Bearisgray, l teach fmq . Here's what l teach my students:
Have a basic plan before you start quilting! Our 2 hr. class starts off with 1 hr. of planning ( methods & ideas)
You can " preview" your ideas right on quilt by placing a large clear plastic sheet over it, and marking with erasable marker. Take photo, wipe off, try another design. ..etc.
Fmq means free motion...that doesn't mean you can't mark.
Minimal marking is best...with chalk or water/ air soluble marker, little tick marks or dashes, measured out...something to " aim at" so a row of repeated movements are evenly spaced. I often draw in the corner areas of a border or sashing. It gives you confidence while stitching to know exactly where to go.
If quilting a large design using a machine with small throat, it's easy to " get lost" while stitching. In this case, or in the case of whole cloth quilts, using chalk,or an air or water erase marking tool to draw out the design really is very helpful.

Thank you for your responses.

It took me a while to realize that free motion and free hand were not necessarily the same thing.

I am a "get er done" girl so no marking for me plus I don't follow the lines well either. Sometimes I do a micro stippling which adds such texture that I am quite happy to use it as a fill. I can almost do stippling with my eyes closed so I need to move on to more complex designs, but once again, I just want to finish!
I have to say, that I have quilted paisleys, spirals, flowers all by free motion on my Janome 15000, but stippling is my go to for quilts/table runners I give away.

I do not. The only thing I am comfortable marking is the edge for trimming.
If you do, be very careful that you can get the marks out later.

I mark my quilts for every single stitch that I am going to FMQ … and I mark my quilts for all the grid work that I am going to do … If you search for my Dresden quilt (the pink one) I have a pic that shows just how much I marked it … it's a ton of work but it makes it easier for me to quilt

Thank you for the responses - if and/or when I ever try to do any FMQ - I will probably be "mark every stitch" group.

I don't mark anything now. I did one quilt only. Circles - never again. It was the hardest one I've done. Thank goodness it was a baby quilt. I do plan my quilting pattern, whether it's a meander or something more organized. I never SITD, except the first border and I do that after FMQ. As far as knowing when to stop, I am not a fan of too close together FMQ, so it isn't an issue.

Sometimes. It depends what I"m doing. My two main influences are Angela WAlters and Cindy Needham. Angela hardly marks at all and Cindy marks a lot more.

I just finished FMQ a summer swap quilt. Here's what I did.

I decided to do a different quilting design in all the sashings. The sashings were many different sizes. If it was a quilting a design I wasn't familiar with I marked the first couple repetitions. Sometimes, even with familiar designs I would make a mark every two inches so I would have a spot I could aim for. But for many of the familiar designs I didn't do any marking.

I did some special quilting in a few the blocks using Needham's perfect stencil ( a great great tool). I didn't mark everything but I did mark guide points to make it easier to quilt the design. I have some experience with this tool. When I first started using it, I tried my design out on the practice sheet that are provided with the stencil before I quilt.

I was very happy with the results. I wanted to get the quilt done and this method gave me a lot of practice with a lot of different designs, including a few intricate designs.

I am an intermediate FMQ who's motto is it'll never be noticed on a galloping horse and that's the only kind I ride. Especially for this quilt.


Hope that helps.

I mark feathers. If I don’t they get all wonky. Most other things I just freehand it. I’ve surprised myself with freehand campfires, saguaro cactus, flowers, etc. but I’ve also surprised myself that I cannot get the hang of feathers freehand. 🙃