4dogs

Try it, practice ... on something smaller, like pot holders or place mats............before you do it on something large or important..........

KimS

Thanks for all the information. I really appreciate it. I thought of something else to ask and that is do you use a hoop? If so is it a small embroidery hoop or is there a special type for quilting? Why do you wear gloves?

Jannie

No hoop!

Kas

I would also recommend going to the library and checking out every quilting book you can find. Harriet Hargrave and Diane Gaudynski both have excellent books on free motion quilting. It's how I learned!

vivientan

I had initially tried with the feed dogs down and had lots of tension problems. After I raised up the feed dogs, my tension problems were gone!

I'm using a 30wt cotton thread for FMQ. Try to use similar colour threads for top and bobbin, so the tension problem will not be obvious.

The quilting gloves are useful as they allow you to have a better grip on your quilt. Practice on small practice sandwiches to get a better feel of your tension, machine speed etc before progressing to a large quilt.

Leah Day is selling an ultimate quilting kit consisting of quilting gloves, bobbin washes and the supreme slider, so you may like to check it out.

http://www.daystyledesigns.com/ultimatekit.htm

You may like to try sewing straight lines using your darning foot first, to have a feel of your foot pedal speed and your hand movements. Then slowly progress to sewing loops, curves etc. Some simple designs to start with are meandering, stippling and loop de loop. I'm very new to FMQ myself and also practicing very hard now. With more practice, I could see my stitches improving and getting more even. It was very daunting at the beginning but I could see my confidence increasing over time.

I had earlier posted a thread on some FMQ problems I had. You may like to check out the thread for all the wonderful advice from the quilters on this board.

http://www.quiltingboard.com/t-124688-1.htm

All the best and keep practicing!

KimS

Fixed a sandwich to practice on and I definitely see where the gloves are needed! I've just ordered the Ultimate Free Motion Quilting Kit. Thank you vivientan for mentioning this kit. I can see where learning to FMQ takes practice, practice and more practice. :-)

nativetexan

or go ahead and do loops. FMQ'ing is your design, so go for it and dont' worry if you cross a line. loops are fine.

Az Quilter

Ditto! And you may want to practice on some small quilt "sandwiches" before attempting a real quilt. (I'm sure glad I did!)

Wendy

GagaSmith

Leah Day also says to ALWAYS use the same weight thread in the top and bobbins. The weight is not as important as making sure both are the same.

Buckeye Rose

and don't forget to lower the presser foot....it will make a huge difference.