Ok bought the FMQ piece for my machine...while a couple of hours is not an exhibition in patience....uh I STINK at this....I will keep trying because I don't give up on stuff but man oh man am I glad the FMQ piece only cost $11.00 for when I realize a 3 year could do better than me!

They do say practice makes perfect! I'm not there (or even close) yet either. Maybe someday. For anything I'm going to let out of my sight it will be SID for good while yet on my part.

We are what we repeatedly do! Keep at it. I started with drawing on my practice fabric to have a line to follow. Good luck.

Shoulders back, back straight, elbows down, now breathe! You can do it!

I just had to chuckle reading your topic title. I failed Art Class in my freshman class in high school but excelled in sewing class.(truth I had been sewing long before going to high school). My teacher taught both classes and thought I was two different people!

I feel your pain - but I'm not giving up until you see the whites of my eyes!

Don't give up. I made a major mess the first times I tried it, notice I said "times" and one day it finally clicked. Am I really good at it now? No way, but I feel more comfortable with it everytime I do it. I was lousy in art class too.

Everybody's got different quilting styles and/or techniques. Get confidence in doing one thing well, then go on to the next challenge! It feels good to be making progress! :-)

Oh, don't give up. I just started doing this as well, and the first practice was a big mess. After that, things did start getting muh better....you can do it.

Free motion is like patting your head while rubbing your stomach!

It takes ppatience & practice.
Take a piece of muslin, draw some designs on it sandwich it, & pracctice.
this is what I do with my students, start out moving the fabric from side to side, slowly.
You're looking just to get the feel of the speed of the petal & your hand movement. I suggest to students, don' t put your whole foot on the petal. Just your toes, this will help you to sew slower, as you wwon' t. Be ablle to go too fast.

Once you get your stitches even, not jumpy, try aa pattern.





Good luck, hope this helps..

I practice with muslin and scraps of batting that I've zig zagged together. Or if I'm in a real pinch, craft felt. get a cheapy stencil and draw on the muslin and try to follow or "fill in" with quilting stitches.

I'm not good but I have fun - and that's the whole point!

Despite all the encouraging comments here ( :thumbup: ), I have to admit that I, too, have no drawing skills either. I find FQM to be extremely challenging, even after 3 years of doing it on my shortarm machine on a frame, which should make it so much easier. I get all tied up in knots, my stitches are so uneven and the design looks like it was done by a 3 year old.

I am best suited for SID, my own swirly loopy meandering, or edge-to-edge pantograph. Anything else is just beyond my abilities...I don't have that kind of artistic ability.

I feel for you....we should start a club...The Unable to FMQ Quilters!! :-)

It takes lots of practice. While you are practicing, if you find you are better at one thing than another, perfect that one thing. When I first started, I did best with loops and swirls. Not too bad at stars either. It took a lot of practice before I could stay reasonably close to the lines of a pattern. I'm comfortable with it now. I'm still best at loops, swirls and stars...one day, I am going to master feathers!

Ok - well one issue resolved...my Esante Es2 isn't a normal machine...everything I've read says lower the tension - ok well on my machine lowered tension means move the dot to W - how was I to know that meant "wide" (oh the other side is "S" for "short"....then I saw some tutorials that said to put the stith length at zero...so I did this - broke 2 needles and puckered the heck of out material so I thought - hum...move the dot all the way up instead of down VIOLA...

so on one hand I'm glad to know my machine is as backwards as I am - on the other...I'm not taking back the not so nice words I said upon each broken needle!

I'm playing in-between cups of coffee....its looking a little better - I know can draw as well as a 6 year old but this will take practice....

I felt your pain today...This is my third time just sitting for abt an hr trying to get something that would look decent on a piece...the size of my stitches are consistant but I just can't get those swirls to look alike in size or even straight...My circles are getting better...Practice Practice Practice...I guess we'll see if we can write in a yr or so and say we got it....

LOL, I sat in a meeting today and turned over the handout and meandered all over the back! I read that even this can help you get the feel.

