Wanting to start FMQ
#11
Super Member
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: Houston, TX
Posts: 9,714
I've done a considerable amount of FMQ in the past but nothing fancy, just loop do loops and meanders. I really like Angela Walters videos, but I recently took a FMQ class at my LQS and enjoyed it and learned A LOT. I recommend it if its at all possible.
#12
Senior Member
Join Date: Apr 2010
Posts: 696
If you write a person's name over and over, try this. I have a brother, Lee. The "L" and then 2 "e's" are a pattern to follow easily, over and over. Then progress into other letters. This is what I found easy to do for me when I started.
Have fun.
Have fun.
#13
Super Member
Join Date: Aug 2013
Posts: 9,299
Glad to know I'm not the only one who thinks stippling and meandering aren't as easy as they look or sound.
I much prefer leaves, swirls, stars. pebbles, even feathers.
A few hints:
wear Machingers (I tried garden gloves but Machingers have better grip) --otherwise you'll have a devil a time holding onto your fabric
going faster is easier than going slower
Make several large (20x20) quilt sandwiches with ugly , solid fabric. I say "ugly" as in anything you are okay messing around on. Solid colors in a contrasting thread make it easy to see your stitches. Make the sandwiches large like this so you feel the freedom to move around and can get up a good rhythm.
Try to relax your arms instead of tighten them. Breathe, don't hold your breath.
I also like to say "one potato, two potato, three potato, four
Five potato, six potato, seven potato more" as I do swirls and such--just for rhythm.
I much prefer leaves, swirls, stars. pebbles, even feathers.
A few hints:
wear Machingers (I tried garden gloves but Machingers have better grip) --otherwise you'll have a devil a time holding onto your fabric
going faster is easier than going slower
Make several large (20x20) quilt sandwiches with ugly , solid fabric. I say "ugly" as in anything you are okay messing around on. Solid colors in a contrasting thread make it easy to see your stitches. Make the sandwiches large like this so you feel the freedom to move around and can get up a good rhythm.
Try to relax your arms instead of tighten them. Breathe, don't hold your breath.
I also like to say "one potato, two potato, three potato, four
Five potato, six potato, seven potato more" as I do swirls and such--just for rhythm.
#14
Super Member
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: Va.
Posts: 5,753
I don't have a stitch regulator on my machine & I find it very hard to coordinate my machine speed with my hand speed (moving the quilt). Therefore, I get a lot of those "eyelashes" on the back which I do not like at all. I really like Angela Walters & Leah Day when it comes to good information. I need a lot of practice but don't make a lot of quilts during the year so it's hard to get practice in for me.
A lot of members are trying to learn FM quilting right now so I will follow these threads very closely.
Thanks for your questions....I think I will learn from what others tell you.
A lot of members are trying to learn FM quilting right now so I will follow these threads very closely.
Thanks for your questions....I think I will learn from what others tell you.
Rob
#15
Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: ontario,canada
Posts: 474
I found the easiest designs to start with were shapes that I was so used to drawing or writing that I did not need to think about what I was doing- loop de loops are like writing "e's" and "l's". Also shapes that we have doodled since we were children like little hearts and flowers seemed very easy. Stippling requires more thought so it was harder
Sometimes your hands speed up on the end of curves which will give you lashes so will need to think a bit about your speed there.
I started with little fat quarter sandwiches and found them a very comfortable size to practice on. I still keep some beside my machine to warm up on.
I found that following planned lines was very hard at first so I decided to just doodle. It was fun, I relaxed and I improved faster then.
Listen to info from lots of people. We are all different so not everything that one person swears by will work for you.
Sometimes your hands speed up on the end of curves which will give you lashes so will need to think a bit about your speed there.
I started with little fat quarter sandwiches and found them a very comfortable size to practice on. I still keep some beside my machine to warm up on.
I found that following planned lines was very hard at first so I decided to just doodle. It was fun, I relaxed and I improved faster then.
Listen to info from lots of people. We are all different so not everything that one person swears by will work for you.
#18
The thing I learned that helped me the most when I started was to figure out what was my ideal speed and then set the pedal speed to that as a maximum, so I only had to worry about my hands. (If you have that feature on your machine.) This way you can put your pedal right down and you kno your machine isn't going to get away from you and race off.
Watson
Watson
#19
Super Member
Join Date: Jan 2015
Posts: 2,867
I find stippling harder that meandering. I like crossing lines. Circles were hard, straight lines were until I started ruler quilting (I just started.) I find any marked pattern difficult. I truly like free motion - in other words, go where I want. When I did some flowers in a center, I drew it on tissue paper and stitched through it. Worked better than following a pattern for me. I need to go see the 'C' video again. I remember liking it.
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