First completed Whole Cloth Practice quilt using New Baby
 

Early this month, my DH completed our long arm quilting set up. I posted this thread about the set up and was thrilled with the responses. In case you missed it, here is the link to it.

http://www.quiltingboard.com/main-f1...d-t243621.html

Many of the QB members asked for me to post my progress in learning to LAQ. I just completed my first practice whole cloth that I was using to learn some of the skills required to do this. Although I have a long way to go, here is the first completed "practice" quilt.

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The left side of the cloth is where I began and the right side is where I ended. I would appreciate any comments on this. And, do you feel there is any improvement. All is done free hand EXCEPT the one feather set up toward the top left that appears very dark. The picture is not so great but I wanted to ask your thoughts. You ladies are sew talented and I really value your opinion. GOD Bless and thanks for looking.

well i think you are doing great and yes i can see an improvement. keep up the great work

I am not a LAQ, so my comments are purely as an observer. From the left to the right side I definitely see improvement-greater confidence shows, you are "really beginning to get the hang of it" in how to move it. One thing I have heard over and over on quilt shows featuring a long armer, is relax the "death grip". I even heard one say she kept seeing spots and would have to sit down, then she realized she kept holding her breath when she started stitching! So many tutorials and long arm groups online to help you, you're going to do great, happy for you!

yes I can see improvement.I hint for you-get a dry erase board to practice feathers and anything else you want and then go to a practice quilt-saves on batting and thread

i'd say you are doing fantastic for just starting out

I definitely see improvement. I agree with Wolph on dry erase board or plain old paper and pencil to practice. Also there is absolutely no shame in premarking! I do it, Karen McTavish does it, many, many award winning quilters to it.

When doing feathers, I find I can only go in one direction. From base of the spine up to the top. I can quilt or draw them in any orientation, vertical, horizontal, diagonal, on a curve, facing left, facing right but I have to always do it from the "bottom" of the spine (even if the feather is upside down and my bottom is at the top when looking at it) and work my way up. So if you find you are the same way, that is fine, just practice it facing different direction

You have it much harder than us LAers because you have such a limited space to work in so you have to teach yourself to quilt based on that limitation. However, a bit of premarking or reference dots on your quilt top you will be able to churn out some beautifully custom done quilts in no time. I think after a year or so with your lavender love, you will be itching to find something with a bigger throat. Seeing as your DH is such a whiz with the vintage machines, you should keep your eye out for one. I know there are vintage LA Singers out there, or even the industrial singers have a bigger throat on them.

I think you are ready to try an actual quilt top. Put one on that isn't so important to you. My first real quilt, I hated the top so didn't care if I ruined it. It turned out really nice, mostly because I didn't care about it so wasn't stressing that the quilting turn out great.

I can see improvement too! You're definitely getting the hang of it. I'm totally jealous, even that practice quilt looks like it was fun to do! Congrats on your new toy, and on your growing new skills!

I think you have " the knack" for it. You are able to repeat a design consistently and the shapes are graceful.

Looks good to me.

Yes, the improvement is definitely there. Looks great. I think if you were quilting in a matching color most of the imperfections would be fairly un-obvious. I see some puckering in the non-quilted areas that make me wonder if you are getting your top tight enough...or maybe you're just using fairly lofty batting? It should be tight but not too tight.

Anyway, you're well on your way. Have fun!

A note: I loved visiting the Inbox Jaunt. Her designs are refreshing and the tutorials excellent. That said, the original poster should not feel discouraged if she can't do these designs well on her quilter. I have found as a rookie at both domestic free motion quilting and longarm quilting that the small, intricate designs are much easier to do on a domestic (assuming the quilt sandwich is small in size).

I think that is greatly to do with the lack, on non-computerized quilter, of the ability to slow down. Quilters on frames do not typically have foot pedals, so without stitch regulation, the two speeds are stop and go.

Isn't it amazing how hours of practice actually make a big difference. Don't tell my mom.

Definite improvement! You have the beginnings of some nice shapes for fillers and sashings. I have a problem with feathers. Need them drawn out or I start getting way off on the loopy parts. Practice, practice, practice so your it's imbedded in the brain!

I think it looks great. You are ready for a real quilt, I think!

Dina

Ooops, I read my post after the editing window had expired. Sorry for the editing wierdness that led to a non-sensical sentence.. I hope you can make some sense of it.

Thank you all for the nice comments. I feel I am improving slightly but need a lot of practice. I am going to do a baby quilt top (that I am not real happy with) in a meandering pattern as I feel comfortable doint that with the machine. I will try not to bore everyone with my progress but I am so thrilled to have the opportunity to do FMQ on larger projects. Thanks again

I need lessons from you! :-)

Can see the improvement and you are doing a great job.

Practice, practice, practice. I think using a dry erase board or pencil and paper would help you a lot. Keep drawing the same design until you can achieve sameness with the shape. Looking at your stitched practice whole cloth, it seems like you'd stitch a short line of something and then switch to something else. This skill does take a lot of practice. Think of how long it took you to learn cursive writing?

Until you feel comfortable on long arming a quilt, my suggestion would be to use a matching thread on the quilt you do. That way any stitches you feel aren't quite right won't show much if at all. I bet you are having a ball with your new toy!

Thank you so much Kara, your suggestion is so welcomed. I never thought of using the same color thread so as to hide some of my "many" mistakes. And, I am having a ball.

You are improving, and with more practice will get even better. What I did with my first practice piece like yours was turn in 90 degrees, reload it on the frame, and quilt it again with a darker thread so I could see the new stitches. Have you seen any of the feather videos on you tube? There are a bunch that are really informative - Click Here - for a good variety. You can compare what they say to what you have done and see where improvement can be made. When I started, just trying it on my own I found that I made a lot of 'potato chips' with feathers standing up instead of laying nicely. The videos really helped.

You are doing great.

I can very definitely see improvement in your quilting. I especially love your hearts and the last pattern you stitched. Keep up the good work, you're off to a great start.

Wow, Donna, just read the post and saw your lavender baby, that is awesome. He is so good at what he does!! Looks like you are doing a great job. Can't wait to see a post after you do your first quilt! So happy for you, enjoy and have fun.

As I always say..I am a beginner and only know how to STD and not very good at that even. Your practices look better than my STD, maybe I need to send my "beginner" quilts to you to practice on I think we'd both gain from it :thumbup:

Great idea but you might be disappointed. Thanks for the kind words.

Looks good - it will take lots of practice but you are clearly off to a good start! Enjoy your new baby!

One thing you can do, is purchase a couple of yards of coordinating fabric - one busy / one plain. Load the busy fabric on the bottom/back then load the plain on top with batting, You can practice an entire piece of one stitch and when you take it off you will have something usable for pincushions, bags or some other small project. You can easily see the stitches on the plain fabric and the busy fabric will hide any not "perfect" designs that you might see on the plain side. I did several of these when learning - and occasionally I still do it when I want to try a new longarm pattern.

Looking good.....

Thanks to everyone for their wonderful comments and suggestions. I am just going continue to practice, practice, practice

looking good my dear friend. I am so very proud of you.