How did you lean to machine quilt using a sewing machine?
 

It's time I became less hesitant about this so I would like to hear how you learned how to machine quilt. I'm not attempting anything fancy yet, straight line and a few curves. I've done pretty well on small size projects but will be attempting my first machine quilted twin size and I don't want to mess it up too terribly, lol. My biggest fear is the back bunching up and I won't notice until it's too late.

How did you learn? Book? Video? Trial and Error? Needle down and go? I do have the walking foot and free motion foot.

I am mostly self-taught. For years I struggled with little pleats at the back and was amazed at the difference when I finally splurged for a walking foot. It is worth every penny! Free motion quilting is my favorite way to quilt. It takes some practice and I always do a sample to test the tension. I did take a class once in FMQ and it helped me get started. I did a lot of practicing before I was willing to do it on a "real" quilt. Matching threads to the fabrics helps make the mistakes less noticeable. I don't mind using contrasting thread now. Having a level work surface works best with larger quilts. I love my Machingers gloves. I used to use the Supreme Slider, but stopped once I quilted it to the back of a quilt. LOL

I've never enjoyed it. Hand quilting is much more relaxing.

For me it was a book & trial & error.

I would highly suggest if you have NOT sandwiched your quilt yet.....Heavily starch your backing first. It will really help to prevent pleats. I prefer to pin my quilts. Others use spray or glue. I usually start in the center & work outward. I also use "Machingers Quilting Gloves". They are a bit pricey tho. You could use gardners gloves that have the little rubber dots on them too. They do make it easier to hold your quilt while sewing.

Good luck & just have fun quilting :).

i used to watch the many quilting shows that used to be on... just tried to do what i viewed.

I did take a hands-on class, which was very helpful. The instructor watched me and made just a couple of suggestions. Made a big difference. The other thing is, you mentioned that you've been practicing. What I found was there was one all over design (stippling) that seemed to come very naturally to me. I concentrated on that one. If you find one that seems easier, use that one. Other than the class which got me started, the rest was trial and error.

I watched Patsy Thompson FMQ videos on YouTube practiced along with her, when I wasn't on my machine I practiced by using my grandson's Etch a Sketch, using paper just didn't work for me! I still practice on the Etch a Sketch especially if it is a design I haven't done before or in a while. There are lots of designs available that you can practice until you get proficient but stippling and meandering are your friends when you start off. You can do it, good luck!

Self taught after watching a lot of quilting shows. The hardest part is just starting. I was afraid because I didn't want to ruin something. But that's silly because it's just fabric and I always had plenty more of that. I started finally by making practice sandwiches and then practicing.

Straight stitched. Walking foot moot as Pfaff has IDT. Drew lines with either blue or purple marker and chalk pen if dark material. Learned from bits in the 1475 Pfaff instruction book. Mostly self taught. I can't seem to sit through a quilting show. If no one covers what I want to know, I'm gone.

Pretty much same here. And I do like my walking foot. I've played/practiced. Last one I did was a straight stitch on diagonal. Like Weezy Rider states also if they don't get right to the nitty gritty, I move on.

I just jumped in. Could not afford to send a quilt out to be quilted so just watched videos, read books, and practiced. Once I finally learned to do feathers everything else seemed much easier. I love Leah Day and Angela Walters.

I did a lot of what most others have already said, but I think the thing that really helped making the transition to a bigger quilt was Ann Peterson's Craftsy class, Quilting Big Projects on a Small Machine. I have used her methods time and time again, and have never had a pleat or pucker and have made a few King sized quilts. Highly recommend.

I watched YouTube video's and I am jumping in. I have done a few practice runs, but it's time to just go for it!

A LOT of practice sandwiches. Another thing that really made the difference was getting a non-hopping foot. Having that gliding foot just made everything so much easier for me. I use a Supreme Slider and Machingers. I've taken a couple of Craftsy classes, but mainly I have just practiced on quilt sandwiches until I could do whatever design I wanted.
I always spray baste my quilts.
The best class I took on Craftsy was Free Motion Quilting Essentials with Christina Camelli. Really basic, but showed lots of foundational designs to work from.
Now, if I could just get those feathers figured out!
Watson

Lots of practice and reading mostly. I am not great at it, but, I am mostly concentrating on the function part before the design part. I feel this way, it needs to hold up to many washings so making sure it is stable is my concern. Then I do enjoy playing with designs. I just got the foot and westalee heavy plastic templets to learn with. On one quilt I have used four different ways of quilting. Like perhaps with the walking foot, free motion and marking a design, or a quilt design built in on my bernina. It all is done in different ways with different feet. I have watched videos, taken craftsy classes and read books.

