recommendations for long arm FMQ books.
 

I recently purchased a Simply 16 on the studio frame. I'm looking for some good FMQ instructional books. So far I have
501 quilting motifs;
Machine Freehand Patterns by Nan Moore;
Quilting Inside the lines by Pam Clarke;
Free Motion quilting made easy by Eva Larkin; (I like this one; she uses numbers and arrows to show the pathway of the design)
Easy and Fun free motion quilting by Eva Larkin (disappointed in this one, the entire book is stippling); and
Free motion meandering, a beginner's guide to machine quilting by Angela Walters.

Any others you can recommend? Thanks.

I think the best thing to do is practice on paper drawing and doodling (the the cheap kids drawing pads) and load up some muslin and just go for it! Practice builds muscle memory and also give you a better feeling for your machine and the different threads. You can draw simple sample blocks on the muslin and use that as a guide as well. YMMV, but I have had much success in getting many a practice muslin quilt and then binding it and using for a moving blanket, or for fur babies, have fun!

I agree with tallchick. Books like you describe are good for getting ideas and some are good to give you an idea of how to make designs continuous. You already have quite a few that seem to do that. I found a lot of the books and guides I bought early on, I don't use at all and a few I never used.

Instead, you should decide what kind of quilting you want to get really good at. Say for example feathers. Seek out quilting bloggers who teach feathers. Or on line tutorials, (there are tons of them!) Then practice drawing them in the same manner you would quilt them. Before you know it you will be quilting feathers in every shape and direction

I don't think you should spend any more on books until you find out what style of quilting you really like, then, by all means, beef up your library.

Thanks for the advice. I am practicing my doodling on paper and on my machine. So far, I've found I get lost on "which way do I go next". That's why I liked the Eva Larkin book. It shows which way to go. I'll watch more videos and practice, practice, practice.

I have read somewhere that after mastering a motif, the next hardest thing is where to go next! When you practice, use the largest piece of paper that you can get so you are comfortable moving to the next area and can doodle the entire sheet. If you have a local paper, they may sell short rolls of news print.

Pinterest is your friend for this! Search “free-motion quilting for beginners”. You’ll find LOTS of inspiration, videos and tutes. Then doodle them out on paper until you get the rhythm down.Anything they do on a DSM you’ll be able to do on your longarm. Once I started doing this, I found I didn’t need any books. Save your money for thread!

A tip: when drawing them out, use your WHOLE ARM, not just your hand.

Or... you could take some classes on Craftsy. That might help more with techniques and instruction.

There are tons of You Tube instructional videos. (I spend way too much time "learning" on You Tube.)

Look into https://www.whirlsnswirlsquilting.ca/ . She has videos on YouTube and a couple books that go with some of the videos. She’s great. Also look into Jamie Wallen, he has videos you can buy that go step by step. Great quilter and good teacher. Also Patsy Thompson, she has videos and at least one book. Leah Day is also good.

I love, love, love Angela Walters Shape-by-shape books to help with ideas on quilts. Ditto DeLoa Jones' book. Amanda Murphy also has some great books that she shows different ways to do traditional blocks. But as far as knowing which way to go next, I do draw that out as it seems every quilt is a little different.
I'd also add that Kris Viera has a QuilterOnTheRun FB page where each Friday she posts a block and shows how to quilt it without "breaking thread".

I have taken Craftsy classes (Leah Day and Christina Cameli) and I watch youtube videos, especially Jamie Wallen and Angela Walters. But with the videos, I'm constantly saying, wait, what did s/he do? Pause, try to draw it, restart, pause, etc. and I never can get it right. Right now I'm trying to master the elongated swirl and I just can't get it watching Angela's video. With paper copies I can put a piece of vinyl over it and trace with a dry erase marker. I'll be sure to check out the suggested sites. Thanks.

Anything by Angela Walters is great. Also Leah Day. But your biggest help would be a big ‘Doodle pad’ that You can draw designs on. Fill up every page, then use the backs of the pages. This will be your biggest help in practicing where to go next.

Great advice. l but I will say slllllllllllooooooooooooowwwww down. Work on getting the tension mastered. This can be frustrating in the beginning.

Once you get that get a very busy print top and go for it. If you get lost the quilting police will not arrest you if you cross over a line of stitching. I picked one easy pattern and used that until I could do it in my sleep. it is still my go to for charity tops.

It is a line I call a vine. I go from the top of one section to the bottom adding leaves along the way. Then do a wiggle line to get to another part and do the same thing going up. I never get lost as it is just up and down across the top.

I have a great combo of thread and bobbins that I stick with, I do not quilt for $$. I use Essential Pro from Connecting Threads and Bottomline pre wounds from Superior. I did not get a bobbin winder with my used HQ16.

I have found REAL help watching YouTube videos by Jamie Wallen. I recommend the 3-part swirls videos.