I am so excited! I just got my darning foot so I can give free motion a try. I have read a bit on here and started a test piece. I think the hard part for me is the foot to the floor part. I am normally a somewhat slow piece-er and the fast up and down freakes me out a bit.

I can tell that the faster I went the better the stitches looked - but you go through a ton of thread that way right?

My stitch lenght is set to 2.5 now. Where should it be?

I am so excited but a little intimidated at the same time!

Usually you set the stitch length to zero, because the movement of your hands controls the stitch length.

Some people have better control with FMQ if they leave the feed dogs up. If you do this, it's even more important to set your stitch length at zero. (It doesn't matter as much when feed dogs are dropped because they are moving underneath the bed of the machine, therefore not actually moving the fabric forward; however, it's still a good idea to set stitch length to zero.)

If your feed dogs are down, which they should be for FMQ your stitch length setting is irrelevant. Many say to set it to zero but since the feed dogs aren't engaged I think this may be to save wear and tear for those that can't drop the feed dogs.

Regarding pedal to the medal, I don't agree with that line of thinking and I was vindicated when I read Diane Gaudinski's book on machine quilting. She states she is not sure where that came from about the pedal all the way to the floor. Have it at a speed that feels comfortable to you that is matching the speed you are moving your sandwich under the needle. If you are moving too slow for your machine you will see your stitches are teeny tiny and next to impossible to unpick if you decide you don't like them. If you are moving too fast for what you have your pedal at your stitches will be too big. This is the hardest part of FMQ, getting your pedal foot in harmony with how you are moving the quilt sandwich. It is a constant dance with adjusting your pedal foot speed IMHO.

I have done very little FMQ so I can't tell you anything from experience. I have no recommendation/suggestion about stitch length, etc.

However, I did purchase a book by Sarah Ann Smith, Thread Work Unraveled and she suggested to tape a bottle cap to the foot pedal so that even when you press all the way down your maximum speed is slower. That way you can concentrate on FMQ more and less on speed. I haven't tried it but seems logical.

I have just glanced at the book but it does seem to have good suggestions and is geared towards us that are FMQ challenged. There is a copyright which I will honor. You could google it.

Her website is http://saraannsmith.com. Hope that helps and good luck.

I don't push to pedal to the floor. It's faster than I piece but not as fast as it can go. The trick is to move the fabric at a consistent speed.

I just took a fmq class from Sue Nickels and she doesn't recommend going very fast either. She says just go at a speed that you feel comfortable with. She's an excellent teacher by the way. I do know that you should practice A LOT and that will give you more control over hand and foot speed when you do your actual fmq. I'm also taking a fmq class at my local Bernina dealer to learn to use my Bernina Stitch Regulator. I don't know if I will prefer using that or just the regular fmq without that special option.
Verna in So Cal.

I was just at a lecture/demonstration by Sue Nickels in May. She is great! I got so much from her lecture and demo. I can hardly wait to finish up my WIP's so I can start an applique piece using her raw edge technique that really doesn't leave any obvious raw edges.

Cminor - good luck with your FMQ. Sounds like you are motivated and have made a great start. I have only done a little and that was with my Bernina Stitch regulator, but I have been encouraged by the results. I do know that practice is the key!

I just did my first FMQ and for me the practice sandwich was nothing like the real quilt. I thought I had fmq down and it looked good on my practice and when I started on the quilt it was nothing like I thought.

You may have that happen to you. So on your first real quilt do one that is for you or someone that wont mind a practice.