Anybody else give up on FMQ?
 

I've done FMQ on my domestic machine for years and have always been happy with a simple meander. However, it's still hard to maneuver the quilt even for a meander, and I'm just tired of the struggle. So, except possibly for baby quilts, I've said "uncle" regarding FMQ and now just do either straight line quilting or wavy lines with a walking foot. It looks nice and is so much easier, even on large quilts. I get done faster, with fewer skipped stitches, which is important to me because I try to build durability into my quilts. Have any of you set aside FMQ for walking foot quilting?

I hear you! When I first started quilting in earnest, I did not know what I was doing. I FMQ'd several, and was able to do quite a bit of free motion quilting without thinking. I did sky scapes in clouds, and trees, and mountains, and lake ripples, and loved the outcomes. I then switched to SITD, echo, cross hatch, angles, rays, etc. I really like the looks I can get. When I tried to go back to FMQ and meandering I find it's just too hard to wrestle the guilt and achieve what I want. I still get good results with my lines. Also, I have never had success using a walking foot! I use my general foot. I think since I started using it, I got used to doing it that way.

I had a lot of problems until I bought my Juki 2200 QVP Mini (same as TL2010) with the larger throat space. I've done a king size quilt on it with none of the problems of stuffing the quilt under the throat space. I also took an online class a few years ago for FMQ with RaNae Merrill called Free Motion Mastery which helped me a great deal. Now I really enjoy it.

FMQ just got too stressful for me, and I have trouble adjusting the tension on my machine. Now I do only walking foot quilting and send anything that needs a curvier look out to be long arm quilted. I have found that I can make gentle curves using my walking foot and can even do spirals. When I use the walking foot the stitches come out quite even, too.

Due to neck and shoulder pain, I long ago realized anything larger than baby sized quilts were going to be quilted by check. At $.02/inch, it's worth it to me.

I started quilting using my walking foot too. I got a lot of different walking foot ideas from Jacquie Gering's book "Walk." Leah Day also has an online gallery with tutorials on walking foot quilting ideas: https://leahday.com/pages/quilting-design-gallery

I love Walk! Lots of ideas! Thanks for the link! FMQ was difficult on my domestic. I tried the one block at a time quilt, and that was ok. The key to ease is throat space. And washable markers. I didn't give up, and I invested in a sit down longarm. Also learning how to make my own stencils!

I have much better luck with a walking foot too. Whether cross hatch or SITD. I can do simple meandering FMQ. BUT, that
does not always turn out great. Maybe when I win the lottery I will build a house with a huge sewing room and get a long arm 😁

I machine quilt all my quilts. I do crosshatch squares or diamonds or pencil line quilting 1/2" apart. I like to make big circles and fill in with crosshatch. Making tic tac toe like designs between bigger squares looks nice too. The main thing I found is having a machine table big enough for the quilt, and a machine that does fmq without any problems. I use an Arrow Kangaroo table and a Juke TL 2010. I wanted the Juki 2200 QVP Mini but couldn't tell any difference from the 2010 Q except color and more feet. I have no desire for a long arm because I would not load the quilt on one. Too tedious for me. They would just pile up. I know me.

I too, far prefer geometric lines or a serpentine. easier on me, easier on the machine, and I get very nice results.
I also make double sided quilts so any big effort to special free motion on one side would be totally lost on the other.

I've seen such incredible intricate free motion from domestic machines though, I know it is perfectly possible...if there is a will to practice and do it often. I'd far rather be cutting and piecing.

I am taking another stab at FMQ using my Bernina with the BSR and also a ruler foot for smaller quilts like table toppers and wall hangings. Been fun so far but I really am not much good at it. My longarm is what I use for larger quilts but as I age. I am thinking I just might want to sit for the smaller things.
Also, the advice some good free motion folks say is that practicing 10 minutes a day, every day, is better than trying to learn during infrequent hours long attempts. So that is what I am doing this time.

Oh yeah...years ago. I have an old slant needle machine, which is not really conducive with FMQ. Besides that, I just suck at it. I now quilt a woodsy, wood grain pattern on most of my quilts, which has become my "signature look." When ya got lemons...make lemonade.

Yes, I agree that FMQ on a domestic machine works better on smaller quilts. My struggle is with moving around the heft of a larger quilt smoothly. Even if I roll up the edge that goes through the harp, FMQ on the larger quilts is like wrestling an anaconda!

I bought the 2200 just for the extra feet. It was a same price as the 2010 so I figured I might use them and have. I have no desire for a long arm either. It takes up too much space for the 3 or 4 quilts that I quilt every year and I'm getting good on the Juki so I'll just stay with it.

I bought a Janome Horizon for the larger throat space but it hasn't inspired me to keep working on my FMQ skills. I also recently took a FMQ workshop which did inspire me to FMQ the center block of a medallion quilt. However, just that much wore out my shoulders and I'm beginning to think it just isn't for me. I do really well with SID and find the lines to provide an interesting pattern on the back. Sometimes I do straight diagonal or even echo quilting but my very favourite is having my local longarm quilter do it for me.

Posture is very important when machine quilting. I never stoop, keep my back rod straight, don't move my neck forward and look down, just look down keeping neck straight. I sit high and have needle at elbow height. I can quilt a long time and not be hurting later.

I just attended Jacquie's lecture at Quiltcon. What an amazing woman. Very inspiring.
I do FMQ on smaller items, or on a QAYG quilt
I'm hoping to change that up, I recently traded on my Janome 9450 and upgraded to a 9480 and added the ASR. In my new home, my DFIL used one of those large topped old metal school desk. DH has told me I can use it and I plan on adding a larger top to it by having a piece of birch plywood cut to the dimensions of my choice and placing it on the desk. In the end, it should make a great space to FMQ larger pieces. I'm signed up for classes this summer with Ranae Merrill. I'm taking two of her FMQ classes, and am very much looking forward to it.
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I don’t find it appreciably easier physically to walking-foot quilt on my domestic than FMQ. My machine has a large throat space, and I have a sewsteady table for it, but I still find myself wrestling with a large quilt.

