I was particularly interested in your comment about HollyAnne's class. I've seriously considered it a couple of times, but just watching her Youtube videos, her constant use of "Babe" annoys the heck out of me!

She does have her own verbal style and I agree it’s not my style. But she really is a fabulous teacher, teaching not just the foundation for FMQ but working on the things that might be holding you back from success. I came to appreciate her aphorisms: “practice makes progress” and “actions conquers fear.” Another poster here, Three Dog Night, posted her encouraging stories about the class and I was so glad I took it.

I graduated in Fall 2020 cohort and it was the best money I ever spent. As SuzSLO said she has her quirks but she does have the ability to teach you how to FMQ and encourage you every step of the way. Best plus is there are hundreds of Academy members (Rockstars) who will encourage and support you in your journey. I love making my quilts from start to finish sometimes with rulers, sometimes FMQing and often with a combination of both.

I can't agree more with those that suggested you look into Sew Steady's templates. The ones on Amazon that were mentioned in the original request for information are cheap knock-offs. Someone mentioned you needed templates that are 1/4" thick. This is true for some machines, mainly high shank machines. If you own a low shank or mid shank machine you will need to purchase the low shank templates. You will definitely need to purchase the proper ruler work foot for your machine also. For a first purchase I'd look into one of the basic starter sets that includes your foot.

Sew Steady has by far the most learning support of any that I've looked into. There's a lesson every Tuesday that is presented by Sew 4 Less on Facebook. Every Saturday Donelle McAdams has a project. Every Sunday Kate Quinn presents a project or demonstrates different templates. Sew Steady also has their University which has many free lessons (projects) for free as well as a nominal purchase price. By far they have the most education of all ruler work of any company.

A word of warning, there is a learning curve. These are usually done as free-motion unless you have a Bernina with BSR. It's fairly easy except you need to learn to adjust your machine speed and fabric movement speed to get good free motion stitch. Practice is required.

I totally agree that there is a learning curve. And, I think, that even with a BSR it is still considered free motion quilting when using a ruler. But anyone can learn to do it on any machine (maybe even a treadle).

As far as I know, the foot on the BSR attachment is not a ruler foot unless someone has developed an additional attachment for the BSR. There is a separate really nice ruler foot for the newer Bernina's, but it can not be used with BSR.

Low-mid-high shank - sorry for asking a stupid question, but what exactly are these shanks and how do I know what kind my machine has?

It has something to do with the shank that holds the foot. Some of them are designed differently and the clearance is different around the foot so you need different thickness of the ruler as a 1/4 inch thick ruler only works with the high shank machines. I just did a search for "how do I know if my machine is a high or low shank" and I found a lot of links. I did some research and found my bernina is "something else" but I bought the ruler foot made for her and I know I need a 1/4 inch thick ruler for ruler work

More than you want to know
 

I think those are misnomers. There are basically three types of "shanks"; low, high and slant. Here's an explanation of "shanks". The most common is low shank. The slant shank is a Singer Sewing Company invention and is only on "vintage" Singers. There is no "medium" shank that I am aware of. Some of the newer high-end machines have company brand specific feet (only their feet fit on their machines, like Bernina).

Since I don't do FMQ, I'm not exactly sure what the explanation would be as related to templates. The template is the plastic odd shaped "thingy" that you use as a guide for your foot as you move the fabric under the needle. There are many "mavens" of FMQ; Angela Waters and Leah Day are two of the most famous. They and many like them make templates for FMQ, plus have classes and videos for help in learning. Most feet used in FMQ are similar to "darning" feet.

As far as I know, the Westalee company (I believe they are an Australian company, but not sure.) is the first to come out with the feet and rulers for FMQ. As I understand it, Westalee only makes rulers and feet for low, high and slant shank machines. Sewsteady is their USA manufacturer and distributor.

FMQ takes a lot practice to master. There are all kinds of tips, tricks, classes and videos for learning FMQ. There are a plethora of videos on youtube.com. I would suggest you buy only one or two basic templates until you master them. Sewsteady seems to be a good place to start.

Just to let you know my history with FMQ; I bought a beginner Westalee ruler and foot for my (most used machine) vintage Singer with a slant shank and then figured out that my feet dogs wouldn't drop, which I just didn't think of at the time. I still have the foot and ruler, but have not bought another foot for one my other vintage Singers that do drop their feed dogs.

The ruler I received was a 1/8 in. thick ruler. My guess is that Bernina takes the 1/4 inch ruler.

bkay