How did you learn how to free motion quilt?
 

I'm going to try and learn how to free motion quilt. I know that it is all about practice, practice, practice and also drawing but is there anything that you may have done that would help me out. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.

i'll be watching this since I just quilted my 6th quilt on my friends LA. I've hand quilted over 350 quilts. this FMQ has me stumped. true artists do wonders.

There is a blogger, Lori Kennedy, who does wonderful step-by-step free-motion quilting tutorials. She has started a series of doodling tutes that people are finding really helpful for building muscle memory and freeing up their creativity. Her blog is The Inbox Jaunt. http://theinboxjaunt.com/

She just recorded a Craftsy class that I bought, but I haven't as yet watched. It's getting great reviews.
Check her out.

Leslie

Also Google Leah Day. She has lots of free videos. I taught myself by watching videos and practicing a lot. I am not an expert but can do a respectable enough job.

I'm pretty good following instructions from a book or video, but this was one skill that I really benefitted from a hands on class. I had done a bunch of practicing on my own, but the instructor just observed me for a few minutes and made some suggestions (faster machine speed) and it just clicked. I would see if there is a class at a LQS in your area.

For me it's definitely a "learn by doing" thing. My first FMQ end product makes me cringe just a little bit, but I gave it to my sister, who looks at it with an un-critical eye and loves it. I made the rule for myself that I would not rip out my work -- just keep going and try to make the next part look better.

I find it helps to practice regularly -- 15 minutes every day, just to make it feel natural and intuitive. I have scraps I piece into improv pillow covers (24 inches square) or table runners (18 inches by 70) and I will practice on those every day. The end results are a mixed bag, but they work really well as picnic table covers or pillows for pets. Some recent practice pieces are so nice that my niece asked to have a quilt made of them. I use the practice pieces to try out new stitches, trial threads, think through the approach to a design I intend to do on a real quilt -- they are really my key to success.

I did take some classes and had a great teacher and of course practice drawing on paper whenever you can or I used a dry erase board just doodle and enjoy

check out the pajama quilter, she makes it so easy

OMG Lynnie!

Over 350 hand quilted quilts?

You must be very good at it and lightning quick!

My great aunt had a friend who hand sewed everything.

Her work was just breathtaking.

Anything she made had the strongest most beautiful perfect even stitches. Anything she made looked like it was done by machine. I have never seen the like anywhere else.

Perhaps try using a dry erase board and markers to work on your doodles, and muscle memory. Then also try different designs on muslin and batting sandwiches, using a dark colored thread to see your stitching better~~

:)

Lots of craftsy, A quilt show class with patsy thompson, she is awesome by the way, and lots of practice, slowing the machine down, and proper tools

YouTube

Leah Day's Free Motion Quilting Project & Heather Thomas' 4-part series for beginning FMQ. And then just lots of patient practice!

Agree with Bree.....Leah Day and youtube

I taught myself to FMQ on practice squares of muslin ( layered with batting). Also, I FMQ on table runners and candle mats. It takes practice but learned quickly. I love my Bernina with Bernina Stitch Regulator for fmq .

As a lady in my church used to say of the choir, "You practice and I'll pray". My only advice is to do it the best way for you. Don't get caught up in what some say you MUST do and CANNOT do. There are some absolutely fabulous tutorials but don't get discouraged if it isn't working for you right away. Try a different approach. Doodling the pattern and dropping the feed dogs never worked for me but others have absolute success with them. As others have said practicing on muslin sandwiches is a great trainer!! Just stick with it and keep trying until you find the right 'rhythm' for you.

I tend to think of FMQ as being like driving and turning the steering wheel. Moving the fabric faster on tight curves. I also use my elbow to turn the outer portion of the quilt as I go. If the quilt gets stuck on the table edge, you can't keep up a smooth motion so you do have to keep repositioning the bulk. I never used a pattern for stippling. Just make it up as I go along. Have used a simple drawing on tissue paper to make a figure or write a name.

Yes, it is a lot of practicing. But what you want to be able to do is move the fabric at the same rate of speed the machine does and be able to know when you are at that speed. That way you get even consistent stitches. I can hear when my Bernina is at a certain speed and since I am familiar with the rate of movement the machine moves the fabric, I am able to FMQ. You may find it easier to follow a line without having to think which way you are going to have to move the fabric. Just one less thing to think about until your skills improve. Good Luck. Find a local shelter and make some quilts for dogs to sleep on. They won't be too critical of your stitch length.

I took two classes for fmq from two of the best some years ago. Sharon Schamber and Diane Gaudynski. After learning the basics and how tos, it was practice, practice and more practice. I fmq all my quilts on a Brother 1500 or use a walking foot for geometric shapes. I'm happy with my machine quilting and that was my goal.

Thank you...your system is encouraging.

