I am fairly new to quilting and very new to free motion quilting.
I made my grandson a small quilt, safari animals on the front, cozy flannel leopard print on the back. I thought I was doing so well, I did the quilting on it but my poor hands were sore the next day, especially one thumb. It was only after I was reading a magazine about FMQ that I realized that I forgot to lower my feed dogs......No wonder it was harder than heck to tug around. At least my machine still seems fine after doing that. Please, join me, I dont want to feel foolish all by myself, tell me what silly mistake you have made, either now or when you first started quilting. Hopefully we can learn from each other.
Sandra

There are no mistakes just lessons. That is if you learn from them.

Along the same lines, trying to sew forward when the lever is on Reverse.

Or wondering why it was sewing wonky when the presser foot was so loose it was ready to fall off.

Hi, welcome. I am new to the website, fairly new to quilting. My neighbor (now sadly deceased) got me into quilting. She got me started making placemats. I was so proud of what I had accomplished, only to turn the placemat over to find pleats all over the place. Now why didn't I think of using the walking foot?!?!? Now keep in mind that I have made several wedding gowns, and more window treatments than you could count.

Garment making and quilting are two entirely different animals. The tools are the same, but the process is not! My first quilting project (a table runner) had pleats and puckers everywhere!

I took my machine in for repair. It would not sew.....can you guess????????? I had never cleaned it in 4 years. Lesson learned.

I am somewhat embarrassed to say that I had the same problem with my new vacuum. It was so much better than my old one that I never dreamed it would fill up so fast. I took it down the street to the shop where I bought it and he opened it up and showed me that the bag AND hose were full. Of course there were other customers in the store at the time :oops:

When I first started this time (I had quilted as a child but different system all together) I made a doll quilt for my dd with flannel on the back. I'd never heard of a walking foot or a darning foot. It was pretty bad but she still uses it. It doesn't look too bad from the front. LOL

You have REALLY learned all the lessons until you've sewn through your finger, nail and all. It's a lesson you'll never want to repeat. Or dropped a rotary cutter on your foot/toe.

I pray that those 2 are lessons I never learn directly from.

One of my first finished quilts was for an ex-fiance and I think he probably long ago tossed the quilt! (It was over twelve years ago.) It was a king-sized Looney Tunes flannel quilt and I thought - the fluffier the batting, the better- so I made the quilt into a GIANT pillowcase and stuffed two layers of high-loft batting into it. Then, I poorly FMQed the borders first and tied the rest of the quilt. It actually looked pretty good, but the ties started coming undone after awhile. I shudder to think what happened if he washed it!

Go to the search section at the top of the page and put in

"What is the silliest thing you did while quilting" and you will see my big story AND quite a few others. We have ALL done some things that we would not want to see on the CBS Evening News. :lol: :lol:

Not yet with the rotery cutter, but the needle through the nail bit I did while sewing on nylon net. And, I snipped the end of my finger when I tried out my new Ginhger(?) scissors.

On several occassions (you'd think I'd learn) I've been frustrated because my Bernina would just not go. I'd check cords, turn it off and on and walk away disgusted. Then my sewing buddy would calmly reach over and slide the bobbin winder back where it belongs.

Oh too funny! I appreciate each and every story. Thanks for the chuckles. I am still shaking my head at how I did that. I thought it was being stubborn not letting me just slide the quilt around. It was only loops of quilting, good thing.

Been there and done that. :-(

I cannot tell you how many times I've sewn wrong sides together!!! :D:D

Having made cloths for my entire family(7 of us)for many years, I can attest to the fact that switching from dresses and jeans to quilting taught me the only thing they have in common is the machine and me.

I tried to sew on my Pfaff and it wouldn't sew. It just made this funny whirring sounds. I was so mad. I took everything apart, rethreaded it and checked the bobbin. I was ready to take it in to the shop where I bought it in the morning. Than I realized the bobbin winder was pushed over to wind the bobbin. :oops: :oops: :oops: :oops: I pushed it back and it sewed perfectly. Opps.

You poor thing. I am surprised you didn't 'throw in the towel' and quit sewing altogether.