Watson

Thanks all, for your encouragement and tips. Something that was mentioned to me is that I don't make points on my spirals. I didn't even notice! I'll have to go back and practice that. I can do a number of designs so far, this one just doesn't seem to "flow" for me.
Back to the drawing board! Literally.

Watson

Onebyone

I like the rounded points better.

glassnquilts

I do a lot of spirals. It is very helpful to practice on a whiteboard or even a sketchpad. It gives you a muscle memory. Also, I try to work in a diagonal path across the quilt to make it less planned looking. I have found that the slower I go the more jerky it looks. If I can get a good rhythm going they seem much smoother.
I think yours are looking pretty good.

BluegrassGurl

Watson ---- I think they look good. We are our own worse critic. ;-)

There are 2 things that helped me:
1. Doodle on a large notepad. Be careful and not make the spirals too small ... which is the tendency when doodling. Target close to the size you think you will be quilting.

2. An on-line video (can't remember who) demonstrated how to move to another spot by "echoing" existing swirls to get to the starting point of the next swirl. It seemed to make them flow easier for me.

Keep it up!

rryder

Watson, if you are using a hopping foot then it will be difficult to get smooth spirals unless you either make them larger or speed up. The same is true for pebbles. When I want to do small pebbles I usually switch from my hopping foot to my Janome Fmq foot that doesn't hop.

also, if you want to have points on your spirals remember to pause briefly at the point before heading back around, that will help you avoid eyelashes and will also give you time to regroup and focus on where you want to go next.

Rob

osewme

I think they look great! I only wish I could do half as good as you. I like your little pebbles in there too.

Rebecca_S

I am very new to FMQ, but have done spirals on one quilt (no batting tho). It was made of squares of different sized and I drew a circle within each square. I didn't FMQ the circle, but having it there helped me space out my spirals and gave me a guide to eyeball against.

Jennifer23

I like your spirals! I'm not a fan of spirals in general, but I like how yours don't have points in the middle. It looks like you did them in this order:
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If that order is right, it looks like they got smoother as you went. Keep practicing, and they will flow more.

If you don't like that the lines aren't evenly spaced, consider getting a free motion guide foot that has lines marked on it (mine is round, with red lines... hard to describe, but something like this: https://www.amazon.ca/Janome-Convert...+quilting+foot). This might make it easier to line up between the inward spiral lines as you go back out.

If the line spacing is the problem, I personally would just start calling them "jelly rolls" instead of spirals, and be happy as they are.

suern3

Angela Walters, who has written books about FMQ, both LA and DSM, has a video on APQ.com specifically about spirals. You might find it helpful. She also has a philosophy of accepting a few imperfections. Pretty interesting, I thought.

Bree123

I agree with bjchad that for your early attempts, you may want to choose a thread color that is the same or nearly the same as your background, in a 50wt. I think they look good for a first attempt! Here are a few tips that I've found helpful since I'm also trying to work on my spirals (they're the one shape that's still vexing to me):
1) Definitely practice drawing them on paper over & over again until you understand how to navigate to the center of the spiral and back out to where you want to be
2) Try doing spirals in a line instead of in every which direction. It's easier & will help build consistency as you can compare one to the next.
3) Consider marking your design before you start quilting (or at least mark dots at the top, bottom & center point of the spiral). You don't need to hit the line exactly, but it will give you a good reference point so you don't have to try to imagine the shape & quilt it at the same time. Once you've got the movement down, you can start practicing without any markings
4) If you hesitate for just a second at the inside tip, you will get a point rather than a curve
5) Just keep practicing. They will get better & better the more you practice!

Also, it's entirely a design choice, but many times when I see people use pebbling with this design, they will finish the design motif then echo 1-2x around the entire motif & then begin their pebbling. It helps to define the motif a bit more clearly and gives you a way to get in and out of the spaces without crossing over existing lines. Just a thought. I've done it both ways & there is no "right" way to quilt.