Tell me I’m not alone bc my quilting is awful.
 

Ok ladies and gents, please please tell me I’m not alone here. I’m on my 10th quilt 🤦🏼*♀️ And my fmq and quilting in general is really...unsightly. Wonky, stitch lengths are all different, and did I mention wonky? I quilt on a Brother 1500 but I feel like I’m not improving at all. I don’t think my life’s problems would be solved with a mid arm but I am always so proud of my quilt tops and then they are essentially ruined by yucky quilting. Support and thoughts are very much welcome!!

Maybe try straight line quilting instead?

Its no help, but I know how you feel. Like bearisgray suggested, try some straight line quilting. But I can say probably no one is looking at it as close as you are. They probably honestly don't notice

What I have done is practiced on donation quilts. I know that sounds awful... you know donating what I don't like. But you have to learn somehow

I recently purchased a ruler foot for my sewing machine and a heart shaped ruler. And I am really really happy with how that is going.

Just today I got an order from amazon with another ruler ... I can't wait to try this one out.

You are not alone. I never figured out how to FMQ even half way presentable. Straight line, SID, was a lot better, but now that I'm a little old lady, I find tying is easiest and decent looking for the little quilts I make. Still having a great time quilting like crazy! :)

You are absolutely not alone! FMQ takes practice (as said by others) but more than even practice, I believe it takes "relaxing". I'm still "practicing" and I am improving although no way near what I would like. I do find, however, that I am fine until I start over thinking my FMQing. If I just quilt and not over think it, I seem to do better. Meyert is right! No one else will even notice that the stitches aren't all the same or that you quilted "outside the line". Be sure to not point out what you believe to be your mistakes.

As so many have already said, no you are not alone!

I have been doing fmq for many years both on my dsm and now on a sitdown longarm - and quite honestly there are many things that can contribute to a “no good, awful, very bad day” . As many years as i have been doing it i can still make a mess of things. Sometimes i am too tired, or rushed, or tense or not feeling very confident at all when i start. Sooner or later it works out, although sometimes later than sooner. But its ok!

Maybe try practicing on some small items first - and once they look like you think they should, then jump into something a little bigger. Try not to get discouraged and please try not to let too much time go by before you try again. For me waiting too long to “get back on the horse” is not a good plan.

I would imagine that everyone here feels your pain... do you have a quilting buddy who can be your “cheerleader” to get you over the hump? I am fortunate enough to have mine living right next door and it’s amazing what a few kind words and a rah-rah-rah can do when your confidence is nowhere to be found.

Please dont give up - those beautiful quilt tops need you!

I'm terrible at free motion quilting. I know I haven't practiced enough but for some reason I don't want to spend my life away "practicing" but want to get quilts finished & gifted. When I first started quilting I used stencils & that was very satisfying but I've gotten away from them. With stencils, even when you go off the line you never see it once the stencil markings are washed out. I want to try my hand at ruler quilting but again I know that it takes practice.

Free motion is not my forte. I love SITD, echo, cross-hatch, lines, angles, and I can do water/grass/cloud effects pretty good. I don't use a walking foot, and do it all with my regular, or my 1/4" foot. I use a lot of thin tape, and just go for it. I've tried and tried making loops, and swirls, and wavy do dads, but I just can't figure it out. I've decided, for now, I don't care, and how I quilt is good enough. I'm betting your quilt tops are not ruined. We are our own worst critics!

You have a good machine. But it takes a lot of practice. A lot. Keep at it. I mastered meander before I tried anything else. I use the same machine. Watch videos and practice even more. I kept at it because I wanted to do FMQ. I don’t like to do straight line quilting as my only option. I have toyed with the idea of a sit down mid arm but I am
convinced a different machine won’t improve my quilts g as much as more practice will. Again - practice practice practice!!!!

You are not alone. I've been trying the Tear Away pantographs from Urban Elementz. I've been playing with them and getting good results. They help me keep a good rhythm and that help with the stitches too. I have to really be careful or mine get wonky too. I use the 505 Basting Spray to hold them in place.

