I just recently had the opportunity to pull out the first quilt I did FMQ on. What a lovely experience :D I had just finished another quilt, and the difference between the two was amazing to me. I am definitely not a world class quilter, I will never enter my work in a show, and I don't know if I will ever do feathers (!), but I can meander, do hearts, leaves, vines, stars, etc. I am learning ruler work on my sitdown quilter, and each quilt I make (I've only done 8 or so FMQ plus maybe a dozen placemats) is better. I recommend not trying to compare yourself to Leah Day but compare to your earlier efforts. Do your quilts stay together? Do people like them? If so, you're doing great.

Pam

I'd check at the quilt shops and see if they can recommend someone for a one-on-one. One of the shops in my area offers individual classes for $30/hour. Not cheap, but an hour of instruction on YOUR machine would give you a leg up.

I wonder if you are starting out on too-complicated patterns? Starting with some really simple ones first then graduating up to more elaborate ones would seem wise. I have just been doing straight line quilting (for 4 quilts) and am now going to branch out to wavy lines. Hopefully eventually I will get to more artistic designs

you just have to have fun with it and not expect perfection

I think all the encouragement and positive feedback on this board is great. But I felt much like the OP. My FMQ skills on a DSM never progressed beyond the meander and definitely not on anything bigger than a child size quilt (60" square). The desire was there, the will to keep trying was there but the ability to improve was NOT there. It just was not natural to me to manipulate the fabric under the needle like that. I took an in person class and I really did practice but no way was I ever going to get good at sit down FMQ on a domestic or even a large throat like the HQ Sweet 16. My shoulders tensed up my movements were jerky, I caught myself holding my breath and a FMQ session usually ended like I had just gone 9 rounds with a boxer. I did ok on meandering small things like wall hangings and table runners but anything bigger "fuhgetaboutit". Then I tried a longarm. WOW! I was born to longarm. I hit the ground running longarming. I knew with practice I could get even better then what I did in my first LA class so I scrimped and saved for over a year and got my LA machine. The movement was natural, my drawing ability translated to the longarm movement and there was suddently a wealth of quilting designs available to me both FM and pantos. I know a longarm machine isn't in the grasp of everyone and not everyone is like me and took to it like a duck takes to water, but it may be something for you to consider. You have to quilt a LOT of quilts to make the investment worth it.
And last, there is no shame in admitting defeat. Yes, there are people (like me) that will never ever master FMQ on a DSM, let alone get good at it at anything larger than a crib quilt. So for those of us in that boat, we can stick to straight line quilting only with a walking foot (I did tons of that!)hand quilt (did a lot of that too, but it took me 3 or more years to complete a quilt) send our quilts out to a LAer (Yup, did that too!) or invest in a LA ourselves. And there is absolutely NOTHING wrong with any of those choices.

I have found that practicing on paper really does help a lot. I could not do feathers for the longest time, but after watching lots and lots of YouTube videos, a couple of Craftsy classes, and drawing on paper until I could get into the "flow", my feathers are now presentable. They certainly are not comparable to Cindy Needhams, or Angela Walters (those are the classes I took on Craftsy), but I felt confident enough to give quilted Christmas presents this year. But I have been practicing on & off for about 3 years (!) before I felt my feathers were good enough to put on an actual quilt. Some people have a natural talent and catch on quickly, and then people like me have to keep at it for a long time before it starts to feel like I've got it. So if you really want to quilt your own work, don't give up! You may be on of those people like me where it just takes more time. Take a break from practicing with your machine, and just use scrap paper. It really does help.

Hi Mrs Derf!

I'm in Omer, just about 30 miles to the north of you! My friends and I go to Bay City all the time! I too am a newbie at FMQ. I love it! However, I am still not so good at it either. If you want to practice on a real quilt, my recommendation would be to use printed fabrics or at least the same color thread as your quilt. Your stitches will blend right in and your friends will be amazed!

I saw an idea on this board to use a piece of felt in place of a quilt sandwich. So I bought a few yards at Walmart last week. It's really economical and you don't have to spend a lot of time making those sandwiches. I've been practicing daily and each day it looks to me as though there is some small improvement.

I've looked online for FMQ classes in our area, but I couldn't find anything. I'm going to have to ask at my quilt shop to see what they might know. A quick commercial for my friend Tina Bauer in Pinconning, MI. Her Bittersweet Quilt Shop is not to be missed. It's in a renovated old church right in town and it's full of wonderful things!

Susie

Get the idea of practicing on less quality out of your head. Fmq using wool batting with silk thread with a small size needle. Your stitches will look amazing, you can't even see the mistakes. I took a Diane Gaudynski workshop and using the best for practice made a big difference.

Also ther "Bump-Bump" feathers are much easier for me!

Between lots and lots of practice and being more accepting of my efforts so I practice in a more relaxed way, I think I'm actually improving my FMG! Don't let yourself get discouraged.