shy

I do all my quilting now on a regular machine..so I can sit ..after many mistakes getting it right..have learned..always..baste .with all the movement it takes if it is a big quilt..things shift..also if u feel confident use a free motion foot ..such as a darning foot..if not a walking foot is best..a normal foot will push your material as u sew..which at times cause those awful pukers we all hate..

quiltingbuddy

When I first started quilting I started with a walking foot to get comfortable with the quilting process and still have success. It was a good plan for me. When I started FMQ I tried it on a small baby quilt and made sure the thread blended in well to hide any flaws (and yes there were some of course). I always get warmed up on a small practice piece even now that I have done quite a few quilts with FMQ on my DSM. In the case of FMQ practice, practice, practice! Good luck!

dorismae904

I re beer my first FMQ. It was 45x60 and spray basted. Before that, I was a top maker because sewing or pin basting was awful. I had bought a can of basting at a quilt show which sat on a shelf for a few months. Then I went to a class for FMCG. I forget her name but her book was quilt as desired. As it turned out, my machine was not able to do FMQ. The shop owner let me use a babylock decorators choice which I loved and bought that day--it was $700.00 and had features I never knew about, needle down thread cutter and needle threaders. I was so nervous starting out but I was aiming for a meandering design which turned into angular lines and names of siblings and parents, this was for a GGS.
it tuned out well and is well loved. A week after it was finished, I fell at Walmart and broke my wrist. Quilting put on hold but I continued. If your quilt is large, I suggest starting on a smaller piece. You won't be as apprehensive. Good luck.

matraina

Your quilt is very beautiful!

ctrysass2012

Lots of great advice about the feet you can use. If your spray basting is coming loose you can pull the layers loose & lightly spray again. I have had edges & corners come loose because I didn't spray far enough to the edges so I just did another quick spray. I have also had a quilt sprayed, layered & left rolled up for a few months. Everything was still stuck in place. Good Luck!

twinkie

I use a walking foot or a darning foot when I quilt. But I do agree, it takes lots and lots of practice.

Janette

Spray basting works best on cotton batting. It does not stick well to poly batting. I have used it with no problems on full-size quilts, as long as batting was cotton. Craftsy has excellent classes on assembling quilts and using different types of assembly (spray, pins, etc.). Would highly recommend them, and they are on sale right now for about $20 a class.

madamekelly

I have noticed several comments about your layering coming apart. I had the same problem until one of the wonderful members here mentioned glue basting. Glue basting is the best! Best part? You can't mess it up. If the glue shows through to the front, which it did on my first one, it just washes out when you are done! I even went on Amazon and bought glue by the gallon. Look out world, I got my glue and I am ready to start learning FMQ!

cathyvv

Pretty quilt!

Jingle

I machine quilt on one of my 9" throat machines. If straight line stitching I use walking foot. For FMQ I use a darning foot. I pin baste my quilt sandwich. I use the walking foot to sew binding to front of quilt. I hand sew binding to back of quilt. You may want to practice on a quilt sandwich.