Made this small lap robe, about 50"X36" because I wanted to try my hand at a pinwheel pattern using some scraps I had. Got it into my head that I'd like to try free motion quilting (WHAT was I thinking!!) so went to Amazon and ordered the foot - which , btw, was very affordable, less than $10. with S&H. So yesterday, I decided to bite the bullet, grabbed a small chunk of soap, drew out the design (if that's what you want to call it) and went to town. Good God gertie, by the time I got done. I was sweating bullets! I had a heck of a time staying on my chalk markings, keeping the speed constant, moving the quilt with half of it rolled up in the throat. It was NOT a pleasant experience! Showed it to hubby; bless his heart, he told me it wasn't bad for my first attempt and practice makes perfect, etc., etc. to keep it up and soon I'd get the hang of it. Well, it's going to take a LOT of practice. My admiration for you that have mastered the art of free motion quilting has risen way up! Don't know if you can see in the pics but it's not pretty! This is my entry in the ugly quilt contest!

Its not so bad!! I actually think it is really good for a first attempt! You might want to start practicing on something smaller, it will be easier to handle and you can gain confidence doing that. But....this one will NOT win the Ugly quilt contest (I have the winner here under the bed) Sorry!

I think you are being way too hard on yourself. It's very well done for your first try. If you can do this well the first time, you'll be an expert in no time.

When I fmq I don't even bother with drawing a pattern but I have only done small projects, potholders, christmas stockings etc and therefore my very random pattern works. I once had a friend that told me that fmq goes much better with a glass of wine sitting next to your sewing machine. I am not sure if it makes the my quilting any better but I become less critical of myself (lol)

To me I think it looks great :thumbup: I've tried to do the FMQ, before, so I know the problems you encountered. I didn't like the way mine came out either but I like the suggestion to start on something small...just to get the hang of it.

I think it's awesome! Especially for a first try at it! I keep trying FMQ, and keep ripping out the stitches! Actually...I don't usually have to rip, because for some reason when I try FMQ the top thread has NO tension! (Even with the machine threaded properly) Makes for a big mess on the back side.... ~sigh~

I think you've done a wonderful job!

:lol: :lol: :lol: OMG I love your narrative of what it's like to FMQ.
Aching arms, overheated - ya, that about sums it up.

I think you did a good job. Individual stitches disappear into the big picture, and overall the quilt will hold together just fine. I've never tried following squiggly lines but just make my own as I go.
Most often I use FMQ to fill in sections of my quilt rather than trying to quilt the entire thing in one go.

Your FMQ looks better than mine. I practice on small pieces when I can. You sould be proud of your work it looks great for a first time. I tried to trace a design and found out it I just FMQ without any lines to follow I'm not so stressed.

Well, I don't think it's that bad and I congratulate you for trying FM. It scares the daylights out of me. I want to try it but I've been putting it off.

I'm going to do some QAYG blocks for a baby quilt and try the FM on each block...at least that's the plan right now.

To be honest with you, I think you did a great job. It looks waaaaaaay comfy and I'll be glad to PM you may address........LOL!

I like it. We are always our own worst critics. Take a deep breath and do some more. Go with something smaller until you get more confidence. You'll get it.

It is hard to see something that you worked on so hard not looking perfect in your eyes. A couple of questions, what kind of batting did you use, and did you wear gloves? I found that a cotton batting was easier to quilt with and wearing gloves made a world of difference. I took a class on quilting on your home machine and the instructor told me to give it gas (sewing speed) and move the fabric slower. Also she had us practice drawing the pattern over and over before we started sewing. Remember the pattern is just a guide and we don't always have to stay on the line. I think it looks great for your first attempt. And your husband is right (this time, LOL) practice does make a huge difference.

Great ! I have not gotten the courage to try==but I intend to soon. But I am going to start with test squares done on my embroidery machine. Put them together for a doggie bed or something, I will.

And if you don't want to keep it, there are probably plenty of people in your town who have nothing and would cherish this. The warmth and love are there regardless of the quilting. And by the way, it passes the "from horseback at a gallop" test, so way to go. I'm still too chicken to try anything like that.