I will reiterate looking into Leah Day. She does beautiful work and she will teach you lots of things concerning all aspects of quilting.

As I did when I made my king size quilt, with pp blocks, by the seat of my pants. My DD did the quilting on king size. She then turned me loose on 2 other lap quilts I made. She is the most wonderful person, she gave me so much encouragement, help. She is also my care giver, we are together 24/7. I did some very special quilting believe me.

I doodle A LOT. You should see my writing pad at work when meetings get boring. lol Doodling and repeating a specific pattern creates muscle memory which will help your brain guide the hands once you have a sandwich under the needle.
I do not use an important top on practice runs or new patterns. That way I don't have to concentrate on being "perfect" - instead I can focus on the pattern.
I took quite a few craftsy classes and each one taught me something new or a different way to approach the sandwich.
As everyone has already stated - just practice and you will see improvements in no time.
It is important to find what Cindy Needham calls the hum-purr. That is the sweet spot between the speed of your hands moving the quilt and the speed of the machine. Once you got that, the rest gets easier.
When doing curves, don't speed up or you'll have long galloping stitches. (Ask me how I know)
Finally, have fun with it.

Ausgirl is right, Lori Kennedy is the best. Her blog is so easy to follow. I have learned a lot from her blog and tutorials. She is doing some reorganizing so us newbies to her blog can start at our comfort level and find her easier motifs to start with. Check her out.

I watched a bunch of video from the people already mentioned and then just went for it. Did small sandwiches and then runners. For me since I have airbrushed for years it was easier because I had already trained myself to use my hands to follow where my eyes were going. I look at where I want the thread to go and use my hands to make that happen. Also I had to learn to make my hands go the same speed as the thread was going. With my Pfaff I need to do a waltz no rush slower speed working together. With my Babylock Jane I am able to move much quicker as she can really move but still its learning your machine and what speed your hand and eye works with your machines speed. And learning to control it. So basically practice and find what works for you. Quilt management is important as well as how your quilt moves across your surface. Hang ups with the quilt and jerky movements can cause some strange things to happen. Ask me how I know. And remember to check your back often. I have had beautiful stitching on the top only to find the back was full of eye lashes cause I went to fast in corners or really loose as my tension was off.

I had read about some people doing FMQ here & some of the finer points. I had put together an Antique Teddy Bear quilt for a great grandson with a lot of plain background. I felt I needed to do something to it, so I did a smallish meandering which I basically pictured as puzzle pieces & it came out totally awesome!! I was so proud of that quilt!! Practice helps, but I never have the time, so I just choose a design and go for it!! I still get nervous about destroying my quilts sometimes, but I figure if I don't try to FMQ, I'll never get better! :-) So far, so good! Everyone has loved what I've tried.

I just started doing it. The first was lousy but I have gotten better. I just move as I want. I don't try anything fancy.

I didn't see anyone here recommending a thin flat batting for your first attempts. I found it made a big difference when I was starting out. Something on the order of warm and natural or warm and white, Hobbs 80/20 , there are others. I also feel a mostly cotton batting shifts less against the top and backing than poly which makes things easier. After you get some practice you can branch out and try other things to see how they work for you.

You have to be OK with it not being perfect. I'm not even a perfectionist, but after I spend a lot of time piecing and love the top, I want the quilting to look as good. I too just "went" for it. I'm not great at it, but can do a respectable job meandering, loops and stippling. Just keep at it and try to lose your fear of making mistakes. You will, but more than likely you will be the only one that knows that. I am taking my first class this weekend and am really looking forward to getting some actual instruction.

I tried a few things, like out-lining a panel , something I read about. Then I found Leah Day's website and she has so much information about setting up your machine to speed control and many videos. Look on youtube for her stuff. Recently she has some on Craftsy, excellent! Her website is Daystyle.com. You can practice and practice but if you don't have some direction it can be frustrating. I am also one that the doodling does not work for. I do much better with my machine than with a pencil! And if you are a perfectionist, it will be hard for you. You just have to work through it. Good luck and I hope you keep trying, it really can work for you. Even if it is a struggle, once you have completed your own quilt, it will be worth it!

I just finally decided to let go and do it & not worry about whether it was perfect or not. i'm working on my first one & it is taking forever because there is so much quilting but it is pretty[ATTACH=CONFIG]528940[/ATTACH]

That looks AWESOME! I'm still "meandering." My problem is so much time between finished quilt tops that are ready to quilt. I doodle and practice with scrap sandwiches, but two a year just isn't enough to stay good at it.

The best thing I would say is to not be too critical about your early efforts. Try to do a real project, not just try to get everything perfect on samples before doing a real quilt. I had issues with getting an even stitch (still do sometime!), but all the people who got my quilts never noticed and loved them. Even if there are "defects" in your quilting, once the quilt has been washed the crinkles hide a multitude of sins <grin>. Remember that straight lines are the hardest to do iN FMQ so concentrate on curves. Eyelashes on the back are usually caused by moving too fast on the curves; concentrate on keeping the movement even.

