The promise I made
 

A few years ago I promised myself to learn FMQ before I buy a upgrade my machine.
I tried once and it was a complete disaster. Couldn't even get a straight stitch.
I think I set the tension at zero instead of stitch length at zero. LOL
Anyway, long story short. I put FMQ away for a long long time. Then my quilt tops
started accumulating. Don't want to do SID or straight line quilting on a very special
quilt. So my option was...send it to a long armer or do it myself. Huh.
I finally gave FMQ another shot. Made a few quilt sandwiches. Read a few books
on quilting and off I went. Wow. It was almost magical. Nothing like the first attempt.
Ok. I know I have long long way to go but it's really fun and I encourage all quilters
to give it a try. I would also recommend Free-Motion Quilting Made Easy by
Eva Larkin if you just want to get started. Have fun!

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Good for you! That's wonderful! I recently took a quilting class from Paula Reid from Batts in the Attic and found that I could actually follow a quilting design. I had tried it years ago and was convinced it was not for me. This time around, it was much better. I also always thought I couldn't quilt feathers and I am still not good at it, but I found that I could actually quilt something that resembled a feather! So keep on practicing! It will get better with time and more practice!

Congrats on your success with FMQ! Fun! Fun!

Happy for you! Sometimes "give it a rest" really helps! :D

Sigh...."practise makes perfect"...I really should give it another go too.

It is sometimes one of those, It isn't going to get the better of me. Baby steps.

Remember that FMQ is a lot like riding a bike with no training wheels. It takes practice. I am glad you found something that works for you. I caught on when Harriet Hargrave said not to look at where your needle is at the moment, but to where you want to go.

I did the same thing. I am actually getting quite good at FMQ. I worked at it for a long time with my old machine. It just never looked right. When I bought my new Janome 8900, I decided to give FMQ another try. It seemed so easy! I have done quite a bit of it now, and it works. So happy with my new Janome!

I have found over the years that even though my hands may not be quilting for an extended period, it seems my learning/skills/abilities continue to improve.

Not sure how that happens, but it's a truism for me that hasn't failed me yet! :confused: :thumbup:

Jan in VA

will have to look for that book -- i tried before, but what a mess that was & it wasn't FUN!