it sounds like a great idea! i have never fmq'd, or any other quilting for that matter, so quilting from the back with lines to follow sounds very doable and not so scary. thanks!

Most of my creative inmates prefer to quilt from the back of their quilts. The reason is because we usually use a solid fabric for backings, so they have an easier time marking & seeing the designs on the solid. It took me a while to accept it as it was so unusual. Now I almost expect to see it. These guys think so differently from the way we do that their quilting designs are wonderful when they let their imaginations take over. I have one Native American quilter who just does marvelous quilting & designs. He is always surprising me. There is one cell block where one inmate comes up with a unique design & all the others copy it! :-) I don't mind as the designs are good!

Whatever is your preference is the way you should quilt YOUR quilt! There are no quilt police!!! Go for it.

I would have never thought of doing it, but since reading the comments, especially about the backing fabric with quilting designs printed on it, I think its a great idea, I'm going to try it!

Thanks everyone for all your input. You've been very helpful. Now I don't feel quite so silly.LOL :P

Thanks Fancy-Fabric for the link. I'll have to give this a try. :P

I'm thinking of marking the next one on the back, as the front has too many darks. I find it impossible to find markings on dark, no matter what I use. So I'm going to try it soon.

My first FMQ was a baby quilt with raw edge applique on the front. This distracted me so much that I finally turned it over to quilt it so I couldn't see what was freaking me out. Turned out great, glad I did it!

My daughter both marked and quilted from the back. Her quilt turned out great! Go for it!~

I have a question about FMQ. I am new to quilting as you will be able to tell by my question. My feed dogs don't drop down. Is there a way to cover them to FMQ? I really love my machine so don't want to buy a new one.

Thanks for any help you can give me.

Diane

Who knew? After spending 45 minutes pinning the top, back and batting only to find out I had pinned the top with the back on top I started all over. I could have just left it and quilted it that way.