Sorry, not a winner for the ugly qult contest. Your FM looks good. As the others have said you are being to hard on yourself. It's hard to FM with a regular machine. Believe me I know. :-) But it's fun. I'll have to try the soap trick. I have a problem with meandering. I can never figure out where to go next. lol I'm still trying to get the sewing speed figured out. My wallhanging look better then my quilts. Smaller is easier.

Just how I felt at my first efforts, except I nearly passed out because I was holding my breath while the machine was going! But hey that's much better than I did. I gave up & didn't try again for a while, but as Denise said, drawing freehand squiggles etc really does help. Use a sandwich about 15" square and draw it into 3" sq. "compartments" by pencil. Fill a square at a time before moving on. It is much less daunting to fill a small area and easier to gain control. My cat has lots of practice squares to sit on!
I still have to pysch myself up when starting on a new quilt and I'm okay once I get going - it's the first couple of mins until you relax which are hard. Keep going!

Yours looks far better than my first attempt! The washing machine and dryer, combined with cotton batting helped disguise my first herky-jerky meanders.

The thing is you learned from it! If you attempt again there will be things that you will do differently....everything requires practice and you really did do a good job for your first time. You are being much too hard on yourself. I started with cheater panels to get used to how fast or how slow to go, they are far from perfect but good enough to give away and make someone happy! Keep going you will notice a dfference with your next project! :thumbup:

I agree with sewsew don't be hard on yourself I have one that is much worse. Yours looks good to me. I keep saying that I will have someone do mine with a longarm machine but I keep trying to do it myself. And I see what I do wrong. But Keep trying I think one day we will say ah finally it looks good.

I know those bullets you are talking about. I think yours looks good compared to the ones, I've tried and cried with!!! :oops: But like they say: "Practice, practice, practice!" Can you read minds, hope you can read mine right now :mrgreen: I have been trying to keep at it bless my daughter and my other family members, who just gush all over me. They love me so much, but they are such liars. :P I love quilting so much and I will practice practice, practice or I'll take it to the lady who has used her long arm and done some of my quilts, I didn't want to ruin. Quilt today, for tomorrow you may have to clean, yuk. :-D Beth

Way to go. You tried it. I'm still trying to master that myself.
I've done smaller wallhangers and table runners and trust me it does take awhile to get comfortable doing it. At first I just put some squares together in the sandwich and practiced alot.
Keep practicing. This quilt you did does look great. :thumbup:

I agree with many of the comments from others, but espeically to practice drawing on paper the design you're planning to use. Draw it over and over and over the same size you are planning on sewing, until it becomes easy and natural. Then when you start machine quilting make sure to keep the speed up on your foot control and move the fabric slowly. Concentrate but keep your shoulders relaxed and take breaks every 20 min. or so. I don't wear gloves, but have found it easiest to hold the fabric in a roll or bunch in order to keep the fabric taunt.

my DGD didn't even notice that my fm on her doll quilt wasn't perfect...and she will get a few more that also likely will not be perfect...but it is a good size to practce with. hehehe

sewsew...what is the soap trick?

Patti

When I look at my very first hand quilted project, I am amazed at how much I have improved!! I would never want to part with that quilt because it shows how far I've come with the technique. Don't be to hard on yourself because you will get better with practice!!! I think your quilt looks fine, good job!

It's not bad for a first attempt. I think you might have better luck if you're just meandering not to mark lines on your quilt. And much like driving, don't look at the road right in front of you, look a little ahead to where you're heading.

Make up some small practice quilt sandwiches and practice a little to get a feel for it. In time it will get much easier.

I think it looks quite good! congrats on your first quilting experience. Now, quit sweating bullets! LOL

You did a GREAT job.......has anyone here actually "mastered" the machine quilting thing? I have quilted almost 20 quilts (big and small) and still feel "unsure" about myself...However, I love doing it and hope someday to be GOOD at the machine quilting thing. I have a long-arm on the "rack" in the basement with at least 6 quilts ready to go.......Keep up the good work and remember that "only God is perfect"...thats what the Quakers say about their quilts.......