Check out this site for walking foot designs. 31 Days of Walking Foot Quilting.

http://blog.petitdesignco.com/2012/1...-quilting.html

Free-motion is hard to do! Rulers and stencils have really helped my quilting. And yes! some of my best quilting was with a walking foot. Keep at it. You'll get better and learn what works best for you.

I would suggest you quilt more simply on your quilts, until you feel more confident about your FMQ. In the mean time you can practice your FMQ on some small quilt practice sandwiches. A teacher I had once said it's more important to practice 10 or 15 minutes a day, than hour long sessions just once in a while. Consistency will help you improve faster than anything.

Ten quilts is not a lot! Give yourself some time to improve. I can tell the "want to" is there.

I agree with those who have said that lots of practice is necessary to develop quilting skills. However, you need to know what you are practising. There’s so much to learn about how to co ordinate the speed of your needle with hand speed of moving the quilt when you are fmq ing on a domestic. Then you need to know about pausing your hands while the needle is still going to make points, don’t pause if you want curves, where to stop to relocate your hands to make a smooth transition, etc. , etc.

Watch some YouTube videos. Doodle your designs on paper to get muscle memory before you stitch. Start with small sandwiches so you don’t have to wrestle with a big quilt and you can get the feel of the motion easily. When you feel ready to work on a bigger quilt make sure your quilt has lots of support so that the weight of it doesn’t interfere with you moving it around under your machine.

If you can do a little bit ( 15 minutes) each day you will build your skill level.when you can’t do it on your machine doodle on paper when you’re on the phone or watching TV or having a cuppa. Do what you can and don’t beat yourself up. I’m self taught and went through a lot of frustration before I did what I have mentioned. I’m not perfect but I’m pleased with my accomplishment.

You can do this.

I was taught how to do feathers by first practicing them with a pencil on paper...over and over again. Probably 100 times or more. It helps your mind create a permanent picture in your head so it will transfer to what you do with your hands more easily, naturally and quickly. I think it was good use of my time.

I feel the same way as you. I now stick to straight lines.

I've been 'practicing' for years LOL All of a sudden, one day, it started to look decent. I had always tried to meander/stipple and have never been successful. I tried a loopy 3 leaves that I saw a friend do, and it worked! So try something different if what you are doing doesn't look good to you.

The two best pieces of advice I got on learning FMQ were to set your pedal speed where it is comfortable, so you don't have to worry about both your hand and pedal speed at the same time in order to keep your stitches looking good and to pick one motif and practice it until you can do it in your sleep.
I picked Paisley, which eventually led into feathers, which led into spirals, etc....Meander is also a good place to start.
Leah Day has a very good video on how to do meander.

Watson

I find FMQ stressful so now am almost exclusively doing walking foot quilting. I love the book with that title by Leah Day. Jaquie Gering (sp?) also has some good books on the subject. Both have online classes, too. These raised my confidence quite a bit.

It takes time to use the 1500 Brothers. Are you using a stitch regulator? With the stitch regulator you can go very slowly to match your skills to the timing.
Taking some practice pieces is the biggest help you can do. Sandwich some pieces as a quilt and just practice your FMQ and play with some designs. You can even quilt over what you have done since it is only a practice piece. Learn your hand to eye coordination with the machine and let your hands move freely. This will help you to discover if your quilt is to tight on the frame or if the quilt is to high or low on the frame and so much more.
Another thing is thread. Good thread makes for better quilting with the 1500. I use Glide threads. It is smooth and very strong. Few breaks and easier quilting. Just a few thoughts.

I've been quilting for 15 years and my FMQ is fairly decent, but I just do meandering and loops. I just don't have the talent though to do wreaths, feathers, etc. Just keep practicing and you'll get better. Another thing is, don't be so hard on yourself.

My FMQ is terrible, too! I usually SID because, like you, I feel that my FMQ is ruining my quilts, however I know I won't get better if I don't go through that painful learning curve. Let me give you the most sincere "good for you" that I can for your being willing to go through that pain (which leaves you one step ahead of me).

Get yourself some quilting gloves - they make a huge difference! The Machiners gloves are good. I have some nitrile gardening gloves that are also good, but some gardening gloves aren't so great, so you might want to spring for the Machiners if you can.

