Becky's Crafts

I love FMQ on my NX2000 DSM. This past year I've been trying hard to get better & better. I study beautiful quilting I find on the web, & try to emulate the parts I like. I watch free tutorials a lot to perfect my techniques. My favorite go-to books are: Dot to Dot, 501 Quilting Motifs by Quiltmakers, Shape by Shape with Angela Walters versions 1 & 2. There's a new one coming out on the 15th that I want to add to my arsenal too. It's called "Free Motion Machine Quilting 1-2-3 by Lori Kennedy with 61 designs & is spiral bound for ease of use. It's on Amazon for pre-order already & you can check out the teasers on what's in it there. I hope this helps. My personal advice would be to make some small projects & just jump in with both feet!! Once you start, it's so much fun you won't want to stop! LOL!! At least that's been my experience! Best of luck!!

jmoore

I agree that Leah Day is a great FMQ instructor...she also has a few classes on Craftsy that you can purchase to watch over and over. Also, Pat Sloan just released a "beginner" book on FMQing and it looks fabulous.

Texas_Sue

Check on Craftsy - they have many classes and I would recommend Angela Walters as a great teacher - Leah Day, and Debbie Brown are also my favorites, too.

Austinite

I like Leah Day and Crafty Gemini on YouTube and on Craftsy I like Christina Camelli and Jacque Gering has two fantastic classes that I just finished on quilting with your walking foot. I've learned so much from her!! Using my walking foot in ways I'd never thought about

JanieH

My favorite is Leah Day.

I also make my practice quilt sandwiches the size that a local animal shelter can use in their cages for the cats. As they said, the cats don't seem to be bothered by any mistakes made and this way I feel I am accomplishing two things, practicing and providing pads for the kitties.

simpsonfs

There is a facebook group called Sit Down Free Motion Quilters. Join the group....under files there is a set of lessons taught by Jeanne Harrison. It is called FMQ Sampler. Jeanne Harrison has other lessons but she is wonderful for beginner free motion quilters!!

JediMom

Thank you for letting me know! I'm in that group, and I didn't even think to check the files in my FB groups. There is a WEALTH of free information at my fingertips!

MadQuilter

One of my favorite teachers is Christina Cameli on Craftsy. She has a variety of FMQ classes - Free Motion Quilting Essentials is a good one for starting. She is so easy-going and supportive.

Another teacher is from the Handiquilter group - also on Craftsy, Debbie Brown. Her class Free Motion Quilting with Lines, Curves, and Loops covers all the basics.

feline fanatic

One thing to keep in mind is that (to me anyway) there is a world of difference between frame quilting and sit down quilting. So I think you may wish to stick with tutorials that are frame FMQ as opposed to sitdown.

First, you need to review You tube videos on how to square up your backing and top, load the quilt sandwich on the frame, how to advance it properly and ensure you keep your quilt nice and square as you advance. You need to decide if you are more comfortable "floating" your top or securing it to one of the rails (I prefer to secure my top but that is a personal preference).

To me frame quilting is much more natural, I am still moving the "pencil" instead of having a stationary pencil and moving the "paper" which is what sit down FMQ is like. Once you are comfortable with loading the quilt sandwich the best way to get comfortable with your set up is to just practice and play. I definitely got a lot out of doodling and drawing my designs to get muscle memory for the movement. Jump in with both feet and don't be afraid to use this set up. Relax and have fun will get you much further than stressing over "perfection".

JediMom

That was actually a concern of mine! I probably should review more frame FMQ videos. I found a book amongst all the extras by Linda V. Taylor about long arm quilting. Since my machine is not a long arm, I'm not sure how much of it will apply, though.