familyfun

Ok. So thanks to you lovely people I have figured out how to properly set my Designer 1 to fmq. I have been practicing but I think my stitches are way to small.. I would like them to be bigger.. Any advice. Do I slow the machine speed down? Or if I go to slow will it cause loops or something?? I am not real comfortable with moving my hands yet so if I try to make the material move farther between stitches it looks really sloppy. My stiches are not consistant yet and I definatly need more practice.. Any help would be appreciated.

quiltsRfun

Practice is the key word here. It takes a while to get the speed and hand movement coordinated. Frankly, I'm still working on it. :) Don't get discouraged. Just keep on doing what you're doing. And when you look at your work, try to see the good things and not concentrate on the imperfections. It's all part of the learning process.

MadQuilter

Some machines need to set the stitch length to 0 for FMQ and the quilter controls the stitch length. Some machines, like my Baby Lock, need to have the stitch length set to their regular length (or even a little larger) for FMQ.

If it is situation 1 with yours, then it sounds like you need to find the sweet spot between motor speed and how fast the sandwich gets moved.

If it's @2, then you can easily try by bumping the stitch length.

Good luck - it takes time and many many trials.

ckcowl

the designer one stitch length can be changed- just (click on) the adjustment tab and choose a longer stitch.

KimS

I know keeping the stitches the same length is key but like you, I feel my stitches are too small. Working on getting them a little longer. Just takes time and loads of practice. The worst part is by the time I finish a project they're looking fairly good. Then it's several weeks before I get another project ready and by then I've forgotten the "technique" that worked so well before.