Gloves are #1, but #2 is sewing surface. If you have a large, flat surface it is easier to manipulate the quilt. I've been practicing on smaller items so that I can concentrate on the FMQ design rather than on moving the bulk of the quilt around.

i agree wholeheartedly with the responses you are getting. Over the years I have found that there are certain designs that my brain and hands just wont coordinate together with. If one doesn't seem comfortable try a different one. My go to is stippling and flower echoes. the other thing that helped me was slowing down the speed . I wish I could send the tops out to get longarmed but with as many tops I make it is way out of my budget

My biggest help to learn control was stitching the lines and areas of a child's panel. It forced me to slow down my speed to stay on the black outlines (like coloring books) and the open areas were a great place to try other designs. I never liked doing meander for some reason, and seldom do it anymore. I'd bind them and donate them when done, and I found them much more interesting and fun to do than muslin sandwiches.

You are definitely not alone with the free motion quilting. I have told my husband several times, that this could win at the quilt show if I didn't quilt it. But, I'd rather have a not perfect project and do it myself than turn it over to a long armer. The best advice I have ever been given about free motion is to listen. Match your speed of your hands to the sound of the machine. It doesn't help with length of stitches but it helps with eye lashes on the back and things like that.

There are so many different types of FMQ: meandering, echoing, using rulers. I find that some work much better for me than others, so I'm sticking with them. I love Lori Kennedy's inboxjaunt--these are the ones that work best for me.

I have plenty of experience with fm quilting, and have gotten good at just a few designs. I use thread colors that disappear into the background and that helps the quilting to be less prominent. Then my quilt design stands out, which is what I want anyway.

That PetitDesign page is excellent. Nothing very complicated--just an assortment of good suggestions.

I've gotten pretty proficient with my skill at long arming, but I just don't think well in terms in quilting design. It isn't my strong suit at all. Can't tell you how many times my initial review of one of my projects is "another fine top ruined by bad quilting". I no longer have the access to my friend's long arm that I once have and now I'm back to my domestic rig. Good for me is about a year ago a friend gifted me with a modern Bernina that has a massive deep throat to work with. I don't want to do queen sized quilts with it (the size I usually make), but I could.

On my vintage domestic machine that I've been using for most of the last 30 years, I never could do a whole lot of fancy stuff, for one it required a darning plate to disengage the feed dogs which I didn't have. The throat space was small. Still, I managed to simply grid a king sized log cabin and feed it through the thing.

I could do simple grids and curves in the body of the quilt, so like an Orange Peel design or a Clamshell was about as fancy as I could get. So I did fancier stuff on the borders.

With 10 quilts down, you should be able to figure out some of your problems. Like wonky stitch lengths or whatever -- when you go back and look at the quilts 6 months later are you still noticing the stitches? Mostly for me it's when the work is fresh and I've been staring at it from 8 inches away, but somehow a year down the road and I'm a lot more tolerant.

Machine quilting isn't necessarily fast -- but the thing is it is faster than hand quilting for most of us. Sometimes we do have to adjust our expectations on how long it will take to do something and keep repeating to ourselves "this would take me a year by hand" when we are trying to get it done by Friday :)

I started out as a hand quilter. I never could FMQ well on a sit down machine. My brain is just not wired to "move the paper" (the quilt sandwich) as opposed to moving the "pen" (the sewing machine needle). I did practice, I drew to learn thread paths and I never got better but more importantly I did not enjoy the process at all. I hated making the quilt sandwich with a white hot passion. Manipulating even a small quilt under the machine was nothing like practicing on small manageable sandwichs and even with small pieces my quilting looked awful. All the same things you state, uneven stitches (that was the least of my problems), no smooth flowing lines (aka wonky), squarcles instead of circles, ad nauseum. I was tense the entire time and even short sessions resulted in neck and shoulder pain and I have a machine that is recessed in a table with a large smooth surface. I did ok with straight line walking foot quilting. So I did mostly that and anything fancy I hand quilted.

