Will I Ever Love Quilting?
 

I love every phase of quilting except quilting.

I love to shop for fabric, find or make designs, audition fabrics, cut, piece, bind, not really sandwich but it's okay.

My problem is I just really don't enjoy the quilting phase. Granted, I only have a small Janome sewing machine (DC1050) and a couple of mechanical machines, also small. My personality is geared toward doing small projects, but I have done something larger (large throw) which I sent to a friend to quilt.
So far I've only been brave enough to try stitch in the ditch. That feels safe, but boring.

Can you please tell me if quilting gets more fun if I were to invest in a larger machine, or if I'm kidding myself? I sure don't want to waste money. If there's a way to look forward to the one phase that trips me up motivationally, I'd love to know.

Any suggestions? I know I'm not alone. I know there are people who share this feeling of not liking the quilting portion of making a quilt, but wondering if the size of the machine makes an exponential difference. By the time I get to that far, I'm ready to be done with the thing already. I would like for every step to be something I enjoy.

everyone enjoys different phases of the process. some love the quilting, some love the patchwork. send out your small and large projects if you can afford to have them done. there's a lot of people on the board that can help you with the quilting. Maybe it's just not your thing. Don't worry if you don't like that part. You enjoy the other parts of the craft.

For some reason the quilting part is the most stressful for me. I do some free motion and some straight line. Stitch in the ditch takes some practice so the stitching doesn't show on the front. You might try to do some straight line (like cross hatch or parallel lines) using a walking foot to see if you like that. It's more forgiving than stitch in the ditch. Free motion takes some practice so would definitely practice on smaller things. If your budget allows it you can also send out larger quilts to a long armer. I recently got a Janome 8900 with a large throat area and it does make a difference on how easily you can maneuver the quilt around but for years I used a 1976 model Viking to quilt so that's doable too. It may also just always be your least favorite part. Most quilters have at least one part that is in that category.

I would suggest giving free motion quilting a try on the machine you have... and if you end up liking it then eventually you can invest in a machine with a larger harp, or something even fancier (sit down long arm, long arm).

It takes practice and you have to be willing to put in some time. Some people pick it up faster than others.

I love quilting... and piecing....
I love pretty much everything except binding. ;)

I felt like you when I only had a smaller machine----wrestling with the bulk through the small harp space was exhausting, plus I got puckers sometimes because even with the walking foot the machine just wasn't that powerful to feed evenly. Now I have a wonderful Juki, and the quilting part is MUCH easier, but I have to admit it is still my least favorite part!!! But I have never got the hang of FMQ, so just quilt with my walking foot. But I can get some creative quilting with wavy lines, grids, curved lines, etc. but I still send out special quilts to a long arm quilter for that special look I will never be able to do.
So, some of us are "piecers" , not "quilters"!!! And that is OK!!!

I've been sewing for 45 years, piecing quilts for 25, hand quilting for 25, but when I tried FMQ a couple of years ago, I felt like an absolute beginner!! I truly thought I would NEVER, NEVER enjoy it! Because I don't like giving up control of my quilt, to someone else for quilting, and because I can't afford really expert custom professional quilting, I kept trying and practicing. I am no where near "good" at it, but I do enjoy it enough to keep at it, hoping I'll get "good"! Take a class if you can.

I have been "quilting" for decades and have never "loved" the quilting part. I will openly admit I am a piecer. Oh the stress and strain and the puckers , just make me cringe thinking about it. I tied many a quilt to avoid the dreaded machine with that pile and weight of quilt sandwich.
My world changed when I discovered Long Arm professionals. I would eat bologna sandwiches for months, if I had to, just to avoid quilting a bed side quilt on my machine.

I'm not sure anything will make quilting more fun if it's truly something you'd rather not deal with. It's hard to tell from your post if that's the case or not. But having equipment that makes it easier to quilt would at least make it easier, if not fun. I'm not in love with the look of machine quilting the way I am with hand quilting, but I very much want to finish more quilts, so I am learning to machine quilt. I have a Handi-Quilter Sweet 16, and was at first dismayed at how difficult it was to move the heavy quilt around (arthritic hands); but then I learned about the Jennoop quilt suspension system and the Martelli gripper ring, and now I can move my quilt without a struggle, and I do find it fun. I would not have had the courage to try it on a small throated DSM, though. My hat goes off to those that do!

One of the most helpful things I came across was Leah Day's introductory video at her website. She remarked that it takes about 3 quilts to get the hang of FMQ. When I heard that, I relaxed about the process and gave myself permission to ruin my first three quilts. What I mean is, I decided that for the first three quilts, I would just keep going rather than stopping and taking out imperfect stitches. This is also how I learned to hand quilt; I just kept on stitching on that first quilt no matter how bad it looked. It was a learning quilt, so it was okay. Maybe get your FMQ feet wet on a quilt that doesn't matter all that much to you.

Having the right equipment made the difference for me. A long arm that works well makes quilting enjoyable. In the meantime is it maybe possible to have your quilts quilted by some one else?

Many people quilt by check,they have someone else quilt the quilt. This is a hobby,it's supposed to be something to be enjoyed. If you hate to quilt,don't do it. And don't feel guilty for not quilting,Eleanor Burns, Marianne Fons and many other well known quilters have a someone else quilt for them. If it's good enough for them, it's good enough for us.