I guess what I am trying to suggest is, be kind to yourself and just jump in and play with it. Each way takes learning how and practice. Try on maybe pot holders and work up to larger and larger projects. You will learn things as you go and it will be so fun, you won't want to stop. Honestly! It is fun when you stop being so afraid. No one is going to be critical of your work like you. Right? So be kind to yourself and have fun!

Once you start quilting, you will never look at the quilts at a quilt show the same again.

Oh one thing I forgot. I have a little notebook that I keep notes in just for the quilting. It has machine settings, thread types and other things I want to remember about my quilting techniques. That way, once I like what I see, I write it down so I can refer to it next time I am going to do it again. I don't want to waste time every quilt trying to remember what I did. Smart, huh?

I've since taken some Craftsy classes. I even found one that had a written transcript with it as the instructor talked.

All of the classes should have that. There are people who are hard of hearing at any age and some devices can be annoying with earphones. I had a tablet that cut the volume as soon as the earphone jack was used. Said to keep the device from allowing "loud music".

We aren't listening to loud music, but an instructor who often talks while stitching on the machine so turning up the volume isn't damaging. ( there was an override, but try to find it)

My cat gets tangled in the earphones if I use my laptop.

I have been sewing (my own clothes) since I was about 12 years old & made one very simple quilt when I was in high school (hand pieced and quilted). It was made from scrap fabric that I had left over from dresses that I had made in high school. The quilt was a simple scrappy with 2" squares. Then when I was 58 years old a friend of mine took up machine quilting & helped me get started in it. It was difficult for me to accept machine quilting as all I have ever heard of was hand pieced/quilted quilts. Machine quilting almost seemed like "cheating" to me. :rolleyes: Anyway, she convinced me to learn & with her help & a quilt class that we went to together I was off & running. Then I watched tons of tutorials online & learned from other quilters on quilting forums. I've never gotten the hang of FM quilting but I love it on quilts. I'm mainly a stitch in ditch quilter but I do use some templates at times & do a little stippling.

I started with Stitch-in-the-ditch which on occasion turned into meandering around the ditch. That was relatively easy and I realized that I really needed to pay attention to the sandwich and baste process. The backing needed to be taut (but not over-stretched). Then the batting needs to be nicely smoothed and the top too needs to be smoothed. I have had good luck with that method (both pin basting and spray basting).

Once I ventured into FMQ it was a disaster. I had plenty of books and watched videos. I took classes and while I was in the class, everything went well. Alone at home it was a different story. I told DH that I was so bad I didn't even suck at it. lol

Over time I had to give myself the proverbial kick in the pants to keep practicing. I also started to doodle and have filled many sketchbooks with doodles and FMQ patterns. Craftsy classes helped me too. My favorites are with Christina Cameli as she is so positive and supportive.

After that, it's practice - practice - practice and you'll be amazed at the progress.

I started out thread painting in the early 80's on a machine where you didn't use a foot when doing free motion thread painting, then I did a few trial quilt sandwiches and put it away for 20 years. When I started up again in the 2000's I just put together some practice sandwiches and started doodling. I didn't worry about stitch length or even what I was quilting, just played. Sometimes it just looked like a kid's scribbling, but even that helped get the control down. Then when Craftsy started up I began taking classes.

I say just jump in and play. It's only fabric, and fabric can be replaced. The more you play, the better you will get. I spend a fair amount of time FMQ doodling, using pieces of cheap craft store felt for my sandwiches. I find it very relaxing. I also give myself a break if I'm having a day when my stitches aren't all the same size, if they're sturdy and the quilt will stay together, then I'm good with that even if some are a little longer than others. Same with wobbles. "Mistakes" become an opportunity to either learn how to fix or to develop a new design. What I'm getting at here is: don't be too critical of your efforts, just enjoy the process. It's about having fun.

Rob

Workshop with Cindy Needham. Moved me from total beginner to proficient in three days. She has a craftsy class which is supposed to be very good.

I thought about sandwiching a piece 27" square then giving it a shot. When done, cut in 9" squares and bind for potholders so I'd be making something useful. (4 sets with an odd one left over lol!)

books, craftsy classes, 2 live classes. One with Patsy Thompson(she also has craftsy classes and free videos by the way) was what took me to the next level. She gave me that Aha moment I needed after 4 years of practice. What also helps is doodling the pattern a lot before you quilt it.

I taught myself to quilt by doing a BOM in the quilt-as-you-go-technique. Each month I would FMQ another block, but the end of the BOM I was really good at it! If I was going to start with something big, I would start with a walking foot and make it simple!

I took a class thru craftsy and took on a couple queen quilts and then a king. I found it easiest to start in the middle of the quilt and doing a swerved line all the way down and then starting over again until one side was done and then start the other half. I spray glued mine together. Recently I tried the qayg block by block and free motion quilted them and just played. I found doing curly cues all over was easiest for me. Also did big circles and made rays coming from it like the sun and that was easy for me also and looked good. It was trial and error, some blocks looked better than others. Good luck..relax and have fun.

his is a great class. Gave me confidence that I COULD fmq. Did a small wallhanging...WITH FEATHERS...that I still hang Not perfect, but it gives me a lot of satisfaction.

