I was taught to pull up the bobbin thread when you first begin, then make 3-4 stitches in place to lock them, then trip the threads. I have found that it is so much easier to trip your threads right away, then you don't have to go looking for them later. Also, I had a Home Ec. Teacher, Mrs. B. who drummed it into our heads to cut those threads right away. I guess I was a good learner because when I see other people leave their threads loose, I cringe, but say nothing - to each his own.

lol im with u

Hi I put on all the equipment I brought from this website, which makes life so much easier.

First thing is I adjust the height of the FMQ foot to just touching what i am quilting and with the surpreme slider(from leah days website) no need to put dogs down, then I put the needle down into the fabric then start the machine speed, slow to medium, and moving the fabric around at a steady pace, this will dictate the size of stitches.
no swearing, or chocolates or wine is needed, just a fair amount of practise and that means quite a few hours before you get the idea.

http://www.daystyledesigns.com/supremeslider.htm

:roll:

i pull the bottom thread to the top take a couple stitches in place then when i am done i bury the tail

I did a class last week and it was great fun. Some of the ladies there had never tried FMQ, and there was some trauma at first, but by the end of the day everyone was producing pretty good results. Though the class teacher did very wisely start the day by saying that FMQ isn't for everyone, and there was no shame in using the day to decide that you didn't want to pursue it any further.

After years of struggle I'm finally beginning to get somewhere with FMQ. I start by making a large-ish practice piece with the same fabric and batting as my quilt. I then get the tension sorted, which can be difficult on my machine, but I'm slowly getting the measure of it, though I sometimes have to compromise on thread choices to get it to co-operate. I then practice my pattern - at the moment usually stippling or loops. I'm not well-co-ordinated and I have to accept that it can take my brain a while to "click" and get my hands moving in the right directions, so I may practice on paper first, then the practice piece. When I get to the quilt itself, I take several very deep breaths, say a quick prayer (the quilting angel must be very busy!), deliberately relax my shoulders - and just go for it. I pull the bottom thread up and take a few very small stitiches - and very slowly, or I tend to get a birds nest. Then I can speed up and into the pattern. Every now and then I check that I'm still breathing :-) :-) I wrote to Leah Day for advice a while ago, and one thing she said was - just put a quilt on your machine, with the same colour threads top and bottom so that mistakes don't show so much - and quilt it. Sounds so simple, but I realised that, for me anyway, she was right - I was so afraid of making mistakes that the tops were piling up while I put off quilting them. So I've gone for it, with tops that aren't particularly precious, and she's right - I settled down, began to enjoy myself, and my stitches quickly improved. The results aren't perfect - I won't be entering any shows - but they're not that bad either!

Decide who I will have do it. work out the details with them, and if necessary, ship it off. ;)

:D Now why didn't I think of that?!

Baby quilts are great for practicing on...they aren't going to care what the quilting looks like...practicing on squares is ok for a couple of squares...but then it is more fun to learn/practice on an actual quilt!

my friend does the same thing..the glass of wine..anad then she puts headphones on with her i pod..she hs special music she listens to to FMQ by!

:thumbup: