I am of the firm belief if you want to practice, pick up some cheater quilt pieces. The lines are on there. I had a bunch of double wedding ring cheaters and man I practiced on a 42 x 70 and put a lot of thread in it. When I was done it made a nice present for my MIL couch. I have practiced on them because they look so much like a real quilt without the work on piecing, and then you have a nice gift too.

I hold my breath and pray the tension won't get the best of me. Then I turn on the radio and go with it. Remember, the seam ripper is your friend! good luck

Practice on something first. Cut a piece about 10 x 10. Next batting and backing. Use it first to make sure that you have your tension right. Then if you haven't dropped the feed dogs, dropped those puppy's. Pull up your bottom thread to the top and get r done! Practice until you can't figure out where you started and stopped at. By then you will have worked the kinks out in your armor and you won't be so tense in the shoulders and then take a leisurely stroll with your machine. If your still tense, practice on something more. Tenseness will cause all kinds of problems. Eye strain, headaches, back and neck aches. Remember: there are NO quilt police. Everyone has a learning curve. As you master one thing, you will learn something else. Your confidence will grow and each quilt will be more beautiful than the last one. Post your first one after your done. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.

LOL :lol: :lol: :lol: A very good answer, indeed! :idea:

this was my first attempt at FMQ. I used BigFoot with feed dogs down and just sewed around the butterflies.

I start with a glass of wine, put on some great music and when I do start in, I bring the bottom thread up to the top.

This is a great example of practicing. You don't have to think too hard on where you are going to quilt, just quilt around things to learn speed and stitch length. You did a great job around the butterflies.

Thanks, I felt happy like I was "coloring between the lines" lol! Like a kid using crayons. I'm going to make some quilt sandwiches and practice before I attempt to FMQ the quilt I'm working on.