Originally Posted by Bonbonary
Beautiful quilting. You give me hope now that I am beginning to try FMQ on my Janome 6600. So far I've only learned how hard it is to make even stitches and even harder to keep a pattern going. Do you have any good secrets to share?
Make lots of practice sandwiches. Divide the space into, say, 9 squares and work within each square. At first that is easier to cope with than a whole big area.
Do lots of drawing any fmq motif, starting with meandering, stippling etc. with pencil and paper - if you can draw it, you can quilt it!
Get a Sewslip mat, invaluable, and has helped me lots with control. I use Machingers gloves - they are excellent.
Get a couple of modest beginners books - Maurine Noble's "Machine Quilting Made Easy" is ideal - and has loads of thread and needle info too.
Later on something like "Hooked on Feathers" by Sally Terry, or "Machine Quilting" Solutions by Christine Maraccini.
I bought my 6600 specifically to do my own fmq and am so pleased with the machine. I have my speed control halfway, I prefer to go slower as I get "lost" if I have it too high!
It wont come instantly but before you realise, you will see big improvements in what you do - just keep practising! Oh, and r-e-l-a-x :thumbup: