FMQ - I now know why I failed Art Class in Kingergarten
03-18-2011, 12:30 PM
#51
Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: Fallbrook
Posts: 577
Originally Posted by pheasantduster
I just had to chuckle reading your topic title. I failed Art Class in my freshman class in high school but excelled in sewing class.(truth I had been sewing long before going to high school). My teacher taught both classes and thought I was two different people!
Originally Posted by pamkasperi
Ok bought the FMQ piece for my machine...while a couple of hours is not an exhibition in patience....uh I STINK at this....I will keep trying because I don't give up on stuff but man oh man am I glad the FMQ piece only cost $11.00 for when I realize a 3 year could do better than me!
03-18-2011, 01:08 PM
#52
Junior Member
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: Scotland
Posts: 109
Originally Posted by jljack
Despite all the encouraging comments here ( :thumbup: ), I have to admit that I, too, have no drawing skills either. I find FQM to be extremely challenging, even after 3 years of doing it on my shortarm machine on a frame, which should make it so much easier. I get all tied up in knots, my stitches are so uneven and the design looks like it was done by a 3 year old.
I am best suited for SID, my own swirly loopy meandering, or edge-to-edge pantograph. Anything else is just beyond my abilities...I don't have that kind of artistic ability.
I feel for you....we should start a club...The Unable to FMQ Quilters!! :-)
I am best suited for SID, my own swirly loopy meandering, or edge-to-edge pantograph. Anything else is just beyond my abilities...I don't have that kind of artistic ability.
I feel for you....we should start a club...The Unable to FMQ Quilters!! :-)
03-18-2011, 04:24 PM
#54
Member
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Atlanta, IL
Posts: 56
When I first tried FMQ, I broke several needles. Took the machine in for a checkup. You guessed it - there was nothing wrong with the machine. Apparently I was trying to move the fabric when the needle was down or just as the needle was entering the fabric. I became more careful about when I moved the fabric. Plus I was sewing too slow. Once I went faster, everything went smoother. A tip that I read somewhere. Always have a practice piece around and quilt on that for a few minutes before starting on the "real thing". It takes a few minutes to get back into the groove and get smooth flow in you quilting. This tip applies to hand quilting too. Just keep practicing and you will get better.
03-18-2011, 04:39 PM
#55
Senior Member
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: North Carolina
Posts: 745
I knew I could get good at it someday, and it's today! I just didn't realize it. I've been meandering all around my office all week! Now if I could just get that good when I go to the sewing machine.
Kappy - I know the feeling - I want it to be good and perfect right now....so what am I doing? on the message boards instead of practicing!!
Good news, I've got meandering down pat. I meander out to the kitchen to get some coffee, I meander through my house that should get cleaned, I meander past my sewing machine and right back here to the good old computer! This meandering thing is easier than I thought!
Originally Posted by Kappy
Originally Posted by pamkasperi
Originally Posted by Kappy
But I want to be good RIGHT NOW, she said stamping her foot in frustration. Years??? seriously?????, I could be dead by then!!! And if even God put's me in stippling 101 I AM going to cry!
03-18-2011, 04:46 PM
#56
Senior Member
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Ohio... wanna build a cabin in the woods and live off the land... and quilt all day!
Posts: 990
Originally Posted by pamkasperi
...I'm not taking back the not so nice words I said upon each broken needle!
Originally Posted by pamkasperi
I'm playing in-between cups of coffee....its looking a little better - I know can draw as well as a 6 year old but this will take practice....
03-18-2011, 04:46 PM
#57
Super Member
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Australia
Posts: 4,116
You only 'failed' in kindergarten because the 'art police' were out and about...don't take any notice of the fmq police either. Try quilter Cindy Needham's technique of just scribbling everywhere when she quilts. (She even crosses over lines).
03-18-2011, 06:20 PM
#58
Super Member
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Oregon
Posts: 1,326
I can't draw a stickman but I seem to have stiples mastered. Circles are impossible for me at this point. I figure if I just keep to one pattern at a time until I get it looking right, then I can move on to another pattern.
03-18-2011, 06:28 PM
#59
Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Western Washington State
Posts: 549
Originally Posted by GGinMcKinney
Once I got the hang of the tension, pressure & speed the eyelashes went away and I became more concerned with design. I couldn't follow a line with FMQ so I practiced by stitching names of folks I love. We already know how to write and that involves shapes that are in quilt designs. Open up an "i" stitch an "o", a "t" that is not crossed. All these seemed to help me. When I got ready for designs I made what I call a wonky flower on a floral quilt top. 5 open i's in a wonky circle large as the space called for and then smaller i's inside those. Well, it suited me. I am not an artist either so decided to intentionally allow myself to make wonky designs and stitch folks names into the top if I know who it is going to.
03-18-2011, 06:49 PM
#60
Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Arkansas
Posts: 844
Originally Posted by pamkasperi
Ok bought the FMQ piece for my machine...while a couple of hours is not an exhibition in patience....uh I STINK at this....I will keep trying because I don't give up on stuff but man oh man am I glad the FMQ piece only cost $11.00 for when I realize a 3 year could do better than me!
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