Congrats, Steph. I had fear of FM but one day just plunged right in. My FM is still not where I want it to be but I overcame the mystic and am having so much fun. The quilting has become one of my favorite parts of making a quilt.

That's the way to learn, I'm doing the same thing, even made some crazy daises in the board of one for a grand daughter. Keep having fun when it's not fun then it's work..

The tension may be incorrect... experiment with correcting the tension on top first and then if needed, correct it on the bottom. Good luck!

Eyelashes can also be caused by mis-communication between hands and machine speed. If you're pushing down the foot pedal and the machine is going at full speed, but your hands are moving the quilt sandwich slowly (or vice-versa), you can create eyelashes.

Good for you and I know you are going to love FMQ. You would not believe the number of Trivets I have in a drawer that were practice pieces. (Nobody knows but me how bad they really are) and can also be used as pot holders in a pinch. Just relax with it and above all have fun

well, here is one more thing I LOVE about this board... we get to celebrate even the (what we think are) little things... that, on reflection, often turn out to be pretty important!! You have given me inspiration to "start somewhere!" When I finish the top I'm working on now, I shall do just that... START!!!! My plan is to cross-hatch quilt the center... and FMQ the borders... I chose busy fabric for the borders, so that will help my confidence, I think..

Thanks for the "push!" And glad you are better!!

Yes, we all do start some where. Starting is the hardest thing to do. But after you get going there is no stopping! My heart always hurts a little when people make statements about not doing things, "I can't do that." You have already failed if you don't even try.

I am so happy for you that you are having fun.
peace

"It's not how far we have to go that's important, it's how far we've already come." Dr. Abraham Low
And the first step is is always the hardest. Congradulation:thumbup:

Good for you! I, too, am a beginner when it comes to FMQ. My first step beyond STID and straight lines was to follow the tracing of a couple of stencils I made. They were a large and a small daisy-like flower shape and a leaf shape, both of which were in the fabric. The background was pink and I used pink thread so it wasn't too obvious.
Next I did stippling on the busy background of another quilt. This was after a LOT of practice drawing it on a white board and erasing, drawing and erasing, drawing and erasing. And then stitching on lots and lots of practice squares. It did get easier. Again, the thread matched the background well so nothing was too obvious.
Now I'm making a baby quilt with a variety of very bright squares interspersed with white patches of alphabet letters and pictures. No matter what color I use for the quilting, it will show a lot. I'm thinking of doing loops with maybe one heart.
I'll be practicing on the white board and sandwiches before I tackle the quilt!

What kind of quilting are you doing? I want to eventually tackle feathers. I did a small wall hanging that has a large heart-shaped feather in the middle, but this was hand quilted as part of a class.

Good luck in your future endeavors!

That's how I started FMQ too! I don't have time to practice on anything but the real thing so I just started with the meandering on an Antique Teddy Bear baby quilt. It came out awesome! Now I'm taking a class on feathers and oh yes, always on my home sewing machine! It is quite liberating!