I put the darning foot on my machine, dropped the feed dogs and played a little. I think I came up with some wide stippling, a wonky heart, a 4 1/2 pointed star and some loop-de-loops.

Contrasting thread was used so I could see what I was doing but with matching thread I think it would look better.

The lowest I could put my stitch length was .02mm. I don't have any instructions in my book for using the darning foot for FMQ.

Any suggestions welcome. Thanks

I don't know what the scale is here, but it seems like you're going too tiny. Like, bigger motions would be better.

your doing better than i did on my first pieces! what does the back look like? that is where mine looks "iffy" !
keep on going..and always make a sample sandwich before you actually start on a quilt..it gets you loosened up and ready to rock and roll!

Stitch length shouldn't make a difference in FMQ. Your stitch length is governed by two things: Speed of the needle going up and down and how fast you move the fabric. Feed dogs determine the length of your stitches and when they are dropped for free motion quilting, your "feed dogs" are your hands!

You're doing great! Keep practicing! You'll get tehre!

Those are pictures of the front AND back. Thanks for the idea of warming up first.

Really? LOL when I was moving the 'quilt' faster and made bigger stitches - I thought I was doing it wrong! LOL :)

See what I know?

and the practice piece was just a piece of batting sandwiched between a folded piece of fabric that ended up measuring 6 x 12. Really not too much room to 'let her rip'. Will try larger piece later this weekend.

Thanks for clearing up the stitch length issue. Ya know I bought a reallllly interesting book on FMQ a few months ago... :oops: where did I put it?

Great start - You stitches look a bit small but your tension is not bad!!

It takes lots of practice . Mamagus is correct speed of the needle and movement govern length of stitch. Find a machine speed that is comfortable(not too fast and not really slow) and practice the movement at that speed. Try to keep the speed of the needle constant. With the start you have - you be fine-

Thanks for the encouragement. I think the speed regulator would come in handy for FMQ. I'll have to adjust that.

At least you are trying. I am afraid to try!!!!