Free Motion Quilting
#21
I just FMQed my first quilt - a large lap quilt. I found it hard to maneuver it around at first but it got easier with experience. I took Leah Day's advice and gave myself permission to mess up. I think I had a pretty credible result using Golden Threads paper with the stipple design needle-punched through it. I pinned the pieces to the quilt and FMQed over them. (I hated this but I was afraid of marking the white areas.)
After it was completed, my DS commented on the quilt and I said, "But look I did make some mistakes." He asked me to point them out and guess what, I had a hard time finding them.
Good luck, give it a try and don't be hard on yourself.
After it was completed, my DS commented on the quilt and I said, "But look I did make some mistakes." He asked me to point them out and guess what, I had a hard time finding them.
Good luck, give it a try and don't be hard on yourself.
#22
Leah Day taught me a really important fact. No matter what speed I went at with my feed dogs down....I ended up with a total mess. But, when I left my feed dogs up, with the width and length set at zero; I do not have any of those problems. My free motion quilting is still in the very beginning stages, but I have fun and learn something new every time I practice.
This goes in a different direction, but it may help others who have trouble with finding the correct balance with FMQ. Try doing Free Motion Machine Embroidery. You use both a zig zag stitch or a straight stitch. It has really helped me to gain confidence and the willingness to try the some of the numerous quilting designs available.
This goes in a different direction, but it may help others who have trouble with finding the correct balance with FMQ. Try doing Free Motion Machine Embroidery. You use both a zig zag stitch or a straight stitch. It has really helped me to gain confidence and the willingness to try the some of the numerous quilting designs available.
#23
Leah Day has begun a new series of FMQ "classes" for this year that is geared for beginners. She explains everything...beginning with a stipple design...breaking down the stitching design in parts...and gradually adding new elements until you get a completed design. These are posted each Wednesday...the first 3 lessons (including a video) are available on her site. You can ask questions & she posts answers on Thursdays. Very informative. Of course the most important thing is to practice...which I'm kind of falling behind on...but I recommend checking out Leah's site...lots of excellent information!
#24
Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: Iowa
Posts: 816
I free motion quilt on my domestic. Here is the first quilt I did outside of loops and meandering: http://skittl1321.blogspot.com/2011/...t-is-done.html
It takes practice, but doesn't everything?
I find that I am better at quilting than I am at piecing, so I quilt for our guild.
I think it would be fun to learn to use a longarm, but it is a whole other skill- I feel like I should practice this one first before I move onto something else.
It takes practice, but doesn't everything?
I find that I am better at quilting than I am at piecing, so I quilt for our guild.
I think it would be fun to learn to use a longarm, but it is a whole other skill- I feel like I should practice this one first before I move onto something else.
#25
It took a while, but I have become comfortable with it. I STILL practice though! Each time I want to try a new quilting motif (and there are still a LOT that are new to me), or one that I've not done in some time, I practice ... a LOT. I don't ... and I mean NEVER, put my quilt under the machine until I've practiced the motions over and over with the same thread, batting and fabric. Even if I plan on quilting using something I'm very familiar with (stipling for example), I'll still do a short practice with the same batting, fabric and thread to make sure everything plays together properly.
...
Sue
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Sue
#26
Leah Day taught me a really important fact. No matter what speed I went at with my feed dogs down....I ended up with a total mess. But, when I left my feed dogs up, with the width and length set at zero; I do not have any of those problems. My free motion quilting is still in the very beginning stages, but I have fun and learn something new every time I practice...
#30
I don't think any one mentioned, if you can SET the speed on your DSM machine and forget about that, it becauses much easier. I have a Janome, and before I start on my piece I practice to get the speed right for the design or size I'm working with. Most of the work shown on my web site are from my domesitic.
MaryKatherine
MaryKatherine
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07-14-2010 03:56 PM