Really Scary
 

I'm quilting my first quilt doing stippling. I keep doing it over, tearing out and doing it again. I have done shadowing, stitch in the ditch, diagonals etc. I read you just have to do it and will get better, but how do I get over it is a bad job, rip it out. I hate quilting, but love to put together the quilt tops - I can't afford to have them done by a quilter. Can some of you tell how you learned to stipple? Thanks

Too bad you can't locate someone in your area that you trust that will trade piecing for quilting. That would be ideal for you. Maybe you could attempt to find someone like that. They supply you the fabric and thread - you piece for them. You supply your quilt tops, batting and backing - they quilt for you.

I made up a dozen practice swatches about two feet each side, using cheap muslin and batting scraps. I cannot imagine starting out on a real quilt, much less ripping out the stitches every time!

Contrary to popular belief, all over meander is not always the easiest thing to do. I recommend making a practice sandwich and marking it with a design that you like with chalk or water soluble marker. Then try FMQ by following the marked line. You may find that is more to your liking. Even when I FMQ on my domestic, I was never a big fan of all over meander. I avoid it whenever possible now that I have LA. There are too many other FMQ designs I like better.

Also remember, looking at quilting when you are only a few inches away and concentrating on about 18 square inches at most leaves room to be very critical of yourself. Believe me, when you do a whole quilt and even it it has tons of mistakes it is very hard to find them when taking in the whole quilt visually. What you see when you are 5 inches away, you will not see when you are 5 feet away. Quit being so hard on yourself.

What about making a set of placemats?
or baby burp cloths?
or a simple table topper with just printed fabric top and bottom?
etc?

Google Leah Day and scroll down until you see Free Motion Quilt Project. She has done several video's on stippling that are very good. Start with lesson 1 and you will learn a lot. She has been posting one lesson per week.

My heart breaks every time I hear of someone starting quilting on a real quilt they intend to keep.

All of the free motion quilt patterns take time and practice. You need to develop a rhythm, a "muscle memory", and a sense of where you've been and where you need to be on the quilt - and do it all at the same time. Equate it to somone leaning how to drive a manual transmission with no lessons and starting them at the top of a mountain pass.

Put scraps of fabric and batting together and practice on those until you are comfortable. I have tons of little scrap sandwiches laying around with practices of this and that motif. If there is a new motif I want to use, I'll practice it 3-4 times or more if necessary, before I attempt to put it on my quilt.

I totally agree with the others - practice on something first, scraps that can be thrown away and not ripped out or a dog bed or a present for someone who doesn't appreciate anything anyway, LOL. Don't let your FMQ and the seam ripper get acquainted. I'm not sure whether you're trying stippling or meandering. They're basically the same, except that stippling is very tiny loops that fill up a space so that it is very flat, while meandering is the larger loops that fill up a whole quilt. I don't care much for meandering, and found that swirls, spirals, leaves, etc. were both prettier and more fun to practice with. Good luck.

I was my LQS recently and found a panel that had many different quilting patterns printed on the fabric. There was enough of each to give you an idea of how to do them (could be reproduced on different fabrics) and enough variety for almost any quilt. They weren't all basics either. I haven't had a chance to work on it yet, but plan to sandwich with pretty fabric and batting to make a real quilt, then donate to charity. It will be a great practice piece, but still functional when done.

I agree with all of the great advice that you have been given. I bought a twin size quilt (it was store bought not hand done) at my local thrift store for $1.00, washed it clean, and whenever I want to practice a quilting pattern I bring out that quilt and practice away. It has worked great for me and I feel more secure starting on my quilt after just practicing on my practice quilt. Good luck, and try to have fun with the process.

0

Great suggestion Tartan ... I'm more of a visual learner, so by chance would you show us a picture here as to how you do it. I have the idea, though would like to see those tape triangles and how you work around them and onwards to the next. Please? Pretty Please? :) and with sugar on it (or splenda, if you'd prefer!!) :)

And also what it looks like now is not what it will look like after it is washed! It will crinkle up around the thread and is much more forgiving than you would think.

I wholeheartedly agree!

doodle on paper

doodle on paper it works

I'm only learning, but I warm-up then do it the best I can. I never rip out work unless I am confident I can do it better. It is what it is and you will wreck the integrity of your fabric by pulling and resewing and endless needle holes. Enough already! Be proud of what you can do because it is the best you can do. God give me the grace to accept the things...etc. Of course, if you want to quilt your first time like the mothers of machine quilting - Gaudinski or whomever, knock yourself out.

