plainpat

I have the machine & BSR....but am pretty lame at FMQ...practice or no.Maybe your LQS offers a FMQ class? Wish ours did.I did ask, but owner said with everyone bringing their own machine, she spent all her time trying to get each set up & no time left for teaching!

RkayD

I put in headphones and tend to look at it as a form of "dancing"...or conducting. LoL...the moving of the hands....LoL!

Lucky Patsy's

I took a FMQ class at my LQS and I still suck at it! The teacher said it would take about 100 hours before anyone could expect to get good at it. She offered this strategy for doing stipple: Make a largish U shape with stipple and then fill up the inside with stipple.

MadQuilter

HAve you considered practicing on paper? By doing the pattern on paper, you create a muscle memory and when you do it with the needle (instead of the pencil) then your memory will kick in and help you do it better. It will still take practice to get it more even, but the basic pattern will be in place.

azwendyg

Stippling is NOT my friend either! I have to tell you, at first I tried and tried to stipple with very little success. So I started trying other FMQ designs and haven't even attempted another stipple.

ligia

"pedal to the medal" = :?:

meaning "to the maximum" , I guess .. :?

katyquilter

That's a good idea. Relax and enjoy quilting.

bigsister63

If you are doing 'petal to the metal" and the machine is going too fast for you then put a block or something under the top of the foot petal so that it does not go down so far so it will not go so fast when you are sewing.

Eddie

I really like doing stippling, I find it really relaxing. To me, there are several things that make it go easier and look better.

(1) Correct speed - If you have the speed to high then you are "rushed" in trying to keep up mentally with the machine. If too slow, then the stippling will look jerky. Figuring out the right speed for you takes some time to get in the right "groove" with it.
(2) Looking ahead - As I'm stippling, I'm looking ahead to where I'm going rather than constantly watching the needle. This is a constant back and forth mental thing but it helps me not end up with myself painted into a corner.
(3) Develop a pattern - I try to keep the pattern curving and not allow myself to get into a squiggling line instead.

Below is a pic of wall hanging I did that had a lot of stippling in it. You can vary the pattern of stippling as well, so instead of doing a tight meandering stippling like I did in the background, for the inner circle I did a looping stippling. Lots of fun! :)

MomtoBostonTerriers

Wow, these replies have so much good advice for me. Thank you, thank you, thank you to each one who responded. It's also good to know that there are others who suffer from "can't-stipple-itis."

I have studied each response and am going to try all of these various approaches. With all of this good advice, I feel like I do indeed have many personal stippling coaches.

I definitely want to master this aspect of quilting and just hadn't thought about the fact that it is a skill that must be developed (at least for folks like me), and must be practiced continuously. I'm off to start practicing with pencil and paper -- so many people suggested that. I plan to get one of Leah Day's Supreme Sliders (drat that woman for making stippling and everything else about quilting look so easy!). My sewing machine is currently sitting on top of a table, but I plan to look for a cabinet or table that will allow it to be recessed so the top of the sewing surface is level with the table. That will be a present to myself when I celebrate my birthday at the Houston Quilt Festival next month.