I agree. There is really NO RIGHT WAY. First relax. 2ndly, be sure to focus on the area that you want to go and not look at where the needle is because you need to look ahead to where you want to go. As someone posted a few days ago, it is suddenly going to CLICK and it will make sense to you. It is like learning to ride a bicycle or drive a car. Good Luck. :)

I took a Leah Day FMQ class on Craftsy and she talked about that - a lot of people are better in one direction than in another. She recommends trying to favor your best direction at first but practice on the other directions too so you'll be a more flexible quilter.

I'll ditto what others have said - there are no rules. However. The more comfortable you get sewing in different directions, the less you have to wrestle your quilt. And doodling is awesome! Even though the actual motion is different, by doodling you're sort of imprinting a road map in your mind so it knows where to go next. Have fun!

I think the right way is whatever works for you. If you can do it that way, continue. Probably as you get more comfortable with it, you'll start moving in other directions naturally. Don't worry about it over much, just quilt.

One of the many joys of quilting: do it your own way. However, stitching in all directions makes it easier in the long run. I, personally, vote for easier even if it takes a little to learn it.

Whatever you do, enjoy it.

;-) Pat

FMQ = free motion quilting. So, I figure I'm free to go anyway I want.

What improved my abilities to FMQ was to wear the quilting gloves. I also have seen the sponges thatplaced uner your hand on top of the material and are used to help maneuver the material under the sewing foot. I like the suggestion of doodling to get your mind muscle memory set. I also noticed that when I FM on one machine, the machine bed prevents the sandwich from gliding. I thought I'd try the teflon glide mat that Leah Day uses. I also heard of quilters truing their machine 90 degrees so that the arm is facing them directly more like a LA set-up. I haven't tried that but do have a LA that I love to use. Just give yourself permission to make "design alterations' knowing that each time you FM you will get better and what you do now is just a reflection of today's abilities and what you will be doing two weeks from now will show how much you have improved from today! The best way is "Just do it!"

I'm so glad for this thread because I get so frustrated with FMQ that I have been doing straight line SITD on everything I do. I always feel like I'm holding my mouth wrong while FMQ. :D

Free motion
 

I'm just learning to free motion quilt as well. I do it the same way you do and it works fine for me. I figure I'll learn other directions as I progress, (or maybe not!). Have fun with it and develop your own style.