I have done some straight line quilting,and really enjoy that. I have a embroidery machine and you can get single line designs,and hoop your way through a quilt. It can take a lot of hooping. Some of the Newer machines ,I imagine ,it looks like it would be even a easier process. My machine is older. But I just enjoy embroidering and watching the design stitch.

I love all parts of the quilting process, but I prefer to hand quilt anything that is lap size or bigger quilt. Though there are very talented long arm quilters out there, I also could never send one to them. I would feel disconnected from my quilt. My enjoyment is major to me, because with other things in life I have enough stress. My philosophy with what I sew/quilt is to improve/learn new skills with every thing I create, but I have no place in there for quilt police.

You can always pay someone else to do it and save yourself some headache. The costs seem very affordable in the States. I would practice on little projects and send the big ones out until I became more confident if I were you. All the best.

I love free motion quilting, and have since my first quilt, when I was working on a $150 Brother machine with a 5 inch throat. I now have a Janome 6600, which has a 9" throat, which makes it easier to quilt larger quilts, but fmq is still the same. It takes practice. I do a lot of doodling before I even head to the sewing machine with a new design. I fill several sheets of scratch paper (back side of children's school papers.) with a new design until I can predict how the design goes and how i will work my way across the sheet filling it in. You build muscle memory and then transferring it to the fabric becomes easier. After I've doodled - a bunch- I go to scrap quilt sandwich made from pieces of old cotton curtains and batting scraps pieced together. I'll practice on these practice sandwiches until I get the tension, speed and stitch length right and can see if I'm skipping stitches. Then I work on the size of my motif. Do I want little flowers; or big ones? It's a lengthy process to get started actually quilting a quilt. I recommend practicing on your machine until you're confident, or just figure out how many quilts you can send out for the price of a new quilting machine. I look again and again at the HQ Sweet 16 sit down and think I really want one, then I consider how many quilts I could send out to have quilted for the $6000, and go back to my current method. I can comfortably quilt anything up to a twin sized quilt on my 6600 and I can manage up to a queen. It's only the really big ones. (kingsized ) That I send out.
Good luck with your quilting journey.

Zozee, I misunderstood your first post. If you do like FMQ , what part of quilting the quilt do you dislike?

I love all of the process of quilt making. I really love the quilting part.

Love of quilting?
 

I'm with you. I'm hoping for some sort of transformation. I just got a used BL sashiko machine which is fun to use. I'm planning to do some quilting with that. Free motion bores me after 15 minutes. Maybe we weren't meant to quilters and our niche is in another realm.
(Max-Burke, Va)

Most of us who can not afford long arms or don't have room for them..go through the pain of big quilts on our small machines when we decide sending them out just cost too much if u make very many a year.That really adds up..like u I started with a Viking designer 2...I quilted many FM quilts on it and fought them all...I try a few things..in the ditch.. meander..loops..in the ditch..is just plain boring to me..I almost quit quilting doing that..then I try the other free flowing things..like the loops..it moves fast..and u can put a little creativity into it..but still fought with the machine part..my machine..for some reason ..does not like backing up very far..the thread was sure to break every time..most machines brands have little quirk..I think..this went on for a few years..to the point of quitting.. then I got a used mega quilter..it wasn't too bad of a price..it still sets in my sewing cabinet like the designer..but the mega gives u freedom to move around on the quilt..and more room for the quilt to be moved..fm quilting is always going to be a stop ..start..patient thing to do..so to wrap this up..yes a machine can make a different...yes what u do on the quilt can make a different..but none of that will make a differences if u do not have the patients for it..only u can decide that..
Give the loops or some faster moving design a try before u decide it may help..again as others have said all of us like different things about quilting..good luck ..oh look for good used machines from dealers..that way if u do decide it isn't for u..it won't be ..I can't quit this thing cost too much..in my case..the one I found had only been used a couple times..and it was a fourth of the new price..the dealer stands behind it for 6 months..

If you want to machine quilt try doing doll blankets and quilts (you do not have to commit to something large, but you will be able to finish without spending a lot of time and money), then you can give to any little girls you know or donate them. This is a size done very easily on any size home machine. You will be able to try different styles of quilting, and most of all you will get to practice and practice (because thats what machine quilting takes, is a lot of practice). You can also try your hand at hand quilting a doll quilt. Please remember it's not a rule that you have to like the quilting part of making quilts. If you still don't like machine or hand quilting, check to see if you can find someone that you can work with on a trade. Because not every one like every part of quilting, maybe you could do the cutting for another quilting or put the top together for a quilting and they can do your quilting. Good luck

I enjoy quilting by hand. My loathing part is the cutting!

I, too, am not thrilled by the actual quilting part. I send mine out. I feel good about it because I am providing a bit of income to a long-arm quilter.

I have read comments by some on this board that they don't feel a quilt is their "own" unless they have done every step of its creation. I do not fault them; to each their own. But, for my part, life is short and I am not going to try to do something that feels like a chore to me. I love almost every step of quilting (pattern selection, color decisions, fabric ideas, cutting, piecing and watching a top (back, too, I piece all mine) come together, I just don't care for the actual quilting and I don't beat myself up about it.

Do what you love and let someone who enjoys it do the rest.

