How Long Does It Take for FMQ?
 

I forced myself to FMQ a baby quilt (58x72) to practice. I have tried using the Bernina BSR as well as Leah Day method of dropping feed dogs with glider. I have only done two blocks and feel I am very slow. The results are so-so but I am determined to persevere. How long does it take others to FMQ? Is it a slow process? Just curious as I take my break....lol.

Thanks!

It can take me days to do a large king size quilt, working in 1-2 hour stints....anything longer and I start to get an ache between the shoulder blades....so breaks are good.....but normally I can do a large quilt in about 1-2 weeks, depending how dense or difficult the quilting is.

Quilting on my DSM is a very slow process for me. I need to stop and re-arrange the quilt so often.

I am *much, much, much* faster on my new (used) frame setup (Voyager 17 with stretch Hinterberg frame), plus it is fun. Quilting on my DSM is more like work than fun for me.

Do you mean how long to learn it or how long to actually quilt it? Either way I would answer, it depends...

If you are using a tight design like Leah Day's fillers, it's a much slower process than say an all over meandering or loops/swirls or loops/stars for instance.

It's good that you are trying! I often read people saying they would like to try it but lack the courage. One will never know if they will like it or how good they could be if they never try! So don't give up!

Katier825,

Thanks for the questions - more to actually quilt it was my reason for asking. I'm not doing to much density but find it slower than I thought. I will post pics after I get a little further along.

Good to know from Prism99 about rearranging as I have found this to be true as well. And, Buckeye Rose, I appreciate that it can take days to complete. I understand the breaks already!

It is slow if you are not a LAer, although it does get better with practice. The more complex the design, the more time it takes. I was told to start from the center and work out, but was sure I knew better. WRONG! Be sure to flez your shoulders every 15 min and get away from the machine regularly, or you will be incredibly sore afterwards. I have done a large number of large quilts on home machines, but I really wish I could stand long enough to use my guild's LA. what my guild sisters can do in 2-4 hours on the LA takes me days at home.

What scale are you quilting on? I did micro-quilting (less than 1/8" between lines) on 12" squares and each square took between 6 and 12 hours of steady work.

If I just do a really big stipple, I can do a twin size quilt in about 6 hours.

That is a very subjective question. Depends how small/tight your FMQ is or how fast you are stitching.

IMHO if you do a baby quilt in approx a day, you did good. :) esp. if you are new to FMQ. That is good that you are taking breaks. :)

Nothing micro but different patterns in each block which is time consuming. I thought it would take a day to do but now I see it will be days working a little at a time! Break time is over....lol, back to FMQ for a bit.