Ditter43

Old mattress pads are perfect for practice! :D

Mrs. Bee

I bind them and then donate them to my local church group where they are used in a nursery setting. I suppose a daycare could also use them.

Annz

I practice on scraps.

grandmasews

I go to quilting classes at the local adult school. The teacher gave us sheets of paper with different designs. She told us to use an old needle and sew over the papers to practice (no thread). It's kind of hard to move the paper around. You're supposed to hold your fingers spread out over the paper as if it is fabric but you have to pick the paper up between your fingers to get it going. Then after practicing a couple of weeks we copied the designs on fabric then made a fabric sandwich. We used different colored thread for the bobbin and top thread so we could see our stitches. I'm still practicing but still doing stich in the ditch. One of these days .....

Loris

you may be able to download an instruction book for your sewing machine on the manufacturers site on the web - I dont know anything about fmq either

schwanton

A woman from my quilt guild gave a great tip for fmq - make small practice sandwiches with the leftovers from your project. Set your stitch length and tension until you get the stitch you want. Practice your stitching on the sandwich to see the stitching. Then with a fabric marker - write the tension and stitch length on the sandwich. If you are continuously changing your dials it will be easy to duplicate the stitch. I always think I can remember but it is not always the case. When I have practiced to death my sandwiches I usually put another piece of fabric on top until I have my stitch perfected. Saves fabric and batting!

Scissor Queen

When I needed to practice some quilting I made seat mats for the car. I have leather seats and in the summer I wear shorts and I really hate being stuck to the seats so I made a quilted, bound square for my seat. My granddaughter calls it "the butt thing," LOL. She wants me to make her one too. I need to practice free motion on my new machine anyway.

Pat G

I spent part of last Sunday practicing FMQ too. Now I wish I had made my practice pcs. larger to make them into something. I finally gave upon the scraps & got out a tablerunner I made a few yrs. back but used a higher loft batting so I didn't really like it. I FMQ the heck out of it & I got so excited & did the whole runner. I was so happy with the freedom I felt once I saw the outcome. Now I won't be so afraid of it anymore.

Prob. I had though was if I wanted to go faster, instead of remembering to move the fabric myself, I'd speed up the machine. I am so proud of myself.

Pat G

No, not a walking foot. The foot has a round circle (mine is a clear plastic) on it that the needle goes through & it also has a spring. I think they're also called darning foot. I'm sure others could explain it better.

dljennings

i used black fabric top & bottom & then used varigated threads in each family member's favorite color. after i practiced, i cut them to fit my dining room chairs. after i put the binding on, free chairpads!