I do prefer to straight line quilt at times though, for the mindlessness of it. I easily get overwhelmed from all the decisions that have to be made when FMQ’ing, and fatigue sets in quickly. Sometimes I just want to get the thing finished, and then straight lines are the way to go!

I tried machine quilting once or twice and it wasn't for me! I am happy to sit back in my comfy chair and do hand quilting.

I only fmq one quilt. It was queen sized, hard to maneuver. I has several bird nests on the back, but I left them. Ended up using a walking foot to do the border. I’m done with fmq, sticking to hand quilting for the most part, or using a walking foot.

I glue baste my quilts. The back and quilt top are coated in a thin layer of glue and then pressed dry. Not one little bit of fabric will shift or bunch. It's like quilting flat paper. I don't have to worry about any puckers, folds, or 'pillows'. I can finish quilting a throw size quilt in about an hour doing swirls or straight lines. Right now I'm machine quilting starting in the middle and making one big spiral outward. I'm using the walking foot as the width of the stitch lines to keep me straight. I learned this in a Catherine Redford class. I use this to have glue on every thread of my quilt.

Big Horn 19044 Glue Roller Bottle, 8-Ounce

Thanks to a poster here for the tip to use the roller bottle. It changed my basting world.

It’s very interesting how each of us prefers one quilting technique over another. I’ve done FMQ on my domestic, and I had a sit-down Tiara for many years. I disliked the actual quilting process, and often had quilt tops piling up. Then I stumbled on a deal I couldn’t refuse. I was able to purchase a very lightly used Crown Jewel III longarm on a Momentum frame, along with software for computerized quilting, for $5,000. There was definitely a learning curve, but I love the whole quilting process now. (Oh, except for the binding!) I can’t piece tops quickly enough.

[QUOTE=Onebyone;8644304]I glue baste my quilts. The back and quilt top are coated in a thin layer of glue and then pressed dry. Not one little bit of fabric will shift or bunch. It's like quilting flat paper. I don't have to worry about any puckers, folds, or 'pillows'. I can finish quilting a throw size quilt in about an hour doing swirls or straight lines. Right now I'm machine quilting starting in the middle and making one big spiral outward. I'm using the walking foot as the width of the stitch lines to keep me straight.

Onebyone, are you using the WF with the feed teeth down, as in free motion? I am imagining the angular circle I would get by shifting the quilt every little bit to turn the foot.

charlotte

Feed dogs up with walking foot. The first part of the circle is lot of turning but it gets bigger runs fast.

Thanks for that. Not sure I could do it well but definitely worth a try.

charlotte

This is the book that got me started. One Line at a Time : 24 Geometric Machine Quilting Designs Made Easy by Charlotte Warr Anderson. Should still be in print or cheap used.

I am doing FMQ on my Bernina 740 with BSR. mostly meandering stitch. If I made a quilt worth $100, I would have it quilted by a professional. Unfortunately, I am a beginner and my quilts are not worth that. I took a FMQ class at my LQS and my stitches were a lot better than others who didn't have the BSR. It makes me look a lot better than what I really am. So I will continue to do what I can with what I have. Sometime in the future, I will have a longarm of some type, until them, I will quilt with my Bernina or my walking foot. I am content with where I am in my quilting journey and I am enjoying the growing process.

I use my embroidery machine to do end to end quilting. At least my projects will be completed.

I have an embroidery machine and many told me to do edge to edge on it.I tried the embroidery machine end to end. It was tedious and took a long time rehooping and matching up plus the prep measuring. Too much brain work for me. The embroidery machine went back to the closet.

Oh no! It's wonderful and practice makes perfect. Or at least "charming".

I agree. I really enjoy FMQ. Mine is less than perfect but so are my quilts. lol

They look good and I can say I truly made the quilt myself and not just the top

well I have been practicing a bit and yesterday I finally did feel a bit more relaxed and when I look at what I did, it is not perfect but it doesn't look too bad. I am just practicing fills and making up the patterns as I go. I have some free motion books and will look at some of the samples and just do my thing. I don't try and be exact, just getting used to moving the fabric around by controlling the machine. In a bit, I am going to move on to the UFO quilt I have that needs fill patterns and I will be using a thinner thread that blends in and just work on making a textured fill.

I found the biggest help to me was when I took RaNae Merrill's online class and she had us practice every day for a month. Just one 12" square but you had to do some every day. It really seemed to move my FMQ skills forward.

Thanks for all the help and advice. I just ordered a couple of books on walking foot quilting. Although I've watched some of Jacquie Gering's videos, I didn't really get the options of straight line quilting.

Great thread.

bkay.

I am actually reigniting my love for quilting by taking on the FMQ challenge. Now I have new goals to achieve! I watch a lot and read a lot of Angela Walter’s tutorials and it has definitely inspired me!

I started with a QAYG with Mandalas. Some gave me a "guide" in the design to follow. Others I used ideas from Walk. Each one was a different design.https://www.quiltingboard.com/vbulle...o-t317433.html
I also have a folder on the computer labeled "FMQ" that I save pictures for inspiration. I like Lori Kennedy.

My wresling the quilt is over. I bought a long arm and have never regretted it at all! Good luck on finding your way with the quilting of your quilts. Its a hobby we all enjoy most of the time. I hope you can do what is a good fit for you.