a A-1 long arm now, and quilt for other quilter's. Once you do your first quilt your get a bug to do more.
Good Luck :)

I'm with you!!! But now mine is in the garage in pieces because we downsized and I don't have room for it.

I know exactly what you are feeling. I hardly touched my Fun Quilter for several months after we got it. For some reason, I was terrified. Fortunately, my husband didn't push and let me take my time without heaping guilt on my head...I was doing enough of that on my own. One day, I was ready. I did some practice pieces and am now quilting real quilts and loving it. My best advice is to be kind to yourself. If you need time, take it. When you're ready, thread up your machine, put a large practice piece on your machine, warm up your machine, and just play. Get the feel it. If you need to, do another...and another large practice piece. (I use those practice pieces and dog and cat quilts). Work out your tension issues, if any, and proceed on to a real quilt...perhaps a donation quilt. You'll get there, and you'll have lots of quilts in your future that you will love working on.

I have read on several threads that we get these machines and frames and then we are afraid we will do something wrong when we get them. If only my hands would work as good as my brain I would have no problem with my frame. I think I know what to do but when I go to do it it does not turn out as good as I expected.

They tell me practise practise practise. I have had my frame for three years and just really started to use it the last six month but now I a snowbird so my frame is at home in Canada. I have all these LARGE quilts that need to be quilted. Of course they are way to big for my next generation frame.

Good luck.

Go for it! You won't know how hard it is if you don't give it a try. You will be so proud of yourself for getting started.

Yes I have been afraid, to start, then I get so sick of it I leap and wonder why I created all that anxiety.
LEAP!

Everyone probably feels the same way. When I got my Gammill 8 yrs ago I was scared to death to do anything, but I just jumped in and went with it. In the end a longarm, short arm and midarm are all just sewing machines and you need to feel that way and not let it intimidate you. If you're not already a member of MQP yahoo group join it, there is a wealth of information there and someone can always answer your questions. We were all newbies when we started. Jump right in there and start learning!!

I have and still am in the same boat. I spent the $ for a LA setup and i have only used it once. Dobn't feel bad just give yourself the time you need.