Thanks Ladies

Im a bit of a PERFECTIONIST :roll:

I was given a lap quilt "not finished" and intend to ruin it and not something I care about :lol:

I dont know why its so intimidating to make the leap from hand quilting to machine quilting :shock: maybe my hands listen to me when I yell at them and my machine is as stubborn as my two year old :lol: :lol: :lol:

thank all yall

I just recently found my machine's serpentine stitch works well with FMQ. I put the feed dogs down and the FMQ foot on and guide the fabric thru. It makes a nice look.

There's dozens of opinions on thread. Don't overthink it - just use what your machine likes!

You don't have to drop the feed dogs. It is usually recommended, but some quilters find it easier to control the quilt sandwich with the feed dogs up. Try it for yourself; you won't damage the machine!

[quote=Prism99]I found free motion pretty challenging at first. The easiest way to machine quilt that I have found is to use a walking foot and just make gentle curves from one end of the quilt to another. Unlike stitch-in-the-ditch, you don't have to watch closely to make sure you stay in the ditch (or near it). Unlike free motion, all of the stitches are made evenly by the machine. All you have to do is guide the quilt through from one end to the other. If you make these wavy lines in both directions you end up with a crosshatch design. If you are nervous about machine quilting, I think this is the best way to start.

I personally always starch the quilt backing heavily because then I can be confident that I am not going to have multiple puckers and tucks in the backing when I turn the quilt over. My method is very easy. I mix a 1:1 solution of Sta-Flo liquid laundry starch with water, put the fabric on the kitchen island and "paint" it with the mixture using a house painting brush, throw the starch-saturated fabric in the dryer, then iron with steam.

Spray-starching the top is a good idea for the same reason; it helps prevent stretching of the fabric and the formation of tucks and puckers as you quilt. This is especially recommended if you decide to make your wavy lines running from corner to corner, as quilting on the bias increases those possibilities.

I highly recommend spray basting your quilt sandwich to save a lot of time. For machine quilting, it is often recommended to safety-pin baste the quilt sandwich; however, I ruined an expensive Bernina walking foot that got caught up in a safety pin I didn't see to remove in time. Spray basting is just plain easier as well as much faster than pin basting.

If you really want to free motion quilt, you need to make up several small quilt sandwiches to practice on first. Muslin or any scrap fabric and batting you have on hand. Make these practice quilts about 18" square or so. You will learn a lot about free motion quilting by trying it out this way way first. Most people have a steep learning curve with fmq. That's why I recommend doing real quilts with the walking foot and curvy line approach.[/quote
Thanks for posting this...I am going to try this..
bopeep

I took a class from a lady who has won numerous prizes for her quilting. She told us that we could use a stencil (drawn on with either blue wash away pencil or pounce) and it is still considered fmq. I tried it and love doing it this way until I get more confident.

just get going. once you start, that's the biggest battle. 'we are not quilting police on this site' i read not too long ago. loved that one.

sewNsew said exactly what I was going to say. I was always afraid of it until recently. One day I just decided to try it and it is fun. Now my sister has caught the bug. We are going to get an attachment-darning foot- for her machine next week.
I started with just small curves etc. I just did leaves and acorns on my fall wallhanging. The other day I showed my sister how easy it was to do stars. Remember how we made them in school. i just did the same motion on quilt and it works.
Once you stat your mind will go crazy with ideas.
Relax and have fun.

Just think of it as "doodling" only instead of moving the pencil....you move the paper...with the machine being your pencil and the quilt being your paper!

I jumped in and did FMQ on my latest quilts for kids quilt. some of my curved lines have some pretty sharp jags in them, but I didn't think the kids would mind so didn't rip anything out. It was fun. I do have problem with speed of machine coordination with hand movement though. Seems like when I'm having trouble with getting the fabric moved, the harder I press the foot pedal.

I was told to sew 'up' the fabric when stippling. Is that true?