quiltstringz

I had the same issue when I first started quilting and couldn't afford to send my quilts out. I finally sat myself down and said you love to piece, can't afford to have someone else quilt so get over it or give it up - dozens of unquilted tops won't do anyone any good. So I just bit the bullet and started in, yes I did a lot of stitch in the ditch but then eventually branched out. What's funny is on my first quilt I thought I did such a horrible job but when I show it I still get compliments. Remember you are your own worst enemy

Jingle

Practice is very important but, using small projects to learn FMQ or even straight line stitching on something small is not the same as quilting on a larger quilt.
Remember as you quilt and look for irregularities you are looking at it closer than most others will be.
We are our worst critics and not good judges of our work.

Lisa_wanna_b_quilter

As so many others have said, start small. Don't expect expert results your first time out. Do a simple type of quilting. For me that DOES NOT mean stitch in the ditch. I can't stay in the ditch to save my life. For me, simple is cross hatching.

Watch the Leah Day FMQ videos. She has them ranked by difficulty. Do the beginner ones. If you can't stand to waste (I can't), turn your practice pieces into pot holders. Ugly pot holders work great in my kitchen.

Skyangel

I was intimidated by machine quilting and have never done anything larger than a baby quilt. I have done several with simple cross-hatching (diagonal straight lines). But I am teaching myself freemotion with small things, meandering on a set of placemats, ect. I did take a class when my Guild had quilt college. What they taught to increase skill and confidence was practice sandwiches. I made 4 sandwiches with 2, 18" squares of cheap muslin and batting in the middle. Just let go and make swirls, write your name in cursive, make lines of "eee" ect. then try marking with a stencil and stitching over it. Panels for kids quilts are good too, just stitch on the lines or outline things (then you can bind them and donate). Warm up with a practive sandwich everytime you sit down to quilt. In time and with practice, you will get more confident. Have fun!

pumpkinpatchquilter

I agree with the ladies that have said go for it!! Machine quilting is WAY fun and some of us have found we even like the quilting process more than piecing! LOL! My very first time free motion quilting...I left the feed dogs up and you could hear the motor of my machine "errr errrr ERRR" through the entire wonky jagged process...but you know what? I loved it and didn't know any better!! Look up some "free motion quilting" for beginners tutorials and try a little stippling!!

JackieQuilts

I just jumped right in to FMQ, practiced a little and watched lots of tutorials. I figured I couldn't mess it up so badly that my grandkids wouldn't still love their quilts. They turned out amazingly well and they and their parents have shown them off. Years from now I might cringe, but I really don't think so because those quilts were made with a ton of love. I just did simple loops, I'll get better and so will you. Jump in, the water's just right!

tessagin

Check out QAYG. (Quilt as you go (FYI). Just do some smaller sections at a time. The first quilt I made and completed was a baby quilt. It was 36"x36". I did it on a diagonal.

butter14562

I just finished a king size for my bed.Kinda became brave while I was putting it together,not planing a quilt of this size. I wish I could of done free motion quilting too, but on the home sewing machine, I decided against it for now. It was more important for me do a quilt for my bed. I did a lot of straight stitches and I am pleased with it.I also notice more patterns in my future which have straight lines. My first intent was to do embroidery using sewing machine,as I done with my twin.Which turned out perfect,but my hoop would pop out when I would get ready to do the run. So I realized how heavy this king was going to be to drag back a forth to hoop.I also have made a lot of place mats, runners,and baby blankets.But like you never tried free motion on them. But ,I did play around with free motion attachments on machine.I probably will never do free motion on a quilt bigger then a lap.I could see my self hand quilting one someday.Oh,look on internet for quilting straight line stitching.And enjoy the show of quilts.

Debbie B

Sandwich a fabric square 12" x 12" or bigger and start practicing.

Dolphyngyrl

Buy cheap muslin, buy batting, cut into reasonable sized squares like 14x14 or slightly bigger, I use stencils and pounce but you can also use paper to make your own stencil by removing thread from needle, print out your design on computer paper, sew through it, use ounce on paper. This way you are practicing and not ruining a quilt top. Just dive in. No one is great at it in the beginning, but you will get better with time. Take classes too. I like ann petersen on craftsy.com, she is awesome. She also answers questions very quickly. Patsy thompson also has some great tutorials online. She is teaching at road2ca quilt show this week which has me excited. Another good resource that I am currently using to learn is preprinted quilt panels shown here, just scroll to the bottom
http://www.ericas.com/quilting/tools/skillbuilder.htm