I have to agree with Pat, there is no way that is going to win the ugly award. Heck, as a first FMQ, it's amazing! Trust me, unless you can pull the stitching out (like one of mine, forgot about the tension issue), it's amazing.

There is a great site that has all sorts of FMQ designs that you can practice with. Hope this helps. http://www.daystyledesigns.com/index.htm

As for the sweating bullets...I've been learning to FMQ also and I'm not sure that goes away. :roll:

Pzazz: A lot of us use thin soap slivers to mark our quilting designs. When your body soap gets too small to use in the shower, instead of throwing it away you simply put it in a baggie and save it to mark quilts with. You can also use it as a pin cushion and it will help keep your pins sharp.

You gals sure have a way of making a person feel better. I just looked at it again and it looks pretty darn good! LOLOLOLOL

Thanks for the suggestions, I need to go out to my gardening shop and find a pair of unused gardening gloves with the rubber bumps as I had trouble getting a grip with my bare hands. But I will practice on smaller pieces before I do another big one!

I know exactly what you mean. My first attempts looked like a field of...a field of... male private parts. :oops: :oops: I think if you keep in mind the quilting's purpose is to hold the three pieces together--anything works. You did a fabulous job for your first try. I'd be bursting my buttons if I were you!!

Wanted to add--I'd purchased a pair of rubber gloves to help with chores--they didn't work there, but when I found them again I knew they would work beautifully in the sewing room! They will help a lot.

I think it is good for a first try.

Oh please keep it up. I think it looks good for your first try. I love the quilt and really the quilting isn't that bad.

I agree that it looks good for a first try. I found a UFO that I tried free motion on about six months ago, and I was surprised that it didn't seem as bad as it looked to me when I first tried. The gloves should help you with control. My problem is that I can't figure out where to go next when I try FM. I am going to try the soap trick to see if it helps! In a class I took, they suggested using pencil and paper to sketch out designs and get the used to "filling the paper".

Stipling is kinda hard at first. Just takes pratice. I don't even mark a pattern when free motioning. You should try doing longarm machine quilting. That is hard.

Think that is bad, you should see the one in my car! Yes,it is not pretty-my first attempt, actually it was just terrible. I still love that little lap quilt. So I put it in my car, you sure don't mind what it looks like, when your cold! What is funny, is that when people are in the car and see it, they love it and cuddle with it! I have made a couple more since then, getting better. It takes practice!

After practicing on a 18 x 24 quilt sandwich I jumped right in with both feet.I FMQ with gardening gloves - almost impossible to do without them, it did not turn out too well but, all the rest have and I just keep doing them, since I give most of my quilts to family and friends I can't see them from here. They look even better than I thought. Everyone is right just keep trying. No such thing as a perfect quilt. I think your first attempt looks great. I don't mark any lines or designs and I do have to relax and not tense up. I usually make full size and larger - in case I want to use it for our bed. Going faster and moving your hands slower will help make more consistent stitches

I forgot washing and drying it will help hide a lot of things. I have given most of them away and never had any one refuse to them. I always start in the middle, quilt across center and from top to bottom, dividing the quilt into fourths and I always quilt next to quilting - never jumping around.

I think it look good for a first try, I really do. It really is something you have to practice to get the hang of as far as it looking fluid. When I first tried FMQ'ing, I used a paper stencil to get the feel for where to go with it, and then tore that paper off and just went to town with it. I love FMQ'ing now, and actually HATE having to stitch-in-the-ditch. That's how much fun it can be. :D

I think it looks very good...I am giving FMQ a try soon, so all these posts and tips are very helpful, so thanks for posting. Ugly quilt...NO WAY!

I just FMQ'd my first quilt and it's not so bad. However, I did parts of the quilt at different times and I have some areas that are smaller and some larger meandering. I guess like they all say, practice, practice, practice! I know I'm not giving up on FMQ! Too cheap to send my quilts out to the longarmer.