ya'll kept telling me, practice makes perfect.
ok fine, but I don't have the scraps to be wasting, or the thread for that matter. and I'm not gonna ruin my pretty little doll quilts and table runners either!

HOWEVER..I'm not opposed to making uglies. I'm currently making one for an (ungrateful) friend and decided to use IT to practice my FMQ on. This way when it turns out bad, you can tell yourself, it was meant to be that way. The one I'm doing is pretty bad but it doesn't really show due to the nature of the piecing. It's getting better as I go along (practice!). I'll hide the back under another piece of backing fabric when I'm finished.
:)
-L

I'm practicing on the sandwiches the class provided for me. When I feel like trying again, I just use a different color thread. So I'm using up weird colored thread, but not wasting muslin and batting. I do need to make a few with my own batting. The stuff they gave me is more like what I use for table runners and I need to try on something thicker.

This may sound crazy but the dogs needed blankets so I found a sparsely quilted flannel comforter in the thrift store. It was pretty big for my little dogs so I decided to cut it in quarters and use it for practice. I quilted each using different designs - no need to sandwich or baste - finished the edges with an overcast and ended up with four blankets. It was good practice and the dogs don't seem to mind that my quilting was less than perfect.

I am practicing on a cat quilt for the kitten I hopefully will be picking up tomorrow...made with lots of love but wonky in spots.

use old sheets or any kind of fabic for your practice. Even work out clothing. you should practice on fabric that resembles what you will use in your actual quilt. Do you have an old skirt or shirt to use. and of course use any thread. Go to the thrift shop and look for thread or check with quilt shop to see if they have a fabrid pantry for such projects. An old dish towel would work.

Thanks Holice for your ideas

Holice, thank you!!!!!!!!! I'm going to be venturing into this also. Hate to think of wasting my nice stuff! :D

Great idea! Our no kill cat shelter alaysneeds blankets, so I should practice a few!

I'm practicing on a twin quilt I made for my daughter. My next practice run will be on two baby quilts I'll be making for the children's hospital.

Make you practice peices out of left over batting and on sale muslin or scraps of fabric. Try to use reasonably good thread since that will make a difference in your quilting. You can use the peices for pot holders or make a quilt as you go donation quilt. Have Fun!!!!!!!!!!