Need advice...starting my first FMQ soon!
 

After a lot of years of sewing on my 1941 Singer, which I love for its reliability, I finally broke down and bought a new machine. Loving my Janome 2014 so far....but I bought it mostly to teach myself free motion quilting! I am almost ready with a quick Jelly Roll Race quilt so if I mess up the quilting, it won't matter so much; just need to get the top pressed well and sandwiched.

Here are my questions: What batting do you recommend and why? What thread is easiest for a beginner? Do I start in the middle or can I start anywhere? And the biggest question of all, what advice do you have for me? What do you wish somebody had told you before you started?

Thank you sooooo very much, everybody! Looking forward to your wise advice! :)

A thinner batting has less bulk for you to deal with. Warm & Natural works well. Starting in the center and working your way out usually give you the best results, however, if you have secured the sandwich really, really well, you can start from an edge. It's heresy, but a poly thread is stronger and less likely to break. Look up 'darning' in your user manual. This will probably give you the best machine settings to start with. Gloves really help. Support the entire quilt so there's no drag and finally fast feet slow hands. Run your machine at a fast rate of speed & move your hands slowly.

Cotton batting have small variations. I have always preferred Hobbs 80/20. You might want to draw you lines with FMQ using chalk. It will be easier to follow a line rather than trying to concentrate on your stitch length and figuring out where you are going. Once you have achieved a good stitch consistent stitch length, then try stippling. Remember, to look ahead to where you are headed, about an inch or two down the line. Don't look at the needle because that is where you are.

I used Warm & Natural on my first quilts & that worked nicely. I now use Warm & Plush to get a more defined stitch & 50% loftier.

100% cotton thread for sure for a beginner. I love Aurifil thread, but I didn't know about quilting threads when I first started quilting and worked with Guterman (which is the brand I use to sew home dec & clothing, but it's not as nice for quilting). You definitely want to use a 50wt or 60wt thread so your mistakes aren't very evident & pick a thread color that either matches the dominant color of your quilt top, or pick a thread that is a couple shades greyer/duller than your quilt top fabric.

I definitely recommend Machinagers gloves, but for your first quilt you might save the money & make sure you really love FMQ and you can just cut the tips off grip-y kitchen gloves (new, clean) and use those.

I agree about marking your design. I use Crayola Ultra Clean markers or Ultra Clean crayons. They wash out of cotton easily & come in plenty of bright colors to make it easy to see on your quilt top. Pick a simple pattern to start like a stipple and definitely practice for a little bit on a sandwich before starting on your quilt to make sure you have the tension adjusted right & to practice moving your hands at the same speed as the machine ... reduce the speed as much as possible on your machine to make it easier to keep up and get uniform stitches.

Yes, start in the middle. You want to quilt in quadrants. Once you finish one quadrant, go back to the middle & start on the next quadrant. You'll want to baste your quilt in the same manner if you are pin basting (that's the only kind of basting I know how to do). I really recommend investing in the curved safety pins if you are going to pin baste your quilt. They are so much easier to use & distort your quilt less.

Good luck & have fun! And post pics when you're done. :)

The most helpful thing I ever heard about FMQ is that it takes about three quilts to get the hang of it. When I heard that, I was able to relax and not have overly high expectations. I think it would not have gone so well if I had been thinking that I should be perfect right away. That would be my piece of advice -- don't try to be perfect, and just keep quilting (rather than constantly stopping to rip out imperfections).

There is a wealth of information on-line. Look at some you-tube videos, Pinterest, do a Google search, Craftsy classes. I like Leah Day, daystyledesigns.com. Lots of free information and good advice about setting up for a beginner. And have fun!

Thank you all so much! Lots to reread and think about. I'm going to be happy when this one is quilted just to finish one; I can experiment with different designs and speeds and whatnot, since this quilt was made as a FMQ first! And on this one....I will not be ripping out imperfections, just learning from them! :)