butter14562

I have done some straight line quilting,and really enjoy that. I have a embroidery machine and you can get single line designs,and hoop your way through a quilt. It can take a lot of hooping. Some of the Newer machines ,I imagine ,it looks like it would be even a easier process. My machine is older. But I just enjoy embroidering and watching the design stitch.

JuneBillie

I love all parts of the quilting process, but I prefer to hand quilt anything that is lap size or bigger quilt. Though there are very talented long arm quilters out there, I also could never send one to them. I would feel disconnected from my quilt. My enjoyment is major to me, because with other things in life I have enough stress. My philosophy with what I sew/quilt is to improve/learn new skills with every thing I create, but I have no place in there for quilt police.

jitkaau

You can always pay someone else to do it and save yourself some headache. The costs seem very affordable in the States. I would practice on little projects and send the big ones out until I became more confident if I were you. All the best.

Kris P

I love free motion quilting, and have since my first quilt, when I was working on a $150 Brother machine with a 5 inch throat. I now have a Janome 6600, which has a 9" throat, which makes it easier to quilt larger quilts, but fmq is still the same. It takes practice. I do a lot of doodling before I even head to the sewing machine with a new design. I fill several sheets of scratch paper (back side of children's school papers.) with a new design until I can predict how the design goes and how i will work my way across the sheet filling it in. You build muscle memory and then transferring it to the fabric becomes easier. After I've doodled - a bunch- I go to scrap quilt sandwich made from pieces of old cotton curtains and batting scraps pieced together. I'll practice on these practice sandwiches until I get the tension, speed and stitch length right and can see if I'm skipping stitches. Then I work on the size of my motif. Do I want little flowers; or big ones? It's a lengthy process to get started actually quilting a quilt. I recommend practicing on your machine until you're confident, or just figure out how many quilts you can send out for the price of a new quilting machine. I look again and again at the HQ Sweet 16 sit down and think I really want one, then I consider how many quilts I could send out to have quilted for the $6000, and go back to my current method. I can comfortably quilt anything up to a twin sized quilt on my 6600 and I can manage up to a queen. It's only the really big ones. (kingsized ) That I send out.
Good luck with your quilting journey.

coffeecozy

Zozee, I misunderstood your first post. If you do like FMQ , what part of quilting the quilt do you dislike?

Jingle

I love all of the process of quilt making. I really love the quilting part.

mengler

I'm with you. I'm hoping for some sort of transformation. I just got a used BL sashiko machine which is fun to use. I'm planning to do some quilting with that. Free motion bores me after 15 minutes. Maybe we weren't meant to quilters and our niche is in another realm.
(Max-Burke, Va)

shy

Most of us who can not afford long arms or don't have room for them..go through the pain of big quilts on our small machines when we decide sending them out just cost too much if u make very many a year.That really adds up..like u I started with a Viking designer 2...I quilted many FM quilts on it and fought them all...I try a few things..in the ditch.. meander..loops..in the ditch..is just plain boring to me..I almost quit quilting doing that..then I try the other free flowing things..like the loops..it moves fast..and u can put a little creativity into it..but still fought with the machine part..my machine..for some reason ..does not like backing up very far..the thread was sure to break every time..most machines brands have little quirk..I think..this went on for a few years..to the point of quitting.. then I got a used mega quilter..it wasn't too bad of a price..it still sets in my sewing cabinet like the designer..but the mega gives u freedom to move around on the quilt..and more room for the quilt to be moved..fm quilting is always going to be a stop ..start..patient thing to do..so to wrap this up..yes a machine can make a different...yes what u do on the quilt can make a different..but none of that will make a differences if u do not have the patients for it..only u can decide that..
Give the loops or some faster moving design a try before u decide it may help..again as others have said all of us like different things about quilting..good luck ..oh look for good used machines from dealers..that way if u do decide it isn't for u..it won't be ..I can't quit this thing cost too much..in my case..the one I found had only been used a couple times..and it was a fourth of the new price..the dealer stands behind it for 6 months..

Bubbie

If you want to machine quilt try doing doll blankets and quilts (you do not have to commit to something large, but you will be able to finish without spending a lot of time and money), then you can give to any little girls you know or donate them. This is a size done very easily on any size home machine. You will be able to try different styles of quilting, and most of all you will get to practice and practice (because thats what machine quilting takes, is a lot of practice). You can also try your hand at hand quilting a doll quilt. Please remember it's not a rule that you have to like the quilting part of making quilts. If you still don't like machine or hand quilting, check to see if you can find someone that you can work with on a trade. Because not every one like every part of quilting, maybe you could do the cutting for another quilting or put the top together for a quilting and they can do your quilting. Good luck

Momo

I enjoy quilting by hand. My loathing part is the cutting!