My first machine piecing and FMQ!
 

I posted a picture of my first quilt top here last week. I realized that I should do a couple smaller projects before taking on machine quilting a large piece. I've also become attached to the quilt top and don't want to muss it up with my first attempts.

My solution, pot holders! I just quilted the first one his morning, so fun. My FMQing has a long way to go, but I'm still kind of proud.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]511086[/ATTACH]

Now to figure out binding!

I think we all started there! I had a hard time remembering to run the machine fast but move a little slower!

Great first potholder. That is a great size to get used to working with everything on.

When I free motion quilt is to go all the way to the edge, then when you put the binding on, the quilting just seems to float across the entire quilt.

Enjoy your adventure.

Not bad! Not bad at all, and I am sure that my first foray into FMQ'ing was a far cry from that good. Some days, it still isn't great. Getting the rhythm going is the hard part.

We have all had to start learning at the beginning. I don't see anything wrong with your potholders. It is good to experiment starting on small things. I quilted numerous dog quilts for a local shelter. You probably learned to NEVER stop on a curve.

a great start

Great first effort! Much better than most. There are some great binding tutorials here on the board and on Youtube. Find the one that looks the easiest to you and go for it.

That's good. Keep practicing regularyly and all of a sudden you will notice that "you got it". But have to practice. Ask me how I know.
margee

Yup! that was my method of self teaching myself to quilt. Folks at work got Pot Holders for Christmas that year :) The next year they "graduated" to table runners.

great way to get in some practice and have something for it. great potholder.
also, pets don't mind sub par quilting, at least mine is sub par. Or worse.
great first attempt

Looks like a great start. My firts attempts I could not get any of my loops to be as round as yours!

Great start! MUCH better than my first!!

I'm still too chicken to try and have been quilting for years! Guess I need to make some pot holders also!!!! Great start.

Great first try! I really does take practice to get it to all go smoothly.

Practice, practice, practice! The more you do, the better it gets :)

Good for you! You have a really good start and I think, most importantly, it sounds like you enjoyed it.

nice practice piece!!keep trying

Great start! Glad you had fun too. Yours looks much better than mine did (does) I started on dolly quilts for the DGD's. Dollies seldom voice their criticisms :) I have yet to graduate to anything bigger than a QAG baby quilt.

You are doing good. My first attempts did not look that good and It sure takes a long time and hours of practice. I am not there yet.

It looks good to me! And who can't use more pot holders?

You are so wise to practice on something small before you work on something larger! I have a sketch pad that I keep handy and I practice in there before I try something new. It creates muscle memory in your hands and in your brain. I guarentee you that your machine quilting will look far better than your hand drawn lines. I always think I will never be able to make a design look like it should, then I get on the machine and find out it's so much easier to quilt a design than to draw the design.

Good job! For your first time, I think you did a fabulous work. I'm still working on simple stipple.

You are doing great! Keep going... I like Leah Day's videos for learning to free-motion quilt. She has a ton.

The potholder is a great size to work with learning. Good luck with your binding.

You are doing every bit as good as I did on my first one. Keep practicing.

Very nice. Just keep going. I wear gloves with rubber nubs, makes it easier to move the quilt. This time of year they keep my hands warm too.

This is a great first try. I think you did a great job. Keep practicing and you'll get the rhythm before you know it.

You are going great guns getting started !!! Kudos !!

ONE THING.....if you are going to use this as pot holder - be sure your batting is 100% cotton...anything with poly can melt - and i don't want you to get a burn.

Great start! Pot holders are always needed, though do use cotton batting only). Keep practicing, it gets better. You will find your rhythm. A dry-erase board and its markers also help with muscle memory.
Please do show us your quilt when it is quilted and finished. We look forward to it! :)

Great way to learn FMQing and have a finished product. I found quilting on a project was a lot more fun than on a muslin sandwich. Just keep practicing and you will notice improvement. Save them for a couple months and compare to boost your confidence! I have "graduated" to baby quilts for charity. They are coming out great, but I don't have any new babies in the family right now.

You are doing a great job. Potholders is a good place to start too. If you get too many they make great gifts. You will be quilting your quilt in no time

you are on your way!!

You're doing really great already! The stitches are all about the same size.

I think it's great for your first attempt. One of these days I will have to put my big girl quilting panties on and go for the FMQ. I keep stalling because I want to do it perfect the first time, but that's unreasonable. Yours is a good first try, keep it up and you'll be a master in no time.

After 30 years of patchwork sewing, I haven't graduated to that stage yet - well done; my practice squares are only about 6". I did several hand quilting projects in my early years, but sitting at the machine for too long is too hard now.

Great Job! You are ahead of many of us.

Keep practicing...You are off to a good start..

Good job on first attempt. I have a small top that I use as a sorta large placemat. I look at the fmq I did when I started to take the plunge and although I am still far from very good I can see the progress that I have made. Stick with it. Practice, practice and practice more.

Great start!

Very cute !!!

Smart, looking good. Save money and get to improve. Muslin on sale is a good way to get proficient. This from someone who does not machine quilt! Hee, hee.
I used a machine with a template at an Expo, couldn't keep needle inside the linel Must be a sign.

Thank you for your perfect points and determination. Way to go.