Spiral FMQ help
 

Still having a terrible time with spirals....any other hints or video suggestions?

Here is today's attempt on a sandwich.

Watson

[ATTACH=CONFIG]550937[/ATTACH]

When you are FMQ, what are you looking at. Try to look a little ahead of where you actually want to go. I would suggest try following a line and once you get that down, you should see improvement. It took me many years before I felt confident to stitch stippling.

When I first started to fmq I thought I had to do feathers, spirals, circles, and stipple. Then I realized it would take me several years of lots of practice for all of them. I don't have the time or passion to devote to many fmq designs. I chose a design that is simple, I know I can do it and it looks great on most all quilt patterns. I save the other designs for the LA's computer. I think your spirals are nice. The stitches are the same size.

I was so intimidated by FMQ til one day I decided to sacrifice a runner & just go for it. To this day all I can do is meandering. I thought my work was sloppy but people think I'm so clever & talented. So I stopped being so critical of my work. Once a pc. is done even I think I'm pretty clever. LOL.
I just don't feel I have to be so fussy about learning the beautiful work some people do. I just want to enjoy my limits.
Why don't you just play around with meandering & move on to patterns when you feel more adventuresome?

PS. I think your spirals are great. If that was done on a whole pc. You wouldn't even see the irregularities that are bothering you. As long as I've done ZfMQ, I couldn't come close to what you've done. Be proud.

I was thinking the same thing! (how nice they look and if you did it all over a quilt, it would be "AMAZING!")

When I am learning a new FMQ pattern I practice it over and over on a small white board until I feel like I know how to move around the space and it becomes almost automatic. Spirals are tough because of the spacing to leave room on the way in to get out again. Paper (white board) practice will help you judge that.

Your spirals aren't bad and with practice will get better. Don't be too hard on yourself. The thread color here makes any irregularity show up a lot. With a thread that is closer to the fabric color these same spirals would make you happier. Just keep with it. And remember this is "hand made" and shouldn't look like a robot did it.

I think they look fantastic!

i think they look great. i'm still at loops, can't stipple yet.

I also think they look pretty good. For consistent spacing I try and use the edge of my foot as a guide, but that is pretty limiting.

Thanks all, for your encouragement and tips. Something that was mentioned to me is that I don't make points on my spirals. I didn't even notice! I'll have to go back and practice that. I can do a number of designs so far, this one just doesn't seem to "flow" for me.
Back to the drawing board! Literally.

Watson

I like the rounded points better.

I do a lot of spirals. It is very helpful to practice on a whiteboard or even a sketchpad. It gives you a muscle memory. Also, I try to work in a diagonal path across the quilt to make it less planned looking. I have found that the slower I go the more jerky it looks. If I can get a good rhythm going they seem much smoother.
I think yours are looking pretty good.

Watson ---- I think they look good. We are our own worse critic. ;-)

There are 2 things that helped me:
1. Doodle on a large notepad. Be careful and not make the spirals too small ... which is the tendency when doodling. Target close to the size you think you will be quilting.

2. An on-line video (can't remember who) demonstrated how to move to another spot by "echoing" existing swirls to get to the starting point of the next swirl. It seemed to make them flow easier for me.

Keep it up!

Watson, if you are using a hopping foot then it will be difficult to get smooth spirals unless you either make them larger or speed up. The same is true for pebbles. When I want to do small pebbles I usually switch from my hopping foot to my Janome Fmq foot that doesn't hop.

also, if you want to have points on your spirals remember to pause briefly at the point before heading back around, that will help you avoid eyelashes and will also give you time to regroup and focus on where you want to go next.

Rob

I think they look great! I only wish I could do half as good as you. I like your little pebbles in there too.

I am very new to FMQ, but have done spirals on one quilt (no batting tho). It was made of squares of different sized and I drew a circle within each square. I didn't FMQ the circle, but having it there helped me space out my spirals and gave me a guide to eyeball against.

I like your spirals! I'm not a fan of spirals in general, but I like how yours don't have points in the middle. It looks like you did them in this order:
[ATTACH=CONFIG]550968[/ATTACH]

If that order is right, it looks like they got smoother as you went. Keep practicing, and they will flow more.

If you don't like that the lines aren't evenly spaced, consider getting a free motion guide foot that has lines marked on it (mine is round, with red lines... hard to describe, but something like this: https://www.amazon.ca/Janome-Convert...+quilting+foot). This might make it easier to line up between the inward spiral lines as you go back out.

If the line spacing is the problem, I personally would just start calling them "jelly rolls" instead of spirals, and be happy as they are. ;)

Angela Walters, who has written books about FMQ, both LA and DSM, has a video on APQ.com specifically about spirals. You might find it helpful. She also has a philosophy of accepting a few imperfections. Pretty interesting, I thought.