Your doing circles? I'm strill trying squiggly lines....(I did put a piece of wax paper underneath and its moving more smooth now....

I doodle a lot - so maybe I'll change my thinking and doodle stipple's and meander's!! :)

I just finished FMQ my first quilt and lets say that it is a good thing my dd is only three years old and not very picky about how nice the quilting is on her blanket. And this is after practicing a good amount on three different "doll" quilts for my dd to play with. it should get easier, but I have the same problem. My mom is a painter and I couldn't paint my way out of a room even with paint by numbers and someone else holding the brush. probably because i can't draw a straight line with a ruler. good luck and keep at it.

When I first started, I was so bad I didn't even suck. SO congratulations for sucking. I had to work my way up to "suck" and remember when I came home from my class yelling across the yard "I suck, I finally suck"
I equate the process to learning how to drive a stick-shift. Too many moving parts and everything has to be in alignment.

I have tried just once. Suck so bad I've been hand appliquéing since! But I'll get back to it and keep plugging away!

Oh, I like that. The UTFMQ Club, I'm in for that.

I found the best practice was circle-type loops, swirls, too and hearts. In fact, the first quilts I ever did had hearts everywhere. You don't have to be an artist - there are so many stencils around. You'll do well.

I'm done practicing for the day....the kids and husband all came home and its too distracting...this is the best out of the pieces I've done....

6 hours later - and here is where I'm at......

I am kind of proud of myself....

I will be a charter member! LOL

YOU cannot be in the club!

Now hang on...I can still be in the club - its not great just a vast improvement...and notice I didn't even dare try a real design...

Please don't kick me out yet!!!!

I'm in!

I am chuckling at your post as I am the same way. Coming from a family of artistic talent somehow it all just skipped me!! But when I can I do practice and it looks like a mess alot of the time. But here and there I am getting a little better. I just feel I am rather FMQ CHALLENGED!!!

I need to belong to this club. When does it start?? (LOL)

I once got a ticket for not parking between the line...When I paid the ticket I told them that they haven't seen me color yet. I would get a ticket for that also. Keep trying, have you neighbors child help. Just smile and enjoy!

You are so funny! I'm not going to tell you that practice makes perfect because I always think I can do things the first time without any effort then realize I'm like everyone else and need to learn the skill! Good luck! You can do it! Can't wait for a pic post!

I am practicing practicing practicing also. Getting a little better each time.

Well, lets face it. We can't all be Charisma, darn! She is so exceptional that it is daunting to even try, but we can keep trying. I have been trying for quite a few years now and know I will never be really good at it, but won't give up either. Save a spot on the UTFMQ club for me.

One reply said get really good at one thing then move on to the next, I am really good at stippling now. I am practicing with other patterns now trying to find my next one but I feel confident enough to do stippling on actual quilts and have done a few that look pretty good. I don't know how long all my quilts will have the stipple pattern but I will keep at it til I move on to the next one.

a larger work surface helped me quite a bit. I had a neighbor make me an extention table so my work surface was much bigger and it really helped.

I also tried free motion quilting, but my stitches looked tight. Is it because I didnt quilt fast enough or is it the tension. I know nothing about changing tension on my machine. It's a Janome 2160QDC.

Once I got the hang of the tension, pressure & speed the eyelashes went away and I became more concerned with design. I couldn't follow a line with FMQ so I practiced by stitching names of folks I love. We already know how to write and that involves shapes that are in quilt designs. Open up an "i" stitch an "o", a "t" that is not crossed. All these seemed to help me. When I got ready for designs I made what I call a wonky flower on a floral quilt top. 5 open i's in a wonky circle large as the space called for and then smaller i's inside those. Well, it suited me. I am not an artist either so decided to intentionally allow myself to make wonky designs and stitch folks names into the top if I know who it is going to.

Thanks for the encouragement I'm seeing here. I'm also wanting to teach myself fmq. No time like the present.