Just pop on a hopping foot, put on your gripper gloves and give it a go. I find that working on placemats is a great practice before you start on a larger quilted item. You can quilt each one different. Just give yourself extra for the edge so you can cut it down to size.

I second the suggestion to follow Lori Kennedy. Her tutorials are great! There are also a lot of great books out there by other quilter/bloggers that have been so helpful to me. Angela Walters, Natalia Bonner, Christina Cameli, just to name a few. I own all of their books and they are a great resource. In all cases, practicing is key. Plan to fill up several sheets of scrap paper with your attempts. Once you get the feel of it, keep doodling until you can 'see' the design on the blank sheet and where you are going to stitch next. By continuing to practice with your pencil and paper, you develop muscle memory. (similar to typing, your fingers just know where the keys are.) Once I'm comfortable with paper, I move to practice quilt sandwiches. This allows you to practice scale of your design, and work out any tension and thread issues before you start on the real project. (I've found that plexi glass over the real quilt, and a dry erase marker can be very helpful)
Just remember every project you quilt is a snapshot of what you're capable of at the time. I live by this motto and rarely remove quilting stitches. Just quilt and move on. Good luck on your FMQ journey.

Well, as you said, practice, practice, practice is the key. Also, frequent practice so your muscles/mind don't forget.

One of the best things I ever did was take a 3 day beginner machine quilting workshop with Cindy Needham. http://www.cindyneedham.com/workshops.htm about 4 years ago. I had never done any FMQ at all. I knew I wanted to learn how to do it and this workshop seemed to fit the bill. Cindy is an awesome teacher. When I left my cord at home on my (unsuitable anyway) sewing machine she lent me hers. I was the least experienced person in the class.

The best part about having her there was she teaches you to how to solve tension and other issues on your machine. I ended up buying a used machine from one of the other participants the second day, similar to Cindy's. I sat next to someone who had just purchased a similar machine so in addition to Cindy's help we helped each other. By the time I got home I knew how to adjust upper tension, lower tension without any fear. When I have a tension problem I run through her steps and am able to trouble shoot my problem. and of course I found the hum-purr someone else on this thread talked about.

I got a new machine last year, took a one hour lesson in the store and because of Cindy's class could immediately start FMQ on the machine. I think the biggest frustration with FMQ are the machine issues and tension problems and she helps you solve these.

We tried numerous kinds of Superior threads so learned how to adjust tensions on different threads cotton poly metallic etc. I learned many different basic FMQ designs. We even played around with stencils. She covered everything and gave us all a CD with all the information in book form. I still refer to it. While her work is exquisite she shows everyone little tricks to make the FMQ easier and the ways to 'hide' mistakes. I went out of there with such confidence. We learned putting the quilt sandwich together too.

I don't usually take workshops, too hard to get there and expensive. Since then I've taken a lot of Craftsy classes with Angela Waters and Leah Day. I use Leah Day's website extensively and purchased a few of her e-books.

I quilt very differently than Cindy, she does whole quilts and uses stencils extensively I tend to Angela Walters style with free form FMQ but Cindy's workshop was really a great workshop to jumpstart my fmq and skip past most of the beginner challenges.

I am definitely not there yet, but I have read to begin on paper then try working on flannel next. I have also taken a class. My opinion is it really is a skill that takes awhile to master.

Thanks to everyone for their suggestions. I have bookmarked this valuable thread.

She also has a class on fmq'ing at craftsy. I took it and it is fun to watch her do all of the neat designs.

The truth is, you have to set up your machine and just do it to learn. It will get easier and easier as you go. I sometimes use many different quilting ways in a quilt. Some stitch in the ditch, some echo and also marked designs along with the free motion fillers. I have some built ins on the bernina's and I want to try them out. It is just a matter of time and courage.. LOL!

Working at it. The hardest part is I don't do all over and filler designs, I don't like them. I prefer marked designs where I want them. My embroidery machine doesn't have a larger practical hoop than 5 inches, so if I want larger, I have to free motion. Mine is more like ruler work using marking pens instead. The problem is getting to the point of that. Most Craftsy classes are good, but they assume all over and filler work. I usually just watch the learning technique part and ignore the rest. Leah Day is good, but I'd never use how to sandwich a full size quilt. I'll only do a twin size as QAYG. I did a king size with just STID on an old Pfaff 1471 and never again.

That's more practicing the feeling. Right now I'm doing curves that wind up looking like "Rob Peter to Pay Paul" 4 inches apart along the squares which can be continuous up to a point. Some squares have triangles, and those are sort of echo. So there is stopping and starting. The blocks are 24 inches and will be finished QAYG. Learning as I go.