FMQ question
 

I really want to learn to FMQ.
I've watched videos but have not seen how
one is supposed to place hands on either side of
quilting area while working on the edges of
the quilt.
The thing that has me frightened is the bulk of the quilt being difficult to wrangle. :/

well the bulk of the quilt is very difficult to wrangle :) I just put one hand to the left of the needle and one hand to the right of the needle. It takes practice but it can be fun

My best advice is to have your machine on a large table that can help hold the weight. If you can then move your machine to the left/right depending on which border/edge you are working on. If you can't move (set in table machine), I sometimes position extra chairs on the side I need to hold the weight.

Then I use my hand to help hold that side (I try to position the edge so most of the quilt is to the left of my domestic). That said, I now have a sitdown HQSweet 16 that has the same amount of table space on both sides and sometimes I still use a chair for Q and K sized quilts, but generally still try to keep the bulk to my left ( I am right handed).

Your goal is to have something else support the bulk and use your hands to move the fabric near you without too much tension from the bulk.

Good luck and realize that the more you practice the better you will get! Don't sweat the small stuff!

Practice and see what works for you ...I tend to work vertical whereas someone else likes horizontal.

That said, I suggest starting small (pillow, baby quilt, etc) to see what works.

Someone else mentioned they like the gloves. I bought a pair and can't stand to use them....Just remember to not get your fingers too close to the needle/foot! It hurts to have a needle go through your fingernail!

It truly is about personal preference and how it works best for you!

I too was very intimidated about FMQ. It is normal. As I have progressed, I have learned what works for me. I did take the Craftsy class called FMQ a large quilt on a domestic machine (or something like that). It helped me enormously. I still fumble a bit with large quilts and feel like I am wrestling a slippery whale but determination moves me forward and I am improving every time I do a new quilt. Also, (and this is huge for me) I wash and dry my quilts when I am finished with them. The puckering hides ALL my mistakes. Woohoo! Another trick I try to use because I do not like the time-consuming job of tying and burying my threads is, I try to do a pattern from edge to edge so that my threads will be buried in my binding. Saves a huge amount of time. If I cannot do that, I try to tie and bury as I finish a motif. Much better for me. Good luck and don't give up.

If you leave a wide enough piece of batting and backing, you can grab that to maneuver the sandwich. Ann Peterson from Craftsy does that.

Like Tartan stated "I work horizontally" also. Remember, in FMQ your needle can go in any direction, so if you are sewing an edge or border, you can sew it sideways with the edge to the front and the quilt to the left, right and back. Your feed dogs are not engaged, so the machine is not grabbing the fabric and pushing it towards the back. That was one thing that I had to tell myself when I first started FMQ. You CAN go in ANY direction. Once I got that through my head, it was easier to plan my path.

I learned by following Leah Day, leahday.com. She has a wealth of free information, very detailed for a beginner. Lots of youtube videos. She has over time started selling some CDs, etc. but still plenty of free info. She also has classes on Craftsy.

I took a class at MQX with Leah Day two years ago...she had us prepare a half dozen quilt sandwiches 15x15 inche so we could practice different FMQ patterns. Since then, I continue to use leftover batting and scraps to make even larger test sandwiches and it helps you learn to maneuver larger projects like baby quilts and such under your needle. Practice is key, especially in the beginning.

Leave 5 at least inches around the edge of batting and backing to help with the edges. It does get a little tricky around the edges but you can go in any direction. When I first started FMQ, I concentrated on a block at a time starting in the center. I have a tendency to work in quadrants from center to outer corner, when that quad is done, I worked my way back to the center and started on the next quad. However you do it, have fun. There is a rhythm to the sound of the machine and the movement of the hands.

Here is what I do....one had to the left of the needle and one hand to the right of the needle to move the quilt along. When I reach the end side of the quilt and can no longer hold on to the side, then that hand gently reaches through themachine throat space and guilds the quilt along. Make sense?

Taking a couple of FMQ Craftsy classes got me going.

Plus there are so many free You Tube videos. Nobody does it exactly the same, so you will find what works best for you. I'm no expert but I can do a respectable meander on my small mechanical Brother. It takes a lot of moving the quilt, but, I'm not usually in a hurry. Also, practice, practice, practice!!!

Rob has several tutorials on U-tube that are easy to understand. He really is a fantastic teacher. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QFbw1LAPZjg

I second the suggestions to start with smaller practice sandwiches, and then work your way up to larger pieces slowly. Just the thought of learning to FMQ with a full size quilt gives me the shivers.

My other suggestion is to practice whatever design you are using by doodling first, over and over, on paper. I had heard this advice repeatedly, but always considered it to be a silly step....until I finally had to do it in a class...and wow! It really helps! Lots!

Not trimming is a good tip. I will use it. I think that edge would give me a better grip.

Before I begin to free motion quilt, I form a pattern in my head and then use paper and pencil to repeatedly draw the pattern. I think it helps to set the pattern in my brain. Then I try it out first on a little quilt sandwich before I quilt it on my quilt.There are many books on free motion quilting as well as online tutorials.

FMQ question
 

I did not see any free info on her website .

I'm a total FMQ beginner as well, I've done several baby quilts but still practicing and learning. The one bad habit I had to break was rolling my quilt up into a log. It makes it impossible to maneuver the sandwich freely. I'm saving up to take some of Leah Day's classes

There are lots of YouTube videos and some people practice on dry erase boards to imprint designs in their brain before trying it on their quilt. All are good, but when you start to practice on fabric, the most helpful quilt sandwich to start on was a large coloring book style kids panel. It helped me learn "control" with FMQing on my machine. Outline the lines like we used to do when coloring. When all the lines have been followed, start filling in the spaces with different textures. When you are done, bind and donate. I tried doing quilting on a muslin sandwich in which I had drawn lines to resemble squares, triangles and borders, but quickly got bored. Here is one of my practice panels:
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Just relax and have fun. Starting is the hardest part. I use Machingers gloves as my hands slip otherwise. I position my hands to the left and right of the needle, but sometimes, like Geta Grama on this board, will pinch a bit of the fabric from underneath with my right hand instead. There are no hard and fast rules, so do what is comfortable for you.

I was so afraid of ruining the top that took forever to finish, I traced the designs I wanted onto tracing paper and pinned them to the quilt and sewed through the paper!! Then when done with a section, rip the paper off and sometimes used a tweezer to get all the paper!! That's when I started using chalk pencils to mark the design, both have their drawbacks!
Just relax and enjoy the process!

https://leahday.com/pages/quilting-design-gallery This link will take you straight to her stitch gallery; click on a FMQ pattern you like, and you can see a how-to video on it. She has literally hundreds of these instructional videos. It's an amazing resource.