Originally Posted by azwendyg

Thank you for your kind compliments. I started learning to FMQ about two years ago and this is my 5th large quilt I believe. When I first started, it took months of practice before I even got to the point where I felt like I could do well enough to use it on anything that anyone would see!

I do a very minimal amount of marking when I do free-motion quilting. I use something called a "Chubby Crayon" by Miracle Chalk that works well on dark fabrics. It is white and makes a crayon-like mark that removes EASILY with a steam iron. (I bought it on-line somewhere... you can find places that carry it by doing a google search on it).

I did mark approximate placement of the spines of the feathers on the setting triangles. I also lightly marked an "X" in the large blocks so I could get an idea of the placement for the swirled ribbons. On the nine-patch blocks where I also did swirled ribbons I didn't need to mark at all, just used the blocks as natural divisions to keep the placement sort of even--each of the eight outer blocks has a ribbon curl in it and they all come together at the center.

I think one of the reasons I like FMQing so much is that it doesn't require much marking! I always try out designs on practice sandwiches before I try to stitch them on a quilt. That gives me a chance to "warm up" a little and make sure I like what a design looks like when I transfer it from my doodling to actual stitching. ;)