A cup of tea and a pound of chocolate cures everything :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup:

Hang in there you will get better. Your name says it all - love and care are part of making memories :!: :!:

hey don't be so hard on yourself we all mess up sometimes I can't see a straight line, can't draw one even with a ruler but I keep on trying. My STD is always somewhat wonky but I love quilting so hopefully anyone who gets some of my quilts will just say at least she tried.
retiac

practice makes perfect and as far as SID you really need to go slow.

My geometry teacher told me there is no such thing as a straight line. So we needn't stress over it :lol: :lol: :lol:

ya want to know why I don't post really close up views of my quilts? My SID are all over the place but I pick a good spot and take a picture of that area if I think a close up is needed.
So don't let it get to you. I use to feel the same way and I have been sewing (clothing) for years. Quilting is fairly new to me and YES I make lots of mistakes but I'm hanging with it because some day I know I will finally get one Almost perfect, until then I will keep going and learn as I practice. So should you.

Henry Van Dyke must have been a very wise man when he said, "Use what talents you possess: the woods would be very silent if no birds sang there except those that sang best." The same goes for sewing and quilting. Try to look at your quilting as if it was someone else having done it. Would you be unkind in assessing their efforts or would you choose to be a cheerleader for someone just starting out? I'm betting you'd be kind. And the longer you spend reading posts on this site, the more times you'll read about quilters who stockpile their pieced tops, because they are hesitant to try quilting them. You have lots of company, hon. Soon enough you will be looking back on your first attempts with fond memories and laughter.

You are so brave to quilt using a DSM!!! I made 4 placemats that I quilted on my DSM, with the feed-dogs up and no walking foot - what did I know???! Hated it and decided only very exceptional people could ever quilt on a DSM, knew I wasn't one of them and promptly went out and bought a longarm! I love watching Leah Day quilting on her DSM and I'm totally blown away by what she can do, but I know I'd never be able to do the same thing on my DSM. Kudos to you for continuing to work at your quilting, you will get better the more you practice and you are so much braver then I will ever be!!!

ya but---Leah Day is FMQ on an 8" square ! love her designs & so appreciate her posting them free. SID is usually for the birds. serpentine stitch makes it look so easy & looks good too. FMQ is not an easy thing. If you can remember that the needle will follow your hand & look at where you are going, not where the needle is hitting. your brain can do that. you do not look at the hood ornament of the car when you are driving--you look at the road ahead. forget all the rolling & folding, just bunch it up around the area you are doing.do that, move to the next area.
smooth curves are hard to do all the time ! also helps to remember to keep your shoulders down.don't hunch.
do some small charity quilts & just relax 7 have fun. you will get the hang of it and wonder what ever scared you so much. oh, get Machinger gloves. (by the time you read all of these letters, you will be exhausted. but the great
number of replies shows you how many of us have felt the same way--or maybe still feel that way)

The wiggle/wobble stitch or any decorative stitch is the new SID. Does anyone really like to do SID, I sure don't.

Listen, I have taken many classes on free motion quilting and the mantra is, "practice, practice, practice". My first stuff, (well, everything is "first stuff") looks horrible, but I am slowly getting better. You cannot do this well until you forgive yourself and allow it to look bad for the practice. Also, no one knows what it was supposed to look like except you!!