Is meandering really random or do you have some sort of plan in mind when you start? I got so lost on this quilt I'm trying to FMQ that I thought I was half done when I got to one corner, but it turns out I was finished! Beats me how I got there.

How far apart do you keep your hands?

Is it normal to get weird jumps on some seams? Is that because the seams are not flat enough?

I usually meander in a row at a time, If there isn't a definite roll then I get lost and usually end up on a slant. I don't think it matters when it is finished. Sounds like you are done, just be glad. I had problems with a baby quilt with the machine not sewing over thick seams but, I used thick batting, never had that problem before or after. I have machine quiltedabout 50-60 quilts, mostly double and queen sized.

I think the most important rule about meandering is to start in the middle of your quilt and work outward. I use gloves to help me guide the fabric easily and I lay my hands flat, one on each side, one towards the front of the machine, and my right hand toward the back. Not sure what you are talking about regarding seams. As far as how much I meander at a time is determined by the quilt. I may meander between appliques, or determinined by the weight of my quilt I just do an area that feels comfortable before I have to re-position the quilt in my machine.

I'm still fairly new to FMQ - have meandered a bit with decent results. My plan is just that it looks random, I try to avoid meadering across, then down, then across then down ... so I'll try to do peninsula's going waaaay down then backtrack to fill in ... hard to explain :)

My hands are fairly close roughly at 2:00 and 8:00 - give or take depending on how far I'm moving. Eeach hand is roughly 3-5" (no more than 5) from the needle at the center. My hands are somewhat splayed and I use gloves.

Yes, sometimes I'll hear/feel a rough spot where there might be a particularly heavy seam, and it's more noticable if I'm turning on a seam, and even more noticable when I'm doing micro meandering.

I'm like DogHouse. I try to go far out, then come back then go far back out, etc.

I definitely use gloves. My hands are in the shape of an L/backwards L and are about 8 to 10 inches from pointer finger to pointer finger apart.

I start and finish on the edges, so that everything is hidden in the binding.

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I too start in the middle, do half and then turn, start in middle and do other half. Yes, I know what you are talking about bumps on the seams of blocks. I started pressing seams open on blocks were a lot of seams meet.

My meandering has no plan to it. I like it that way. I do get jumps sometimes at the seams but after washing you can't see them. When I was quilting on my regular sewing machine I always used gloves and my hand were about six inches apart with the thumbs almost touching.

Thanks for the info everyone. All and all I'm reasonably happy with the quilt I just did considering it's my first large fully FMQ quilt. I've got a lot to learn, but I am getting there.

I'll post pictures tomorrow after I get the binding on.