I went to a free motion class and I'm a beginner at quilting. Have taken some quilting classes and they seem to be ok. How long does it take a person to be able to do free motion? They said lots of practice but I don't know.Thanks for any replies. I have some quilt tops I need to do.

I did two twin size quilts for my first FMQ. I have learned a lot since then, but it was about 5 years ago too. I don't know how long it will take you, but just jump in and start.

I've tried and tried and still not good at it...2 yrs...try to avoid it and use most of my built in quilting FM stitches that my machine does. Maybe if I didn't have those I'd practice more

I"ve thought of that but how do you set your machine up and what fancy stitches do you use? My machine has all kinds of fancy stitches.

I didn't find FMQ difficult, just tiring. You have to be relaxed and in a good frame of mind. I find it tough on my shoulders and neck....probably because I tense up while doing it. I have a Pfaff 7570 (which I wouldn't give up for the world) and I also do some quilting with the embroidery unit combined with FMQ.

It took me a good six months before I felt like my FMQ skills were good enough to use on anything I wanted to really keep or gift. Now that's not saying I spent six months doing nothing but FMQ; I work fulltime and have other hobbies too... I set up a BUNCH (several dozens) of practice sandwiches and tried out all sorts of stuff. First I had to learn to control the speed of my machine really well (it has a kind of touchy foot pedal), then I had to figure out how to control the fabric and move it where I wanted it to go, but most of all I had to practice a lot of doodling with pencil and paper to get better at drawing smooth curves and designs! I couldn't even draw/sew a heart design when I started, but now, 2 ½ years later, I'm pretty happy with what I can do. I'm still working on expanding my skills, adding new kinds of designs all the time, but I'm quilting on "keeper" projects without worrying too much about whether I'll ruin it.

I jumped in feet first when it came to FMQ. I made 6 lap quilts one year for Christmas and I was not about to send to the LAQ, so I decided to figure out how to FMQ. By the end of that year, my FMQ was not to bad. Just meandering, but that is all I wanted anyway. It has been about 6 years since I did that and have not quilted in about 2 to 3 years. Started back up this summer and now I am in the process of FMQ a lap quilt. I was rusty but it is coming back. Best advice, relax as much as possible when doing it, practice on some pieces and enjoy :D

This is a hard question to answer because it depends on the individual person. Free motion quilting (FMQ) is not for everybody. You may find that you've been doing lots of practicing for a long time and aren't getting much better at it or you might be excellent at it. Like with most things, it will take time. Best of luck and keep at it! :thumbup:

search the postings here and you will get a lot of information.
Free Motion Quiting is not something you just decide to do and start on a quilt. There are techniques that one must practice in order to be able to comfortably move the quilt in sync with the speed of the machine which is the most important part of machine quiting. Taking a class is the best way to learn. If that is not possible then watch internet videos. However, search until you find one that deals with very basic techniques and not fancy work.

I read somewhere that it takes about 40 hrs of practise to feel comfortable doing it.