hisgrace1

Ok I'm trying to teach myself FMQ on a domestic.....I have now attempted 3 quilts and I can still see the difference in my stitches not being consistent....am I being to hard on myself....I worry about giving them as gifts when others will be able to see the mistakes if they look close......

sushi

1. Chances are you're being too hard on yourself;

2. Why don't you post some pictures so we can give you better-informed opinions and suggestions?

The most wonderful things about the people on the quilting board are their willingness to help and their commitment to supporting one another. I'll betcha that if you receive a "not good enough to give" reply, it'll be coupled with both helpful suggestions and encouragement to keep at it.

Dolphyngyrl

Let me put it this way, i did a FMQ sampler gave it to my cat, it was my first, it was awful. People said why did i give something that nice to my cat. Only you or people who quilt regularly will notice

Prism99

I would agree the probability is very high that you are being too hard on yourself. Years ago I was like you. Nowadays I realize that I am happy simply to get a quilt done! No one but me has ever noticed inconsistencies in the quilting stitches. If you can post a photo here, you can get lots of very informed opinions!

RST

Here's my technique -- wash it in warm water. You'll get just a bit of crinkle, and that will cover a multitude of sins. Also, display it in a slightly dark room. Or if it's a wallhanging, hang it way high up in a stairwell where nobody can get too close. Problems solved. You're welcome.

RST

NJ Quilter

I don't machine quilt but feel the same way with respect to my hand quilting. For the most part, I'm very consistent, but I always see the imperfections vs the overall quilt. We just need to let go. The recipients are always more than grateful. Keep practicing, as I do, and it will all be well.

ann31039

I've mainly been practicing on my bow tucks, everyone likes them and says how great they are. I can see the problems, cause I done it. No one else notices. Even when I point them out to my sister, she says they just arn't noticible

DebraK

ha! i love this part.."display it in a slightly darkened room"..priceless ;-)

MacThayer

RST, you're hysterical, and so right! Thank you for a good laugh. Love your attitude. I've discovered that unless I'm giving something to another quilter, those who receive my quilts think I've done an awesome job. I've learned to use the long arm machines at my quilt shop as well, which I use for my big quilts, and that's been very helpful to the process. Plus it saves me the money and space to put a long arm in my home. But hey, if something needs to be perfect, I'll go straight to the experts, and get an experienced long arm quilter to quilt my quilt. I don't do it often, but, for example, I did two quilts for weddings and wanted them to be special, so I sent them out to the long arm quilter. They were both King sized anyway, and too much for me to handle without struggling. So I was happy, the happy couples were happy, the long armer was happy -- there was certainly a lot of happiness all the way around! LOL!

DOTTYMO

I have made items even for quilters. Who have paid for me to do it. Yes I know there are mistakes but once finished difficult to see. As a group we are all very critical of our own work. Let a quilter show you her work and the comments are I made a mistake here look at that mess etc etc.