Can any of you please give me some tips and suggestions for meandering? Thanks.

Vickie

search on the terms "meandering" "stippling" and "freemotion quilting". there are ladies here who do awesome machine quilting. (i'm not one of them. LOL) they give great advice. i hope i can remember it all when i get brave enough to try some myself.

Vickie,

Once you get a good description following your "search", then PRACTICE, PRACTICE and PRACTICE. Each sewing machine is different, so once you find your settings, etc., write them down for future use. -- I suggest you get a somewhat larger floral print or a "cheater's cloth" and PRACTICE. You can meander around the flowers or just meander in the background. You will find your rhythm; the movement of the fabric and your sewing speed. The more you do it, the better you will get.

Use a thin batting.

When I first started, I wasn't too successful. Then someone suggested gloves with the rubberized dots on the palms and fingers. I cannot machine quilt without them. Mine are bright red!!! Pretty jazzy for an old lady, but I can find them easily. I also spray furniture polish onto a flannel piece and "slicken" my whole area. Really helps with the humidity is up.

Good luck.

Suzanne

I found that it helped to practice on paper first. I just drew curvy lines over and over again. Then when I wanted to do something different like loops, I did that on paper. I had my students do the same thing and they all felt it helped to loosen them up and make them more receptive to moving the fabric under the needle in the same manner they moved their pencils. If I'm trying out a new design for the first time, I still do it on paper first, just to get the idea firmly fixed in my head, and then to my hand. Once you get an idea from your brain to your hands, it stays with you awhile.

Just relax and practice like everyone suggested. I like Suz's suggestion of meandering around a motif on the fabric. You can also draw lines on muslin and follow them. Much like doing it on paper, you'll get the idea in your mind and down to your hands. That will make transferring it to the machine a lot easier, even though you're reversing the process on the machine. You'll get used to that reverse "drawing" with practice.