Machine quilting anything over 24 " square, I hate it. My machine knows I hate it! My whole sewing room braces for it. I have eased the presser button, the tension, I'm just straight sewing, nothing fancy. Grrrrr!
Thank you, I feel better. I'll have a cup of coffee and a cookie, and go at it again.

Maybe you should try a cookie and and a glass of wine.... :D

seriously.....hang in there and good luck!!!

I hate it with a passion right along with you!!! I decided a while ago that

A) Life is too short to wrestle a big quilt through the throat of a small machine, and more importantly

B) Hobbies are supposed to be enjoyable. If they aren't enjoyable, they can't be called hobbies, they are punishment. That means that

C). People who persist in doing something that is punishment are masochists.

D). I am not a masochist. I now enjoy piecing, and quilt by check.

And people who tell you to hang in there are sadists who enjoy the pain of others. My advice: Decide whether it's worth the aggravation, and if not, don't do it.

Amen to that...and thank you for saying it out loud!! :thumbup:

I quilt the big traditional stuff by check or barter, and the small art pieces up to 36"x36" on my own. Everyone is much happier that way, and both my piecing and my quilting are better because of it. :D

I hear you. I can machine quilt something small and it looks great but get something big its a mess

I hear you. I have two queen size quilts waiting for me in my studio. I agree on the wine but think 10:30 in the morning is a little to early to start on the wine.

I just discovered on this latest quilt that FMQ is easier than SITD. I hate having to sew straight. Freestyle free motion is liberating. I found I could FMQ a long time without getting tired, but SITD only a short time.

Thank you!, Thank You! for saying out loud what I have felt since I decided to invest in this hobby...... I just walk away from it for a few days then back at it again.... Not going to let it get me down. I will conquer it.

:mrgreen: Funny!

I agree.

But I will say that when I first started it, I hated it too. It was sweaty, frustrating, cuss-provoking work.

If I had decided then that it wasn't worth the aggravation, I would have missed out on some of the most fun and some of the most rewarding results I've ever had from any hobby.

There are still some times that I hate it, hate it, hate it - but I would still rather do ten hours of difficult quilting than an hour of piecing. We all like different things. :)

And thank goodness for that!!!!

:lol: :lol: :lol: :thumbup:

I suppose I would have to say that you alone know your frustration level and should decide when to quit trying. Myself I see anything like that as a challange and usually persist until I master the skill. And NO GAI i am not a masochist. Sadiest? Perhaps! LOL

Amen!!!!

Well, I have had hobbies, skills that I needed to learn that were difficult, but I enjoyed learning them despite the difficulty. Like calligrapy, and basket weaving and cake decorating and genealogy (which I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, a hundred times more than piecing). I just can't get there with quilting. I've done it, you saw my garden lattice quilt, but I DON'T enjoy it, so why do it.

You should look into one of the many quilt as you go methods. that way you can just quilt a 2 or 3 foot square section and just join them.

After the miserable defeat and agnony of practicing FMQ, you one day discover that all that misery actually pays off and you are doing beautiful work :-) Hang in there, have a cookie, chocolate, wine whatever you need to get through it, don't give up!! I'm rooting for you.

I have had really good luck quilting larger pieces in strips 18" or so wide and then putting the strips together. Did that with my Sylvia's Bridal Sampler - looks great! There's a really helpful book with a title like "Quilting in Sections".

I love it and feel really good when I see the outcome. Frustrating when it does not work well though

We all too many jobs and responsibilities to spend recreational time stressing. Our "hobbies" are an outlet for creative expression, and without that, your soul dries up.

Well said! If it isn't fun, it shouldn't waste your time. Life is too short to add unnecessary stress. On the other hand, having an opportunity to step out of our comfort zone is good every once in a while. It's amazing to think of what we can do if we just try...lots of untapped potential!

I am so sorry you aren't enjoying machine quilting. I almost prefer quilting and not piecing. I did get a JUKI 2010 and that has helped a lot with the short arm problem. Some machines just don't like the quilting part of it. My singer embroidery machine was wonderful but my Sears hates it.

My quilts are given to a quilter because after the time and money that I have in them want them to look good. Do not need any added stress in my life. Good luck with your quilt.

I came to the same conclusion. I do not enjoy quilting the quilt. As a matter of fact I hate it. I can justify the cost of having a quilt quilted 1. They do a better job than I ever could 2. It's a small price to pay for using a 10,000 to 30,000 machine to quilt my quilt. Cheaper than owning one!

chocolate covered strawberries go better with WHINE...hehehe

I feel for you. I also have the exact samae problem Thats why I have 8 finished top sitting nicely folded on my shelf

If you don't feel comfortable with a project, why are you doing it? I prefer to hand quilt the small projects, but send the big quilts to those who like that kind of thing. Did somebody tell you that "everyone" should machine quilt--I don't, and I am happy with that. piecefully, the old one

Hey Girls, I work in a Bernina Store and we have an 820 set up and rent it out so people can quilt their own. It is a very successful idea and the ladies love free motioning their own quilts. We also have templates they can follow if they wish. Have fun. I personally do it, I make my quilts to use, not show and eveyone I give them too loves them. So Good Luck and see if there is anyone (shop) around you that does this.

How long must one practice FMQ? I just started and have got to tell you - my practice sandwich looks pretty nasty!! How do you keep the stitching even? Mine starts out tiny, then gets large and curves ?? Fuhgetaboudit. Uhhhgly !!

I am with you! Life is too short. I know several ladies that have long arms and they are getting to be very close friends. I don't have the room or the patience to FMQ a full size quilt.

If I want to quilt something I Quilt-As-You-Go. Every pattern I look at I ask "Can I convert this to a QAYG?" With practice I am getting better at small projects, but I am not going to wrestle a full quilt through my sewing machine.

I still wanted to FMQ so I bought a used machine with a bigger throat area. No family member has been a quilt police and don't mind that my lines cross over sometimes or the loops and hearts and not even.

Is it worth an additional machine to pursue FMQ? I got mine used so the cost was only $600 for a Janome 6500P. It made life simpler for me and it fit flat at the front in my old Parson cabinet too.

Try it again later, or come on over to ILL and try mine out. Really, I am out of school now and you can see perfect doesn't always matter!

It's 5 o'clock somewhere :?

I have the same problem, and my machine doesn't do anything but straight stitch. So I bought a new machine, nothing expensive, can't afford that but I would like to be able to go from start to finish. But any large quilts, I've decided I'm sending out to someone with a longarm. Fortunately, there are not a lot of big quilts in the near future.

Opps sorry double posted.

Exactly the reason I hand quilt everything. I use my machine for many, many things, but quilting ain't one of 'em!

Anything large goes to the longarmer, why put myself thru all that frustration. Gotta love it.

I'm a sado- masochist. Enjoying the pain on the receiving side and LOVING to pass the pain to anyone within earshot (or read-shot) lol

Its just when I do quilt I get puckers. And only WISH I could afford to send my tops be quilted but I can't. Between dr and Hospital bills from my hubby and me we are also trying to help my youngest son with the bills from our GS Jacob's surgery and all the specialist bills. They don't come cheap. So there is no tossup on where any extra money needs to go. My quilts will just have to have puckers.
99% are given to charty and they love them even with puckers
Debbie

me too-so we got a long arm-no more anger issues with quilting

I think that you should have a double chocolate brownie and two glasses of wine.

Don't forget the chocolate too!

Have you tried a walking foot? I found that helps tremendously.