I've accidently left the feed dogs up and it doesn't work well on my machine. It grabs the fabric too much.

Practice a lot! It's the only way. Another thing that helps is to make sure the quilt can move freely. If you need to put another table nearby to support the weight, do so. It helps quite a bit. With practice, you will learn what speed works best for the machine and your hands.

I found it hard to do stippling at first. I'm getting better at it though. I do best with loops, stars, curliques. So that's mostly what I do since it looks the best. After awhile, you will find that the back looks as good as the front. I haven't done a whole lot of FMQ, maybe 6 or so quilts, but am now comfortable flipping my quilt over and quilting from the backside if I need to. For example, to quilt around the designs in the backing fabric.

For me the hardest thing to get used to was that I did not have to move in a straight line. Once I got the darning foot and let the thing move freely, it became easier. It does take getting used to though. I have only machine quilted 6 quilts...and this most recent one is tons better!!!

My friend told me you couldn't stipple without a couple of glasses of wine. She was right!!! It worked so much better. LOL

Before stippling, set your machine up for the performance -

1. make sure the feed dog is down (or put your darning plate on)

2. increase the size of the stitches per inch

3. test the tension with a swatch so you can adjust it

4. use a new needle

5. make sure you use quilting thread and that the needle isn't too small for the thread. If it is the thread will keep breaking

6. be patient, be patient, be patient, practice, practice, practice

7. did I say be patient and practice a lot???????

Put a sample together (top fabric, batting, bottom fabric) and take your time. It's a "hands-on" kind of thing you just have to work at. Be patient. You can't rush this process. You will find that in time your technique will get better.

Use a pencil on a piece of paper and stipple with that first. Just get an idea of what you need to do with the pencil. This seems to help lessen the hesitation. Get comfortable with it. Get ideas from magazines or pictures and continue rolling your pencil all over the paper. No need to lift the pencil. After you have some idea of what to do, you won't hesitate when you work on your quilt. There are pencils and stencils to use as a guide if you want a particular design, but that will come in time.

At first I wasn't sure what type of squiggly line to make. I found loops to be easy and large L's too. Those overlap. The other type is what looks like a puzzle piece. No map on that, its basically freestyle.

Good luck and enjoy the stippling technique. You will find your comfort zone in time.

PS: When I get frustrated with it, I resort to my stash of Jack Daniels above the stove. LOL really!

You can photo copy the stipple template then place the paper on your quilt and sew over the papers, that's what I did to practice, of course then you have to tear away the papers. Now I can stipple t
With the best. Good luck.

The first time I did it I used my pounce pad and a stencil and that helped me alot. I can't do it slow though. I have to move my fabric fairly quickly. It just works best for me.

Fast machine and slow hands.

I also set my stitches to zero instead of longer.

Now I just use my table top frame and older Pfaff. Works much better and easier on the shoulders/arms.

Can you take a picture of it, front and back? nThat would help.

Dropping the feed dogs is a quilt police thing. I took a class and she said it is good to leave them up but lower your foot pressure to zero when first starting. Helped me a ton!

I agree. The stencil helps a lot and Practice is the most important thing. And taking your time. :-D