I feel your pain! I thought for 7 years that I had to, absolutely had to, do FMQ. Well, I am very comfortable saying I don't like it, do very little of it and finally don't care if I ever do it. I enjoy all other aspects of quilting but not that. It frustrates me to death. I just bought a new BAby Lock Journey. It has so many decorative stiches (250+) that I use these to finish my quilts. I just love getting creative with them. So, while I love quilting, I don't enjoy every aspect of it.

Like many here, I love the planning, sewing, etc. of creating a quilt. Instead of actually quilting, I really prefer to tie my quilts. There's something about a tied quilt that connects me to my grandmother. Machine quilting is something I don't think I will ever try.

I think everyone has at least one part of the quilting process that they like the least. I stress over the quilting the most. Binding and planning the project is the fun part.

I think we all enjoy different parts of quilting like me I love fabric shopping, piecing, quilting my quilt but I hate binding. I know right, that means Its finished when you put on the binding. NOPE I hate to bind and I don't care if I had a different sewing machine I would still feel the same way about it as I do know. So I have asked a friend to do it. You are suppose to enjoy quilting and so I wouldn't feel bad it if you don't certain parts of it.

I also think everyone finds what is right for them. That is the best way. Part of my connection too is with my mother who is no longer here, and watching all she did.

Maybe, maybe not. I think we all find our little comfort zone, whatever we enjoy the most naturally we are better at. I don't really care for the sandwiching and quilting either, have 2 DSM's, can and have done it all with only SITD or cross-hatching, one QAYG with dresdens, and quilted the outline of the dresden plates, never tried FMQ. I mostly enjoy hand-stitching hexies, and cross-stitching, never tried hand-quilting either. But when I feel like machine sewing, I'll whip out a quilt top, mostly simple patterns, found out that victoria's quilts will accept tops and finish them, they send quilts to cancer patients. For quick finish items, I do pillowcases or bags, baby receiving blankets, burp cloths, bibs, etc. I say do whatever you enjoy, it's supposed to be fun!

You might want to puddle your quilt and do some simple FMQ stitches to see how you like it. Just doing the STD is bound to become pretty boring because there is no rhyme or reason to it. Give it a try and I would just about guess you will enjoy it. You could start on just a practice piece to get the feel too. Have fun, quilting is supposed to be enjoyable, so relax and enjoy

Depends, perhaps, on why you don't like the quilting.

I like quilting, or would if it were easier. But manhandling even a large throw size quilt through the harp on my DSM is getting to me. Whether I puddle it or roll it, it's still a lot to move around and through the machine. I'm doing one now that has about made me throw in the towel. I've quilted around 56 five inch squares and turning the quilt and forcing it through the harp has gotten on my last nerve. Plus, I think the quilting looks terrible. I like the control of doing it all myself but I honestly don't know how you all -- those who do -- quilt full size and even king size quilts on a DSM. So I have to decide, too, if I'll keep on doing it this way or send them all out (probably not) or just quit!

Maybe you could send one out, and see how you feel about it when you get it back. You won't know unless you try.:)

Hi....I think I was very like you a while ago, the first large quilt top (70 x 70 inchs) I made was for my daughter as an 18th birthday present....it did not get sandwiched and quilted until she was 23 !...she is now 28.
My issue was that it just all seemed too challenging....how did I get the wadding and backing to be straight and smooth and how on earth do I get all that fabric through a domestic machine....in the end I watched loads of tutorials on you tube and decided I needed to take the plunge otherwise it would never come out of the carrier bag where it lived !
The delight from my daughter made it so worth while...it was certainly not perfect...not even really good, but the quilt is still intact and is still in constant use, and she loves it.
After doing that quilt it gave me confidence that I could do it..but it took time....I now love it all.
I have found a really easy way to sandwich quilts using my dining table and large clips from a DIY store and I love FMQ....still mainly do meandering, but I get the best feeling when I finish my quilts and I can say I did it all....every bit, including all the mistakes and there are always many of them !
I have upgraded my machine and now have the Janome 7700 ( bought second hand )with a much larger throat and it certainly is easier.
I hope that one day you too will love it......it just might take time...for me as I said earlier it was 5 years.
Good luck.

Picture is of my latest quilt..finished this week.

I'm with you...the quilting is my least favorite part. What's more, I don't want to send my baby out to have it quilted by someone else. I found that tying quilts can actually have quite a charming look, depending on the pattern. Plus, it's a lot faster, so I can get all my UFOs out of the way. I saw a book once, (Sorry, I can't remember the title, or author,) that was just about the clever ways that one could tie a quilt. I wish I had bought it.

~ Cindy

I don't enjoy the quilting either, especially big projects. I will do straight line or random wavy line quilting on small projects. I enjoy hand work, so sometimes I hand quilt smaller projects, often doing big stitch quilting, but I really like to tie quilts. I find them to be softer and they drape better. I used to send quilts out to be quilted, but that can get expensive and I like to be able to say that I did the whole thing.

I love the fresh colors of your scrappy quilt! Crisp points and I do like the meandering.

If it takes me a long time, which it probably will, to get good enough to like my own quilting, it's okay. I need to push myself to do things that make me better, no matter what it is. GEtting better brings a joy of its own. If I DO, however, give it a year and still hate the quilting, I might then start sending them out to someone who will gladly do it for a price.

The delight of the recipient makes it ALL worth it, no matter how we choose to finish the thing, right?