Quiltingboard Forums - Finally! FMQ Without the Lashing

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Quote:

Originally Posted by CaleyH (Post 8515418)

Here's another idea I just discovered while watching videos. You don't even need fabric or batting.

If you have a printer,you can print a design you've downloaded from the net. If you don't have a printer
just take a regular piece of bond paper, and draw something on it that you can follow.

Remove the thread from the top and bobbin area, and remove the bobbin. Just discovered that a computerised machine probably won't allow this. If you have a mechanical machine, you should be able to do this exercise.

Place the paper on the sewing machine surface. Just move the paper like you would a piece of fabric,
while depressing the foot pedal.

This helps build muscle memory for the shapes you wish to quilt. It also helps you learn to control the movement of your hands, and at the same time, the amount of pressure you put on the foot pedal.

I've just printed out a couple of sheets so I can practise this exercise. Hopefully I can get consistent with following the pattern, and also keep the movement at the proper speed to get my stitch length even.

This is the same technique that my mom used to teach me how to sew back in the '50s. I practiced on straight and curved lines and when I had the speed and precision mastered, we switched to using thread on paper and then to working on fabric.

Another hint that I might add is that if speed control is a problem, set the maximum speed limit on your machine lower so that you can only go so fast, no matter how hard you depress the foot pedal.

I practice on a pair of 10” squares of fabric with cotton batting in between. Then trim to 9” bind & donate potholders to the food pantry. They’re wildly popular.

I brought out my Baby Lock Jazz 2 to do the FMQ practise on paper. I just tried basic stiples, I believe they're called.

My difficulty was seeing the needle over the line. For the most part I missed the line, but followed the line. Occasionally I
reached a point where I was having difficulty moving the paper, and consequently, went way off. The few places I ripped the paper was after I had stopped with the needle down, and then forgot it was down, and tried to move the paper.

This is my real first attempt at something like this, so I'm pretty happy I got it as close as I did, and for the most part, my stitch holes are fairly even.

Back to more practise, and more and more.

Great progress - remember everyone’s stipple or meander is different. I think you are doing loops. It isn’t necessary to exactly stay on the lines. They are a guide. You will be a beginner for a long time. Just accept that and keep practicing. I haven’t heard of anyone that mastered this right at the beginning. You will learn your machines and how they sound and what works for you. Even if you learned other things and were expert right off the bat, I think it is an unrealistic expectation for FMQ. But that is part of the fun - seeing progress as you practice.

While I understood the title to your post, I have to admit that every time I see it anew I think of someone no longer using Fifty Shades of Grey thread to FMQ.

OK, I kind of got carried away with all the information I was getting. So The paper thing is gone. I learned enough from that exercise, and am trying to apply it to a fabric sandwich.

I went back to my Janome, but have discovered that computerised tension regulation doesn't always work. I ended up having to manually adjust the tension until I got the desire result. And that has helped with the lashing. But I still have to find the sweet spot when it comes to stitch length, based on my own current abilities. I am trying to adjust the machine speed to match how my hand movement works, and so far I keep getting very small stitch length.

I'll eventually find the machine speed that matches how I move. But like I said, I'm not getting any lashing now that I have manually adjusted the thread tension. Guess I'm slowly learning new tricks. :-)

Here's a couple of pictures of what I was talking about in the previous post. 1st is the rear, and 2nd of the front. The suggestion of using two different coloured threads definitely made the tension problem obvious.

Sometimes some of us find that it is better to use same color top and bobbin

But having contrasting colours made it obvious that the tension on my machine wasn't correct.

I will have to determine, based on the colours of the top and bottom fabric if I use the same colour, or different ones. It's all based on how things look

Quote:

Originally Posted by CaleyH (Post 8515645)

and that is good to try and get “perfect” tension. Sometimes it doesn’t always work.