I agree with bjchad that for your early attempts, you may want to choose a thread color that is the same or nearly the same as your background, in a 50wt. I think they look good for a first attempt! Here are a few tips that I've found helpful since I'm also trying to work on my spirals (they're the one shape that's still vexing to me):
1) Definitely practice drawing them on paper over & over again until you understand how to navigate to the center of the spiral and back out to where you want to be
2) Try doing spirals in a line instead of in every which direction. It's easier & will help build consistency as you can compare one to the next.
3) Consider marking your design before you start quilting (or at least mark dots at the top, bottom & center point of the spiral). You don't need to hit the line exactly, but it will give you a good reference point so you don't have to try to imagine the shape & quilt it at the same time. Once you've got the movement down, you can start practicing without any markings
4) If you hesitate for just a second at the inside tip, you will get a point rather than a curve
5) Just keep practicing. They will get better & better the more you practice!

Also, it's entirely a design choice, but many times when I see people use pebbling with this design, they will finish the design motif then echo 1-2x around the entire motif & then begin their pebbling. It helps to define the motif a bit more clearly and gives you a way to get in and out of the spaces without crossing over existing lines. Just a thought. I've done it both ways & there is no "right" way to quilt.

Sure wish mine would look so good, that is why I do not even attempt them now.
Jan

Your getting there. More practice! More and more. That is what it takes. I can stipple and do spirals and butterflies and loops and hearts these days (not perfectly but close enough). Yet I had to practice each day to just achieve my stippling. Once I mastered that I moved on to another one. It takes some time to get a nice speed and stitch but well worth the effort. I always quilt my own quilts, perfect or not. I enjoy it and people love them. Keep working on it. Oh and a helpful hint, I used felt squares to practice on, then you can change out the color and practice on that same piece again. This to me was so helpfuful.

I too think they look great!! Much better than I can do yet! We all tend to be So hard on ourselves! As they say practice for perfection!

I drew or copied a design on tracing paper, then put it on a piece of practice fabric and followed the lines for practice! It helped me get the feel of FMQing and once I could do it smoothly I tried solo or marked design on fabric for even better results!
BTWi think you are doing great

Practice and practice some more. My mom always said practice makes perfect....

Hey, I think those look great! What's wrong with them? You could sharpen your spiral "point" a bit, if you like, but I think they are fine as they are.

I think this looks pretty nice. I need to get back to practicing again. I remember when I was trying to do meandering practice over and over and hubby finally said just do it. I did better than I thought I would.

I like your spirals, too! The more you do, you will find yourself wanting to try other designs. Have you checked out tutorials online? How about Craftsy classes in FMQ? There is a nice selection of classes by different teachers. Have fun!

[QUOTE=Bree123;7561094]
2) Try doing spirals in a line instead of in every which direction. It's easier & will help build consistency as you can compare one to the next.
4) If you hesitate for just a second at the inside tip, you will get a point rather than a curve
5) Just keep practicing. They will get better & better the more you practice!
QUOTE]

my thoughts exactly... I think you're doing better than most on your spiral journey. Keep up the good work.

Are you using a Longarm or a domestic? Try speeding up a little bit. Circles/spirals are more smooth if you don't go too slow.
Ellen

IMHO it looks good. I do my own FMQ and do SID and meandering. I do not know how people do fancy FMQ on a large quilt on a domestic machine. I have enough trouble SHOVING my 80x90 sandwiched quilt thru let alone trying to shove it while doing "fancy" stitches. Whoever told you doing your own FMQ is easy is crazy!!!!!!

PS. I use spray basting rather than pinning and it really makes the quilt lighter and easier to shove thru the machine neck.

I'm using a domestic.
If I go faster, I lose my stitch length....always something. (And yet on paisleys, I can go like crazy...)
Watson

One thing you could do is practice more by doodling on paper. That creates muscle memory and once you can do them in different sizes with a consistent distance on paper, go back to the machine. The other thing - if you want points at the very end, you need to actually stop before you go back. Just keep practicing. How about matching the thread to the fabric color? Then the inconsistencies won't be so noticeable and you are more apt to give yourself permission to soldier on.

They look pretty good, with practice you get better. I have difficulty with getting round pebbles, it's just not my thing.

I think you are doing great. It does take lots of practice for sure. I'm not very good at FMQ but I watch a lot of videos & have several books & I get better all the time. Still I have a long way to go. I think drawing the lines on your practice piece & following them is a great way to get the hang of it. Then try without the lines. Also use a thread that matches to hide any errors. Also for the backing use a print or a busy fabric to hide any errors. I wouldn't use a solid color backing to start out with. Another way is with the new rulers they have out now for domestic machines. They are pricey but you can just keep adding on to your collection of rulers over time. There are all kinds of tips & techniques on beginning FMQ on you tube. The possibilities are endless. I think practice though is #1. Just make up a whole bunch of little quilt sandwiches & practice. I also practice first on a dry erase board or you can just use paper. I'm just passing on some info I find helpful. I am, by no means, good at FMQ yet. I can meander pretty good but that is about it. So I practice a lot on motifs & especially feathers. I don't think I'll ever be able to do a decent feather! lol Just have fun & you will get better all the time. Keep some of your practice pieces & check them out in 6 months with your new practice pieces. You will be surprised!

I think that looks great! I'd be quite satisfied if I could do that.

These look great...all you have to do is relax and enjoy the fact that you're being creative...it will just start to flow from your hands.