k9dancer

I'm teaching a class starting next week in Mena AR, if anyone is interested.

Sorrelpen

Would love love love tooooo, but I'm in NC. Can't make it home by bed time(LOL). thanks for the offer!!!!

noveltyjunkie

Thank you all for your posts. You have given me a lot to think about, and helped me to feel better about where I am 'at'. I feel much more hopeful now (I have taken a 24 hour break from the sewing machine too).

I think the Skillbuilder will be going where UFOs go, and I'll make up some smaller plain sandwiches and just play with them. I am still wishing I could work more intensively on coordinating more complex movement of the fabric with the quality of the stitches, but maybe a bit of meandering will teach me more for now.

Hurrah for lifelong learning and good luck to us all!

All Thumbs

Dear noveltyjunkie - I commend you for not giving up. Like many, I too admired what others had pieced/quilted and was scared until my DH asked me one day if I knew the stores had more fabric if I ruined some. That sort of clicked with me. But it was not until I got a pair of gloves with rubberized fingertips that I actually saw progress. And, as GGinMcKinney mentioned, I am going to try a sponge in each hand since my gloves are about to wear out. The sponges sound a whole lot cheaper than gloves.

Anyway, photo here is one of my attempts. Please try one for yourself. For hours upon hours, I traced my freehand vine with a pencil. Then I went to the machine and dared it not to do what I had been doing on paper. lol Over and over, I tried to follow my previous stitching. So, here I am approximately two years later and still learning the ins-outs of FMQ.

FMQ is fun and I know you will enjoy it too. Just play like you are in grade school art classes (er-r-r-r, do schools still have art classes?). May have dated myself there!

Good Luck.

Janice Thompson

You sure have patience. I keep trying to machine quilt Sure glad babies don't talk.

CharlottsQuilts

You might try taking a class, or getting some books on FMQ (I have four, didn't help=sorry to be such a downer). Also look around for a machine quilter who does good work. Quilt guilds and quilt shops can help you with this. I have a grest system, I leave my quilt at the quilt shop, the quilter picks it up, and when she is done, she returns it to the quilt shop, where I can pick it up and pay for it. She does wonderful work too. I hope you have better luck with your FMQ.

CharlottsQuilts

This is lovely, good job!

misseva

I'm sorry for your troubles but I really enjoyed reading about it.

quiltmom04

I've taught a lot of machine quilting classes, and drawing is the way I start them out. Usually on paper, but a white board is a great idea! If you have trouble drawing the design, you will have trouble quilting it, so you need to develop "muscle memory" like drawing a design will do. Also, I think it is hard to follow a design. Look up some of Charisma's quilts. She quilts beautifully, and it's not following a design. Draw some simple designs on the paper or whiteboard a few times, and then try to do it on the machine (without getting upset if it isn't perfect- it WILL get better). Practice just meandering. And have a beer first - it loosens up those shoulders! :)

no time 2 sew

I don't read the board every day so that is why it has taken me so long to put my answer in. When I was trying to do free motion with my Brother 8500, I was told that it would never turn out correctly on a machine with a drop in bobbin, I am not familar with your model so don't know if that could possibly your problem.