Bostons

Oh don't cry! I am new at FMQ and I don't think I could do it w/out Machinger's gloves (not sure how they did it in the Little House on the Prairie days!) and I started out doing stippling. I can do that all day long, big and small all over the place. I can do hearts and I'm trying to learn stars but I'm pretty inconsistent with those. So maybe try stipppling for starters until you get the motion down. It gets really addicting. I know I need to move on but I'm kinda scared. :) Good luck and Happy New Year!

vtretire

I am also learning to FMQ and find it frustrating. Hate to waste time "practicing" want to get to the "doing" part :) An.yway, I learned something from a link on this site, I believe. If your machine has more than one speed, put it on the slowest. That way you don't have to worry so much about co-ordination between foot and hand. Second was put stitch length on zero. Both of these gave me a little more confidence. Hope it works for you

salmonsweet

Forgot to mention, I don't use gloves. I find it easier on my shoulders to grip the fabric than to move it with flat hands on top as is commonly shown, so I don't need gloves anymore.

Jamiestitcher62

I have learned that I'm not artistic and freelancing the FMQ isn't going to cut it for me. I mark everything. You can get templates with just stipples on them. You can either use a washable pencil or the Pounce chalk to mark the tops of your quilts.

With the chalk though after you're done it looks like you were bagging cocaine in your basement. The machine will need to be cleaned, but it works like a charm and some chalks just iron off when done.

Keep practicing. As said above, always practice before setting out to FMQ every time, it loosens you up.

Holice

what have you done to learn free motion. have you read a book, watched a video or just started.....this info would be helpful in order to know what kind of advice to give to help you in your free motion journey. I don't believe free motion is something you can just start doing. There must be some guidance from somewhere.

jaciqltznok

take it SLOW, circles are never easy to do in FMQ

Holice

Lowering feed dogs is a must. Adjusting tension won't help your jagged circle. Only practice will. I have never had anyone in a class who could just pick up and do it well. You must get a rythm to the movement of your hands. An even flow. And above all work to find your personal balance between the movement of your hands and the speed of the machine.
Don't attempt to go fast. The faster the machine goes the faster your hands must move. Slower hands.....slower machine. Begin by practicing e's, the go to meandering, that is not crossing a line of stitching and then to an arc with point like an ocean wave and then just a wavy straight line.......all these are used in free motion quilting. and practice, practice.

newbee3

sounds like your speed either your machine or your movement will make the stitches look like that. Put some music on relax and just mak e's or s's get a good feel of how it's done.

nativetexan

slowly move your fabric and evenly. any little stop and start will create a jerky looking stitching line. easy does it.
make up some practice block pieces and do them awhile.

jitkaau

All of a sudden, after lots of practice, you will be confident in what you are doing. Once I stopped worrying, my FMQ improved out of sight and it is still improving. Don't give up - the charity quilt will still be useful and the World will not stop spinning just because you haven't got the hang of it yet. Keep going, and all the best of luck with it.