boy, we should team up. I LA quilt and love, love, love it. But piecing and cutting is not my talent or love.

I just got back today from a "Machine Quilting" class where we did stitch in the ditch (and she explained why we get frustrated with it), using different feet to do the stitch in the ditch, echo quilting, marking a quilt top for machine quilting, water soluable thread.... I feel much better now about stitch in the ditch and like she said, it's practice, practice, practice. I needed this class as I do not like this part of quilting. I love piecing the tops but after ruining one quilt because of the machine quilting, I really needed a BASIC class. Even the most basic of class, I learn something. I will never again try a large quilt but the small projects can be done on my domestic machine. We also practiced continuous line quilting. I really enjoyed the class.

I'm a quilter, not a topper! Pass your tops to me and I'll quilt them for you. I dislike the cutting and piecing process so much!

My sewing machine has a BSR and a huge throat and is made for machine quilting and I want no part of that. I've hand quilted two very small pieces only. I tried meandering on a sandwich I made and didn't enjoy it at all, so I decided not to force myself to learn to machine quilt. I knew if I tried to force myself to do something I didn't want to do, I would end up staying out of my sewing room. There might come a day where I MIGHT want to give it another try, but I'm not going to try to machine quilt again or feel bad that my machine is made for it. I'm just going to piece my quilts...my favorite thing to do. I love to cut and piece so much, so I am going to stay in that field and enjoy myself. This is my hobby and I want to love my hobby!

I'm still learning too, but I have found two things that have really helped me improve: A plexiglass extension table and a polish for it that allows the quilt or quilt sandwich to glide across it and the bed of the sewing machine. The polish is only 10.00. Here is a link if you're interested. http://www.sewverysmooth.com/Shop.html

They also sell extension tables which was cheaper and thicker than the one Pfaff makes. I have no affilliation with the company, just a satisfied customer.

Why don't you hand quilt them, then you don't have to fight the machine.

I have been doing FMQ for a little more than a year now and love it. I have to admit that I was terrified of it at first. Now another friend and I started a small group of ladies that want to take it a little further by sharing patterns and knowledge. We meet once a month and each month we change off and a different one brings a pattern to practice on. One of the things I was taught early on was to sit and doodle with pencil and paper every night while watching TV and then try it with my machine. It has helped me get my rythem down when I try it on the machine.

Like others have said, if you don't like it then don't do it and don't beat yourself up. It is not for everyone. Maybe at another time in your quilting career you will be ready to try it again.

I agree with Peggi, but before you give it up try a couple of things. First try writing words. They will be backwards on the back, but you will be amazed at how natural the motion is because you've been doing it all your life - unless you happen to be one of those people who doesn't use cursive, but even then your writing flows smoothly and is worth trying. The other thing to try is drawing something that is very natural and free form, such as an oak leaf. Draw some quickly on paper first, just to get a feel for the shape and the way you move around it. Draw the center vein, starting at the base of the leaf and then go back around one side and the other, returning to the tip. The points can be pointy or rounded, and the sizes vary. There are no wrong shapes for oak leaves. You might find it's more enjoyable when it's something that doesn't take quite as much concentration as most any other kind of "drawing" would when you first start. Have some fun with it!

I will be attending an all day machine quilting class given by Sue Nickels this coming Saturday. She provided the program for our quilt guild this past Monday and I can't wait until Saturday. She and her sister have done beautiful work and have won many awards. Until now I have had a lot of problems trying machine quilting, but I have never attended an in-depth class like this. If I can't learn how in this class then I must be a real dunce.