petthefabric

Just finished FMQ. It's been years since I've done it. Wasn't very good. When the standard is "get 'er done" it's pretty easy to make OK. I've done beautiful things in the past.
So my advise is practice. And if that doesn't work, straight lines or check.

sewingsuz

I have quilted by check, and have resorted to walking foot and straight line quilting. I am not even good at the meander and loops and that is all I want to do for now. I will start back with doodling while watching TV.
Thanks everyone for pick me up , I have not practiced enough.

sewbizgirl

Hand controlled FMQ just takes practice. Find some ugly fabric you have no use for, and make some 12" x 18" (or so) sandwiches and practice. I improved a lot by watching tutorials by Angela Walters. She's the best teacher!

Onebyone

I learned the most from this book: One LIne at a Time by Charlotte Warr Andersen

thepolyparrot

Attagirl! Get back in there and fight!

I was stuck on feathers, so I traced feathers, then doodled those feathers on paper for days. I drew feathers in squares, circles, diamonds, triangles, narrow rectangles - all kinds of feathers. I got a Dry Erase board and some fine point Dry Erase Markers. I drew feathers until I was sick of them.

Then I made a "Wickedly Easy" king size quilt for the purpose of practicing feathers. I used the block and patch boundaries for putting in feather motifs. It wasn't easy, because it was a huge mass of quilt, but at least I wasn't hesitating after every inch, wondering which way to go next. It was already in my memory where to go.

That was the fanciest and most heavily quilted scrap quilt you've ever seen when it was done. But it gave me a lot of confidence.

So you doodle loops and meanders until you're sick of them and can do them with your eyes closed. Then go do them on a "sandwich" - if you use fusible batting or thread baste it together, it'll keep pins out of your way and give you one less thing to worry about.

You can totally do this!

Jingle

I love all of the process of making a quilt. I mostly do FMQ, just a large stipple or free motion. I am not interested in making any designs.

Most of my quilts are donated to foster kids in my county.

Synnove

I have struggled with FMQ, mostly because it's so difficult to find a way to handle the weight and bulk of the quilt. I support it with an extension table, but then the quilt gets hung up on the corner of the extension. Having said that, today I finished quilting a baby quilt by making wavy lines with the walking foot. And it looks GREAT! I am really pleased with my new "discovery" and will quilt this way again.

quiltedsunshine

The thing that finally got me doing feathers well, was using a great stencil. Stencils are inexpensive, and get you more comfortable with free-motion. One of my favorites is called "Dejavu." It works great for an all-over design or as a border.

Keep trying. Find what works best for you.

beckyboo1

I recently discovered I'm pretty good at straight line quilting so I feel like I can stop stressing about FMQ. I guess I just never thought about it before now but I realize I don't want to send all my tops out to a longarmer. I also have purchased 2 books on straight line quilting and I'm amazed at what you can do with a walking foot!

newbee3

It takes alot of practice to get good fmq and you should enjoy it. If you don't try to use some of the fancy stitches on your machine you can make the adjust the stitches just enjoy