madamekelly

Tighten upper tension. (One notch at a time until it looks even.)

TootieAnn

I know how you feel, but believe me things do get better. I have to leave a project for another day when I get frustrated. Sometimes online tutorials have helped me. There are free ones on UTube. It does help me to practice on scraps as well. I don't feel pressured to "get it right" and I also don't bother to take out stitching I'm not satisfied with. FMQ is a challenge. I don't think anybody really just sits down and does it perfectly the first few times. Take a deep breath, get a cup of tea or coffee or hot chocolate and know that you can come back to it another day. Also know you have friends here who sympathize with you! I do hope you will feel better soon and will have good success with the next try. Please keep us posted. We really do want to know!

Quiltntime

Just to get the motion, take paper & pen and do your scrolling on the paper. I wear garden or Fons & Porter gloves to get a better grip. Also, a darning foot too. And, lots of practice. Don't let it intimidate you. I'm sure you're being too hard on yourself.

toodie11

A few tips, Gloves, Good work surface(room to be able to move your hands freely) Practice on a table first(without fabric)

toodie11

sorry sent before done, Just put your hands flat on the table and

toodie11

I dont do computers well- - - move your hands flat on table doing your pattern until you feel comfortable. choose a simple quit pattern like written e's or waves or loops. when you feel comfortable go to practive fabric. Good luck I used to have a fard time now its my favorite part of quilting.

sewlilly

I was watching Fons & Porter last night and one of the tips they had for your practice sandwiches was to make them into shopping bags! It might be fun to just get some cute fabric (like there is any such thing as ugly fabric!) and after practicing go ahead and make them into grocery sacks - you could donate them to a local food pantry or something like that!

Tootsie

I feel your pain! I've tried FMQ with some success, but it took a lot of practice. Have you looked at videos on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39I5A...eature=related

This is a four part series, with helpful info. The only tip I can give is to be gentle with yourself; sometimes we're our own worse critic. I'm sure that whoever receives your charity quilt will be thrilled. He/she won't know if your jagged circles were "suppose" to be little swirls!

Pat G

I dove into FMQ last summer & am still learning. After a few practice tries, I just dug out all of the tablerunners I had made in the past. My work is still herky jerky but it doesn't really show up on a finished pc. I find I want to hide from very light colors though since the stitching shows up more. Stick to darks for awhile. I get myself boxed into a corner often & end up with points even now. I hate that but I'm trying not to be too hard on myself since I'm just proud of myself for getting this far. Everybody else think I do wonderful work. I tell them not to look too closely. LOL
Just take a deep breath & go at it. When they say to relax, they aren't kidding. Just stop once in awhile, take a deep breath, relax your shoulders & go at it again. Are you using the grip gloves they recommend? I'm using Machingers.
The biggest hope I get is from Leah Day's site.

sewingsuz

Yes indeed , don't use to thick of batting.