When I was feeling much as you do a year or so back, I emailed Leah Day in despair, and she was kind enough to reply. Her advice then - and I've heard her say the same thing again since - is just get a quilt on your machine (or a practice piece) and quilt it. Don't undo your work don't fret about the imperfections. When you look at the whole quilt, they're often impossible to find anyway. I think she's right - now I look at a quilt that, at the time, I thought was a disaster, and it really doesn't look that bad. And if you can just relax into the quilting without stressing too much, you're probably going to find your rhythm more easily than if you're tense. I've done much better with FMQ since I decided to stop worrying so much about the results. I start by confirming that the tension is basically OK, do some warming up on a practice piece, and off I go! Admittedly, I haven't tackled a really precious quilt, but I'm moving towards the point when I'll be ready to do so.
Would really recommend Leah's Quilt Along, which someone else has already mentioned. She explains things very clearly and is so encouraging.

What a FABULOUS idea!!!!

I agree with DogHouseMom. PLEASE don't start on a "real" top until you have lots of smaller practice items under your belt. I'm sure that there are one or two naturals out there, but most of the rest of us needed hours and hours of practice before attempting a real quilt.

Tartan .... you do really well! We're all, always learning on this computer stuff! If you could just take a picture of one that's all set up, I'd appreciate it. I think I know what you mean ..... buttttt know how wrong I can be, when I start painting pictures in my mind! Thanks!!!!!

youtube actually has dozens or more tutorials i found them very helpful they start at beginner and go to advanced
start here she can take you a long way
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39I5A3iyCtw

I second this. Watch her videos and practice, practice, practice.

Tartan. Love your idea of using masking tape to keep the stars etc. even. I'm going to try it now.

Ask around. I know a couple of ladies who use pantographs to quilt quilt tops and they are incredibly reasonably priced. I can get a queen top quilted for around 80.00 or less which is low priced. Simple patterns but works for me.
Sandy

I've got lots of practice sandwiches and I always do about 10mins practice before starting on the next quilt.

A martini works pretty good!

They make a paper product you put on your fabric with the stipple design on it, you just sew over the lines.
I tried it once, but too much of a hassle, but may work for others. I don't even try to stipple. Just stitch in the ditch, or diagonally using masking tape. For my gift quilts for family I save, and send them out to a LAQ.
By the time you rip out, resew, rip out, ruin fabric, waste thread and time involved you can pay someone to do the stipple stich and have a professionally looking quilt.

Practice, practice practice. It does take a while to find 'your sweet spot' aka the the balance of stitch length, hand speed and needle speed. I am now comfortable with meandering, but I still pull out my practice 'sandwiches' to get into the 'groove' before starting on my quilt.

I recently took a FMQ class at our local shop. We worked on several patterns, and everyone loved the geometric meander the best. It was fun, easy, and looked great. Instead of loops, it's all straight lines... and if you find a spot you've missed, it's easy to go back and fill it in. But do practice on a spare sandwich first, making nice square corners takes a wee bit of practice. Have fun!

Stippling is too hard IMHO. I find myself caught in the corner too often. Try meandering and don't worry about where it goes - you can always loop back to get out of a hard spot.

And don't be too hard on yourself. Step back and look from 8-10 feet away.

First of all, get some scraps to practice on. And relax, it's supposed to be fun! I am willing to bet you're too hard on yourself - that the quilting is better than YOU think. Watch some of Leah Day's videos and other sites on the web. You get it!

I agree with those who say to practice on small items, doll bed quilts, animal beds...anything BUT a big quilt. I have just started learning to FMQ and after MANY small items, just started on a bigger, but still small quilt. The larger size is much more difficult, so there is a learning curve there too. Practice, practice........BEFORE doing anything important.

I think Patsy Thompson is awsome. http://www.patsythompsondesigns.com/ She has some wonderful informtion on her site.

THINK SPAGETTI, go on line on utube and check for videos, the hardest thing with fmq is learning to coordinate speed and movement so that you dont get your stitches too large or too small. I would practice small sandwich and not the quilt till it became 2nd nature.

I just purchased a lap sized dry erase board. I use it to practice doing a design while I am watching TV. It helps me to train the muscles to do what they should do on my machine. I've read this helps on so many sites that I decided to try it.....it does work for me......I suppose you can do it on paper, but for me, this is cheaper.....:)

girl. don't learn on a quilt.........take 2 pieces of material and batting make a placemat size and stipple on that. as you get use to it you will get better. don't think to much when you do it just move your material and go slow. once you get the hang of it. watch your stitches. to sloppy around a corner means you are going to fast and your machine can not keep up. lay the quilt aside and try a smaller piece. I love to stipple, Iv'e done it for years and do it on my home machine. Pm me is you have any questions
Dawn in Waco