Then I discovered rack machine quilting with a stitch regulator. My quilting universe had a super nova! No more making the sandwich, no more stiff neck and shoulders, no more dreading the quilting part and gorgeous quilting right out of the gate. Now not everyone takes to it as quickly as I did but it made all the difference for me. Not everyone has the room for a rack set up even though there are setups for a domestic machine or stretch machine that can be mounted on a rack, it isn't all just longarms. But I opted for making the investment of a longarm and I haven't looked back. Here are links to my domestic machine quilting and my first quilt off the longarm and what I am doing now:

https://www.quiltingboard.com/pictures-f5/puss-center-exercise-fmq-t54829.html

https://www.quiltingboard.com/pictures-f5/my-first-quilt-off-longarm-t77776.html

https://www.quiltingboard.com/pictures-f5/4-patch-posy-quilting-t289353.html[SUB][SUP]<strike>
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I feel if I had not gotten my own LA I would probably be sending my tops out for quilting. There is nothing wrong with quilting by check. Before I got my LA I did send a top out and was extremely pleased with it. You can get a lot of quilts quilted for the price of a LA setup.

The only tip I have is when stippling/meandering keep silently saying "Round" to make the curves...it's the only way I don't accidently make loops and points.

FMQ for me has been a major challenge. I always hand quilted but wanted to learn machine quilting and I am. But it's been a really frustrating process.
Many of us are in the same boat. My granddaughter's quilt is still waiting for me to get better at it. I'm not sure if I will have it the way I want it. I don't like using a walking foot but may for her quilt. I find that kind of quilting boring. I love what people do with FMQ.
So, I am going to plug away until I hopefully get better! :)
Ps. I still love to hand quilt but it takes soooo long!

Also- I send quilts out to be longarmed. I love the way they turn out.

If you quilting isn't as nice as you want then always use thread that blends in with the top. Sew Fine thread is great for this. Select backing that has a busy design. Unless your quilting is the star of the quilt then there is no need for it to stand out.

I used a Brother PS1500 for 9 years and there was a learning curve for sure. I purchased a grace frame and put the machine on that. What helped me was I also purchased the pattern boards and used them extensively. I have since upgraded to a Innova and love that. But, if I wasn't able to get the Innova, I'd still be happy with the PS1500 (which I still have and use to piece) and the grace frame (with the pattern boards). If you live near Albuquerque, I'd be willing to see to you. But, it would be toooo expensive to ship everything anywhere! Maybe look in your area. Good luck and don't give up.

Wow, I love reading everyone's replies! Sometimes I get so proud of myself and then the quilt gets all bunched up on the right side squishing up against the machine, and my stitches go down the tubes. It's then that I have to grab that whole quilt and Pull! You'd really all be in stitches laughing (no pun intended) if you saw me wrestling with them in person. Like I can be semi decent when I'm on the end of the quilt and everything is under control, and then I really have to either turn the quilt, pull, or grab the quilt and push depending on how much of the quilt is to the right of me. Sometimes I have to cradle half of it in my right arm while I'm pulling the other side through to stitch! Really, I wish you could see this in action. You'd think I was wrestling with an alligator!

Have you tried bicycle clips? It sounds like you are using the 1500 brothers on a table not a frame. They might help you to keep things even.

A picture would be useful. It is hard to make suggestions without seeing the problem.

Yes, I have no frame, just a table. Just me and my domestic old school style. Is it possible it's time to get a frame? You really can only do so much without a larger area to work with I feel like.

you all are daring to even try. I did for while one small things like the children's woobies. They are adults now and still covet their woobies which are very loved to the point of falling apart. I was just thinking about making myself one and got stuck at the thought of quilting it. My shoulders are eternally tense due to a med I take. In a few months when I'm done with the treatment I'll go back to it. Keep practicing.

I say practice, practice, practice!! I quilted hundreds of charity quilts for kids when I first started free motion quilting. The kids do not look at the quilting and say. “Oh my, wonky!!” They do not care, the just love the quilt.

I did not start quilting my own quilt tops until I felt good about my improvement on the charity quilts. The other thing I do before I start a very intense quilting motif, is to quilt it out on a piece of muslin or a charity quilt to see how it will look and how hard it will be or to see if I need to modify my path.

I do not think it matters on what type machine you are using to quilt with, what matters is that you practice and perfect your skills. Enjoy the process!! Hope to see your quilts posted here in the future.