Now I know
 

Bought this panel and thought I would practice with my sewing machine and make a table runner. Hand quilted the borders, and used the machine for the flowered parts. It was a mess! I am a hand quilter and enjoy it. I felt like I need 10 hands to get the fabric where it needed to be. Hats off to all you machine magic people! It was not fun for me at all.

You don't say if you have machine quilted before "practicing"

it's a pretty runner. I too am a hand quilter and find machine quilting quite difficult. sometimes, I feel that hand is quicker than machine.

Never. I piece tops with the machine.

Ditto, lynnie

Machine quilting does take some time to really get okay and also how you have your machine set up makes a difference. Gloves, table. Or flush surface, slick surface, hand speed to match machine speed. It definitely is not an overnight skill. I am sure machine quilters that decided to hand quilt would feel the same

I did not machine quilt a display piece for my first piece. Takes practice. LOTS of practice.

I am also a hand quilter that struggles with machine quilting. I love your table runner, looks good to me.

I'm a machine piecer, but I quilt by both hand and machine. My hand-piecing is awful! I'm so envious of those who can piece by hand.

I mix and match the two. I always have a practise before I begin.

However you quilt, it takes practice, practice, & practice. Though some people are more intuitively artistic, that's not me.
Whatever I do, if I don't like the outcome I consider it a learning experience or practice. Quilting is cheaper than therapy.

What gorgeous fabric in your runner!

Beautiful concept with the fabric, sorry about the problems you encountered.

I am machine everything...I don't like hand sewing...lol....my FMQ is not very good so I use it sparingly but I have come to love straight line quilting...especially since I like doing QAYG big blocks. You can actually be very creative with your lines and it is not nearly as frustrating as FMQ...I also like a minimum of quilting since I sometimes feel it can destroy the original design...but that is just my personal preference...Jackie Gehring and Angela Walters are great teachers of modern straight line...

Dottymo, you are correct in that one needs to review his/her muscle memory for awhile to "get in gear" for machine quilting, just as hand quilters need to review their tension, needle, thread options for the current project.

I too was a hand quilter (in a lap hoop) and was never any good, nor enjoyed, FMQ on my domestic which is flush in a cabinet (can't imagine attempting FMQ without a machine set flush in a table or cabinet. I did do a few things but I found I was always tensed up, could never relax and had a hard time keeping my scale of design uniform throughout the quilt. I was fine with straight line quilting using the walking foot but that was also not much fun with anything bigger than a twin size quilt. I did mix hand quilting and machine quilting on a few pieces but always ended up much happier with the quilts that were all hand quilted. I hated making the quilt sandwich with a white hot passion. Then I discovered longarm quilting on a frame.

I LOVE frame quilting. The first time I laid hands on a longarm at a quilt show I knew that was my destiny.

You did a great job on the cross hatching on the flowers! Don't see the problem with your machine quilting.

I started out hand quilting, however, my career as a secretary resulted in severe carpal tunnel, so I had to quit. I did take a machine quilting class and have been on a roll ever since, although I admit I haven't really mastered FMQ yet, but hope springs eternal. Since I do mostly baby quilts, utilitarian items like placemats, table runners, wall hangings, etc., my straight line machine quilting works. I understand you reluctance to do machine quilting, but it's a skill like any other, you have to practice, practice, practice, just like learning to play the piano, although I don't play. LOL.

it could be anything, not just quilting. We learn by doing. A small table runner taught you something you don't enjoy. Now you can work on what you like and never again worry about trying machine quilting. You are a winner! Your little table runner is a fine piece of work.
peace

Thanks for the comments. I did learn a bunch! Thats what it's all about. For now I will enjoy a needle in my hands. And I do like the runner.