Way to go!!!! I am impressed!! It is pretty neat that you say it is fun, as most don't. :) Stick a real quilt on there soon and I bet you get a real sense of accomplishment. (I have never done it, so you sure are ahead of me!!)

Dina

Thanks everyone--I've been grinning all evening. Dina, I've got a scrappy D9P that I'm going to sandwich up and try--I'm looking forward to it now. :)

Lucky, I've had good luck taping an index card over the feed dogs with a little hole punched for the needle to go through. I just use painter's tape so it doesn't leave any sticky glue after, and it doesn't stick up far enough to catch the fabric.

You go Girl! Yes, you can do it! I worked on FMQ a Twin quilt today. Finished up 4 bobbins, tomorrow I will wind at least 2 more and finish her up!
I did a King size quilt on my little Bernina about 2 months ago. It went much better than I though. Now I am no longer afraid of quilting the biggies on my little machine!

I took a machine quilting workshop when I first stared quilting. Everyone was asked to bring a large layered square to practice, thin thread no heavier then 60wt and correct needle size, and a machine we knew how to operate. After we practiced on our squares, which most was scrap muslin and batting, the instructor then passed out her sample layered squares for us to use. Our stitches looked great on her samples. Her sample quilt squares had high quality cotton fabric with wool batting. She said use the best for practice. It makes a difference, seeing how nice it looked we stayed motivated and not discouraged.

You might want to try Supreme Slider. A little pricey, but I love it. You leave the dogs up.

I love to hear about stories where somebody tries something new just to find out how silly it was to be so afraid to have not tried it sooner. Curved piecing is another one of those things that cause great fear and bias binding, just to name a few.

I am so happy that you gave FMQing a try and found that you like it. You rock!!!!
peace

I've just really begun the FMQ -- I've so many tops finished and ready for quilting that I've filled three boxes!! I must say I don't enjoy FMQ as much as I enjoy the cutting piecing, but at least I can do it. I prefer large swirls instead of SITD. I don't do SITD very well. My aim is stitch sortakinda close to the ditch, but don't obsess over it. HA! I have learned to baste everything with safety pins instead of straight pins. I have a couple of scars to prove it, too. Straight pins sometimes bite if you forget that they are in there. Please continue on, though. It sounds as though you have discovered a new talent.

I'm glad you tried something new. I hope you continue to grow in your skill. There are so many helpful suggestions on this thread and so many other places to help you along the way. I really love to do FMQing and try to do some most days. I like to have a couple of projects going that are in a variety of stages and work some on each. I go from piecing or applique to FMQ so as not to overtax the body. I have found many of the best tips for growth have come from this board.

Good for you for tackling something new. I've tried practicing and I think I can do it, but I'm not comfortable with it yet. This week I start a series of FMQ classes. I'm hoping this will give me the confidence to FMQ a whole quilt. We'll see!