Sewfine

I am trying to learn how to fmq on my domestic machine. I purchased the supreme slider, bobbin washers and quilting gloves for Leah Day. My stitches stills looks awful. Need advise. The first picture is the front and the second picture is the back.

hperttula123

can you check your manual for the correct settings for free motion. I have a designer and had to play around for a while to get the right settings and pick the right stitch. Your machine is different than mine, so I wouldn't know how to change it for you.

woody

Sorry I can't help with your machine settings but that should help. Also try not to move the quilt to quickly, especially when you are doing a tight curve. It does take practice and lots of it, but you will get there

Sewfine

I will keep practicing. Thank both of you for your help.

PaperPrincess

See how on the back your eyelashes are on the curves? That's almost always because you are moving you fabric too fast on the curves. The long stitches on the front also indicate you are moving the fabric too fast or are running the machine at too slow a speed. A good thing to remember is feet fast, hands slow, in other words fast speed on the machine and move the fabric more slowly.
If there is any way at all that you can take a FMQ class at a LQS in your area, I would really advise it. I practiced a lot but when I took the class just a couple of comments from the instructor really made it all come together for me. If you do take a class, make sure you bring the machine that you are going to use at home.

DogHouseMom

I see three problems <g>

The first as PaperPrincess pointed out is your hand speed vs your machine speed - that is causing the eyelashes on your curves as seen on the back of the project.

The second is that I am seeing a variety of stitch lengths - lack of consistency. This can bee seen on both the front and the back in both the curved areas and the straight lines. Again this goes with hand speed and machine speed.

The last I believe is a tension issue. When looking at the back in the areas where you were sewing a straight line, even in the areas where you had a good stitch length going (see the pic of the back at the very bottom, the straight horizontal line - stitch length is closest to correct here - and notice that when your stitch length improved here you did not get eyelashes on the curve on the right hand side!), I can still see little buttons of top thread poking through at times. Increase your tension slightly - by one notch at a time - sew a straight line and check tension again.

FMQ hand and machine speed takes a lot of time and practice to get the right combination. If your machine has a speed setting and a "start/stop" button - as opposed to using the foot pedal - you might find that helpful. Don't expect to get good at FMQ overnight, or in a week, or even in a month.

Relax. Relax your shoulders. Make sure you are in a good sitting position with back upright and not slouched over your machine.

Breath. Yup. We forget to do that sometimes.

Sometimes wine helps!! (seriously ... it can relax you!).</g>