FMQ- Any tips?
 

I just started my FMQ attempts yesterday. It started out pretty rough:[ATTACH=CONFIG]431332[/ATTACH] And here is today's attempt:[ATTACH=CONFIG]431333[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=CONFIG]431334[/ATTACH] As I move forward, any suggestions or things I can do better?

By day 5 you will be perfect. It takes time. I was once told you need to do ten minutes each day . Like learning to drive a car

just test drive like you are doing, gotta re teach myself......................

It's looking better and better! I find that it gets better the longer you do it at one time as well. I try to FMQ a whole quilt in one day, because by the time I get to the end the stitches look a lot better than when I started!

It appears you are stopping too often. Visualize the entire loop and do it in one sweep of the hand. You might also be trying to keep the fabric moving. When you feel you are loosing control of the fabric because you need to move the hands. That is the time to stop and reposition. Also when you start up again let the needle move in place for a stitch or two until you have firm grip and then move out. It has been my experience that FMQ ers try to keep the fabric moving. Which causes irregular lines.

When I first started I practiced about 20 minutes a day. Practice, practice, practice!!

Can you set the motor speed on your machine? Set it so you can go pedal to the metal - that way you don't have to think about the sewing machine speed. Keep your shoulders down. Check out the dot-to-dot method (there are books out on that too) so you learn to control the pattern AND you learn stopping and starting without jerkies. That is my current approach. Most importantly, have fun.

Nothing like practice, practice, practice to get better at FMQ'ing! :) But three things come to mind that will help anyone doing FMQ. First, breathe. I know it sounds silly and simple, but we tend to hold our breath (without even realizing it) when concentrating. So remember to breathe and it will help relax you and allow your work to be smoother and flow better. And second, don't practice for too long in any one session. Several short (10-15 minutes) sessions a day are better than one long drawn out session.

And third, don't forget to have fun! Quilting should be fun, but we often turn it into a chore when we are learning or concentrating too hard.:):):)

As already said ... practice-practice-practice.

I'll toss in another suggestion .... make your practice pieces larger.
From your pics, they do not look too wide.
As I practiced, I found I did better on larger pieces .... with narrow/small pieces, I was working too hard to stay within the fabric edges, and lose your FMQ rhythm. I worked with a bunch of 12" squares, though I think 16" or larger would allow a better feel.

There are panels available that have quilting lines of many different patterns for you to follow and practice. I found one at a LQS. Something else to think about when doing some fmq....when you need to stop to reposition your hands, try to find a point that isn't in the middle of a loop or curve....straight lines are easier points to start up again without losing the "line" or angle of stitching. Also try a bigger pattern, bigger loops....easier than smaller. One last thing you can try is getting a coloring book with very simple pictures....tear out a sheet and then "sew" the lines without thread.