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I agree that starting out with a very basic pattern, meadering or wandering is the best way to get comfortable. Personally, I had alot of trouble " freehanding " alot of the designs. For the life of me my head could see the shape , but my hands refused to make it ! What I CAN do, is follow lines ! I print out a design I like onto the paper side of freezer paper, iron it to my top and follow the line ! Once I take the paper off, you would never know ! I love to use pantograph designs, since they are made to be done without breaking thread !
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Originally Posted by MrsDerf
(Post 6575728)
With practice I will be able to quilt my own work? I've spent six weeks and a lot of money practicing and still not even close to being ready to do the real thing. I have made so many sandwiches I've filled a dumpster. Is it possible that I just don't own that skill? At what point do I cry Uncle?
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Someone told me once to have a glass of wine. Never tried that but I know when I first started and even sometimes I freeze up and get anxiety. Then I discovered a long arm is easier--you don't push the quilt which is harder in my book. And sometimes I still have issues. I don't have a computerized long arm so when I do motifs, I often use the tissue paper that comes on a roll. It is messy tearing off but oh my, makes a beautiful motif. My advice is keep trying. Make lots of potholders and doggy beds. I still practice once in a while before I begin a quilt especially if I have issues with tension on the machine.
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Originally Posted by MrsDerf
(Post 6575728)
With practice I will be able to quilt my own work? I've spent six weeks and a lot of money practicing and still not even close to being ready to do the real thing. I have made so many sandwiches I've filled a dumpster. Is it possible that I just don't own that skill? At what point do I cry Uncle?
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I notice in your post that you do not qualify what you are doing to practice-only that you have made lots of sandwiches (to fill a dumpster). Are you trying to just draw or doodle with your needle? Do you draw a design and try to follow it? Learning to machine quilt is a progressive activity in your practice. Consider a book such as Harriet Hargrave's book on machine quilting or a craftsy class. Leah Day receives great reviews for her free motion class. How about a class at a local LQS? Please don't give up but structure your practice to move forward in your pursuit of quilting.
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If your goal is to do a quilt entirely by yourself, then you've gotten some great advice here. A class, a friend, a book, all can give tips for success. But if you really don't enjoy it, there's no problem quilting by check. I do mine myself but will switch over to check soon. I'm just tired of wrestling with quilts on my domestic machine. Some longarm work is so beautiful. I could never achieve it with my small harp.
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Originally Posted by grandmary
(Post 6576438)
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.
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Are you doing FMQ on a DM? What kind of FMQ are you doing? IMHO- FMQ on a DM machine is HARD especially on a larger quilt. I do SID and stippling/meandering for FMQ. My attempts at other fancier quilting have not turned out really good. I know a quilter who has been quilting for 20+ years and usually only does SID. If she wants fancier quilting tem she sends it out to a LAQ. I personally like to keep my quilting to a mimium so the fabric and the pattern show better. Do not be so hard on yourself! you are probably better than you think!!1
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Are we talking long arm or domestic? If you are talking longarm try paper pantos to start with. We comuterized ours after only a year and I love it, love it, love it. Intelliquilter It saves so much hard use of muscles and joints. And I love computers and don't have the patience to practice, practice, practice. Unless I am trying something new in the way of custom with the Intelliquilter then I love to practice.
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Wow...great idea...I never thought of doing this!! (putting another piece on top of the old FMQ sample and redoing it) Also I find after I wash my quilt it looks so much better...I almost cried after I FMG'd a beautiful quilt top...but once I washed it I was happy with it.
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