Oh, I can so sympathize with you. I took a FMQ class at the LQS last week. We spent about four hours learning. The teacher had a hand out for the class in which tips number 1,3,5,7,9 and 11 say practice. I suggest making a 20 or so inches muslin sandwich, and practice any chance you get. I noticed that my last quilting stitches showed some improvements over the first, mind you not good enough for a real quilt, but definitely a move forward there. I think stippling would be easier than circles and flowers. The teacher gave us a good exercise that I though helped, she asked us to draw our design on a paper with a pencil. I was having hard time drawing the puzzles, she said until I can draw it easily, I won't be able to quilt it. Makes sense.
Finally, I would use invisible thread, it hides many of the imperfections. I even use it when I do straight lines because I am not that good.
OK, I need to go play with my muslin sandwich.
Good luck :)

I also agree- if you do it while watching TV or something like that it's not bad and then you can start again. No advice on mq though b/c I haven't done it.

I can't walk straight let alone sew straight. :lol: making the top was relativly easy. well kind of. Loved it. now just have to get this quilting thing under hand.

I feel bad for you, Oldest Daughter had to rip out a queen sized quilt, she finally got it all ripped out, requilted it with her all time favorite - stitch-in-the-ditch, loved it and is glad she ripped it all out. She loves it now.

The other thing I just picked up after seeing people on here talk about it over and over is the gardening gloves withthe rubber dots on them. I figured for a couple bucks I'd try them with my quilting and if I didn't like em, into the shed they'd go for gardening! I've tried them once so far and I like them, a lot! I'll see once I've done a little more, but I like the control they seem to have over the fabric. Might be worth a shot.

A lot of it is just practice and time (and I haven't spent enough of either to be proud of my quilting yet), but I agree that using a thread that matches rather than contrasts the fabric hides a multitude of sins. The flip side is if you do a beautiful job of quilting, it isn't as evident either. But for now, give yourself a break and make the thread blend in so you don't get too discouraged.

And your comment 'got mad so just kept going' was pretty funny. Thanks for the laugh.

yes, we all seem to have that pain of what we thought we were making and seeing the beauty of the completed object and as soon as it's finish and we open our eyes in astonishment, we realize that was NOT what we were expecting when started. LOL. I am the Queen of the Nipper sissors for removing the kinds of misplaced designs that should not have been placed on the quilt. But a with yourself, you are a little more novice then I am, but then I have made the same destracting errors on several quilts. Take it out gently and let it and you breathe for a bit and then find the right stitch and the right style that would enhance the gidt and back to the drawing board, You have many great friends on the list that seem to want very much to help you with suggestions. Taking your time and redoing and then stepping back can only imoralize your quilt into what you want it to be,
hugs
Blue

Been there - done that! I think your quilt top would look great with a stitch-in-the-ditch quilting. Using invisible thread is very forgiving and will really help you perfect this method.

definitely makes me less fearful ;-)

I wonder if maybe a lighter colored thread would look better.

When I started machine quilting, a lovely lady at my guild gave me a tip about using thread in shades of gray. She said don't worry just try it and she was right! a light to medium gray looks great and it kind of changes values depending on the fabric it's being stitched on. A pearly light gray would look great on your quilt. If you don't feel like taking out all the stitching right now, you don't have to:) it's ok to put it in the cabinet and move on to something else for a while to ease the frustration and put you in a happy mood.