I bought an embroidery machine a few months ago with the plan to combine embroidery and piecing on my quilt tops.

Then...I took an FMQ class. This is not something that I believe I will excel at. And I will not be satisfied with less than high-quality (not perfect) results.

I'm pretty certain that I've seem embroidery designs for quilt motifs that could be continuously embroidered along a border or embroidered within a square.

Has anyone done this in place of FMQ? What do you think of the idea?

Thanks,
Cathy

There are a lot of designs out there specifically made for this :D
It is advised to place your machine where the quilt is laying out on a bigger surface, you don't want it to get caught up under the hoop as it moves.
Some put the machine on the floor, and spread the quilt out around the machine.
You may want to babysit the machine, to help ease the weight of the quilt while it is stitching.

yes but it's a learning process just as FMQ to get the perfection your looking for. Just practice on some scrap quilt sandwiches about 15 x 15.

i have used it many times. but it works best on smaller pieces [amma explained larger pieces above]. QAYG is a good option if you want the entire quilt quilted on the embroidery machine. of course, the emb machine makes beautiful custom labels. :)

I have done this a few times and the result is very good. You do need to babsit the machine though as the weight of the quilt can be a bit troublesome

I have a ton of quilting motif files for my Janome 11000SE. That was the way I wanted to go when I started quilting, because I absolutely hate FMQ. I suck at it and thought this would be a great idea.

I was wrong, it is good for some things like table runners and small stuff, but to do a whole quilt is rough unless you are just plunking quilting motifs all over the quilt.

Sizing all the files to fit your space is time consuming too if you even have the software to do that, my Janome will only decrease or increase about 10 to 15 percent any design so you need to use a standalone program for that stuff.

In theory it's great, in practice, not so much.

I do it all the time with my Bernina 830E. Sizing is a breeze, no software needed. I just do it on my machine;>

You can use a quilt as you go method and embroider separate blocks or sections then join. You can also purchase an 'endless' hoop, where you can easily advance the fabric. Designs are digitized specifically for this hoop to make the individual hoopings seamless. I have done a runner for my dining room table this way. My table is 17 feet long (seats 20) and the runner came out great.
It is a learned skill, however. I agree with everyone who said do a practice piece first!

I do this on individual squares. You do have to sit with it. I like the idea of putting it on the floor. will have to try that. It turns out great

Thanks a lot for the replies everybody. I have read abou the quilt as you go and don't really like the approach (just personal preference).

I do have software so sizing wouldn't be an issue and my machine takes a large hoop - 8x10, I think.

Jamie, I know what you mean by "plunking" but my FMQ instructor suggested using lots of different quilting designs depending on the lines of the quilt. So, using her approach, I don't think it would look too much like plunking. I agree with you though in comparing it to a fully-meandered pattern.

Thanks.