Still not proficient, but keep trying.

I pinned like crazy and just sewed in the ditch. It was my first quilt and it was a huge Queen that had cost me a fortune. I think I was just determined to finish my quilt completely. Go for it, I think you will be pleased when you are finished. Fusible batting was awful for me later when I tried it and I guess I didn't have the right batting for the glue but pins worked so I kept using them

I started my FMQ journey with a couple of hands on classes... Sarah Ann Smith here in Maine and Leah Day at MQX in Manchester, NH. Both were extremely helpful and made you feel comfortable in learning. I then purchased a couple of Craftsy classes and still enjoy watching them from time to time...I also refer back to them for design ideas. I still take FMQ classes about every year because every instructor has a different style and now that there are rulers, there is always something new to explore.

I also started by watching a few Craftsy classes, read up on it and jumped in. Like already posted I use the spray for basting. Another hint, use some kind of a patterned backing as any mistakes won't show as much as on a plain fabric.

I'm pretty much a self taught machine quilter, and I do the majority of my quilting with straight lines and SID. However, since I am self taught, my first machine quilted quilt was king size, and somehow I even did feathered circles in the plain blocks. I learned so much quilting that quilt, but I was also also using the quilt to ease the grief of losing an older brother at age 53 from cancer. He lived in AZ and my sister and I were not able to go because we could not get a flight that would get us there in time for the funeral. However, I have frequently used quilting to get through the rough patches in my life, I don't know how I could have done it any other way. Quilting is my passion, my therapy and I love it.

I put together a couple of baby quilts before taking a class, and that was the wrong order! I learned a lot of good techniques from a 3 week quilting class at my local shop. It included piecing, sandwiching, quilting (with a walking foot), and binding. The tricks for sandwiching and quilting were very helpful. I really, really recommend a walking foot. I had one for garment sewing (useful for matching plaids and sewing corduroy), and it really makes a difference. Heavy starching helps too as others have said. The other thing is to not start on a loved twin quilt! Make some placemats or a table runner first. That way you can concentrate on the quilting process rather than maneuvering a big quilt through your machine.

Pam

I took a class 30 years ago that involved moving my sewing machine to the crook of my shoulder. I produced one practice square and didn't do anything for 20 years. Next I hand-basted my quilts on the floor and tried stitch in the ditch - not too successfully. Then I discovered spray basting, dropped the SID, and now meander happily on every quilt with my 40-year-old Kenmore.

I am taking a course now for certification for teaching and learning free motion, I have always stayed clear of this because did not feel that I could do a good job, I also took a craftsy class with jacquie garing (may be missed spelled) on using the walking foot and loved both of those course I felt strong about that. There are many free classes on youtube that will help you and another good source is Nancy Notions she has many video classes also. Hope the information helps Happy Quilting.

The Skillbuilder Practice Sampler Panel is a good way to practice different free-motion quilting designs. If you use a water-soluble thread like Superior Threads Vanish Lite as the top thread only, you can use the panel over and over again. Simply soak the panel in water after you have stitched all of the motifs, and all of the top threads disappear. Iron the panel, and it is ready to use again. Here is a link to one panel, there are other panels as well:

http://www.longarmsupplies.net/skill...ingfabric.aspx

Cautions when using water-soluable thread:
- Don't forget that thread is on your machine and stitch something you want to keep.
- Store the thread in a zip lock back with silica gel packets so humidity will not affect it.
- Don't put it where the dog can get to it. She will leave it outside in the rain.
- Don't ask me how I know these things!

I learned how to sew on my grandmothers lamp when I was 5 years old

I would like to see that lamp......

Practice, practice, practice! Also learned early on to have tables around my sewing table so the whole quilt was supported so there would be no drag.

Another thing I did was to use a stencil traced out and then follow it free motion. It gives you the feeling for the pattern and eventually the muscle memory that you can do the pattern yourself without having to draw it.

Watson

I am still learning, but I found it helpful to mark with pounce and a stencil. I still get lost and forget where I am in design if I don't mark.

Practice, practice and comparison with what I have done in the past. I see much improvement and know I still have a long way to go. I have taken several classes in the stores and I have done several Craftsy classes. All of these instructors are different. Their methods are different and their quilts finish differently. I like the idea of broad knowledge and have the option to try new ways for different results. I use stencils and templates a lot as well as motifs withing the patchwork. I cannot draw a picture and my doodles are very inadequate; so, why would I think I can do it with a sewing machined needle! So, its stencils and rulers. I am always up for new ideas-some work and others do not. But, I keep trying.