"Just practicing my mistakes"?? My sorry tale of free motion quilting
07-09-2011, 04:35 PM
#11
Senior Member
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Allen Park, MI
Posts: 408
Well if you get to FMQing as well as you wrote that post, you'll be GREAT!
I don't understand why such tension issues. Tell us what you are using - thread, foot, settings, etc. Are you using a FMQ/darning/"hopping" foot? Does the machine work well otherwise? Let's see if all the wonderful folks here can give you a little help.
I don't understand why such tension issues. Tell us what you are using - thread, foot, settings, etc. Are you using a FMQ/darning/"hopping" foot? Does the machine work well otherwise? Let's see if all the wonderful folks here can give you a little help.
07-09-2011, 04:43 PM
#12
Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: North Carolina
Posts: 811
I did my first FMQ attempt last night and it was disastrous! So, I understand totally. After about an hour of playing with it today I discovered, that with my machine at least, the best settings for stitch length and tension are the same as if I'm piecing. With that discovery, I made a small (about 8x8in) sandwich, spray basted it, and took it to the machine. I just started moving the fabric around... and my next discovery --- that I shouldn't go too slow or too fast... had to find the right "speed" and that's what I'm going to continue practicing. I'm not trying to create a "design" and I don't care about crossing lines, I'm just moving the sandwich around and trying to work on how the stitches look. IF, and I do mean IF, I can ever master that, I'll try to control the direction of my stitching and hopefully will end up with something quilt worthy! Anyway, just know you are certainly NOT alone!
07-09-2011, 04:52 PM
#13
Power Poster
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Michigan
Posts: 11,276
I applaud your determination! Hopefully someone here has the same, or similar machine and can provide some tips. The usual advice is FAST machine SLOW hands. When i took a FMQ class, that was the first thing she told me, I was running my machine at too slow a speed, so step on it! I am a very slow sewer so this was hard for me at first, but it really helped!
07-09-2011, 05:42 PM
#15
Super Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: 53 degrees North
Posts: 1,679
Thank you all so much for being there for me (and for the hug ;-) ) It certainly does help to know that it is not just me.
Sadiemae I would for sure be in the hot bath if it was not mid winter here- my cast iron bath never warms up these days, but I did have a looooong hot shower! (good for the tight shoulders)
To answer some questions, yes early lace and Dandish, I have the proper foot but no mcd, I do not have the gloves- maybe that would help. I have the extension table thing for my machine and I do think that much flat surface is enough for a piece of this size, although I can see it would be difficult to quilt anything full sized with that setup (as if)
PaperP- I too had heard the fast stitch slow hands but that was giving me the scar look (stitches so tiny and all on top of each other). I am trying medium speed now and have cranked the top tension up as far as it will go. Seems to be giving some sort of result, so fingers crossed...... I have also started making notes so I can remember which combination of problems I am practicing at any one time lol.
Quiltnan I am a keen doodler- never known to waste a boring meeting at work without filling a blank page with swirls ;-)
mtspools- I hear ya! My piecework is starting to look lovely and lovelier without any quilting at all, but I do so want to learn!
Vicky I feel for you at the County Fair, but well done getting out there. Buckeye I would like to do a class but I work full time and on the weekends there is always so much else needing to be done- it is hard to find one but maybe I need to prioritise it higher on my list! I dont have any real life quilting buds- you guys are it!
I would work more on piecing except I do have this one small project all pieced and I promised to give it to my mother ages ago and I have posted before about how there is nothing like your mother to make you feel bad about your inadequacies and I really want to be able to quilt it and get it out of my sewing room and into her living room (where, bless her, she will show it off and tell everyone it is great, just like other things I have made for her which were, in retrospect, pretty wonky)
nance ell, I guess I should have spent more time with the blank sandwiches- you stick at that and let us know how you get on!
Here's to persistence and to all of us "getting it" one day, sooner or later
Thanks again, you ladies are the best.
Sadiemae I would for sure be in the hot bath if it was not mid winter here- my cast iron bath never warms up these days, but I did have a looooong hot shower! (good for the tight shoulders)
To answer some questions, yes early lace and Dandish, I have the proper foot but no mcd, I do not have the gloves- maybe that would help. I have the extension table thing for my machine and I do think that much flat surface is enough for a piece of this size, although I can see it would be difficult to quilt anything full sized with that setup (as if)
PaperP- I too had heard the fast stitch slow hands but that was giving me the scar look (stitches so tiny and all on top of each other). I am trying medium speed now and have cranked the top tension up as far as it will go. Seems to be giving some sort of result, so fingers crossed...... I have also started making notes so I can remember which combination of problems I am practicing at any one time lol.
Quiltnan I am a keen doodler- never known to waste a boring meeting at work without filling a blank page with swirls ;-)
mtspools- I hear ya! My piecework is starting to look lovely and lovelier without any quilting at all, but I do so want to learn!
Vicky I feel for you at the County Fair, but well done getting out there. Buckeye I would like to do a class but I work full time and on the weekends there is always so much else needing to be done- it is hard to find one but maybe I need to prioritise it higher on my list! I dont have any real life quilting buds- you guys are it!
I would work more on piecing except I do have this one small project all pieced and I promised to give it to my mother ages ago and I have posted before about how there is nothing like your mother to make you feel bad about your inadequacies and I really want to be able to quilt it and get it out of my sewing room and into her living room (where, bless her, she will show it off and tell everyone it is great, just like other things I have made for her which were, in retrospect, pretty wonky)
nance ell, I guess I should have spent more time with the blank sandwiches- you stick at that and let us know how you get on!
Here's to persistence and to all of us "getting it" one day, sooner or later
Thanks again, you ladies are the best.
07-09-2011, 06:34 PM
#19
Super Member
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Oregon
Posts: 1,604
Oh, do keep trying. My recent first try, I ripped it all out. Asked some questions here & tried again. For me,
I found I had to increase upper tension way more than I would have ever thought (by trial & error) & again, for me, medium speed, with both hands & machine. I do not expect I will ever get good, but adequate enough to finish a small project.
Made me happy : ).
Good luck.
I found I had to increase upper tension way more than I would have ever thought (by trial & error) & again, for me, medium speed, with both hands & machine. I do not expect I will ever get good, but adequate enough to finish a small project.
Made me happy : ).
Good luck.
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