I've always wanted to make a quilt. I did take a free motion class and working on a scrap was great. Big quilt...not so great, at least fun-wise. I can't seem to do free motion quilting unless I hold me breath and keep a death grip on the fabric. It just makes me so tense that I cannot keep at it very long and quilting is then not fun. I cannot afford to send tops out to a long arm quilter. Besides that, I want to be able to say I made it completely myself. So I always stuck with small wall hanging, pillows, potholder projects. Then I came across this quilting board and although all the free motion quilting designs look awesome, the straight line quilting is what has caught my attention and spoken to me telling me that straight line quilting is fine and looks as good as swirls and other free motion designs. Why didn't I figure this out 25 years ago?! Why did I think quilting had to be a fancy design? As always, better to learn late than never at all. I'm working on my second real quilt and happily I'm straight line quilting and trying to dream up my next quilt design. I have always thought quilts were more about the design and the fabric than the stitching design on top. I am a straight line quilter. What kind of quilter are you?

Yep, I could see myself in your post. SID and straight line works for me. I will never enter my quilts in a show but they will pass the loved and warmth test every night for my friends and family.

Have you done any hand quilting??? That is my quilting of choice but I'm learning how to machine quilt so I can get more quilts done :)
I doubt I'll ever get anything fancy done but I want my loved ones to have a lot of quilts!

I try not to hand stitch anything except binding to the back of a quilted project. I do not like hand sewing.

I did very little FMQ till DH got me a mid-arm and frame. Just like you, it made me nervous (and dizzy from holding my breath). So I did mostly straight line quilting. It is still my favorite way to quilt. I think it shows off the piecing rather than the quilting.

I also am a SID person. I have tried FM, it looks like a 4 yr olds attempt at writing, PATHETIC let me tell you, so if I am doing it by machine, its SID or by hand, no machine for me lol..

I have done a couple of small wall hangings and potholders using FMQ meandering and stippling (that's as long as I can hold my breath and tense my shoulders without passing out), but nothing with patterns. And my two quilts were stitch in the ditch. One wall hanging I used a walking foot and outlined the picture for depth. And I agree that I want to do these myself - I feel like I cheat if I have not made the entire thing. Also I don't want to ruin the beauty of the fabric by drawing attention to the quilting design. I only want to do that if I have huge areas of solids or tone on tone. As I become experienced, I reserve the right as a woman to "change my mind" about everything I have said, though. lol.

So far all I have done is SID. However, I purchased a Brother CS6000i that came with a darning foot and I will be trying FMQ. But I make lap throws for the Nursing Home Patients and I don't think they will be too critical of my FMQ even though it probably will look like pre school scribling.

Although the fancy swirls and feathers are truly beautiful and amazing on other's quilts, I do believe that I will be a straight line quilter for the rest of my life---for all of the reasons stated above!!

I have been a SID and straight line quilter for a long time. I was sure that I couldn't FMQ but then our LQS bought a mid arm machine set-up and provided lessons and rent out the room for $50 a day. Our guild started quilting our Community Quilts there and between the introductory lesson and the chance to practice on an utility quilt, it gave me the confidence to really try FMQ for the first time. I then came home and tried it out on my Janome 6500 and found out that it isn't as difficult as I once thught. I'm not proficient at it yet but what I can do is quite adequate for the user friendly practical quilts that I turn out. I have entered my first quilt that I have FMQ in our local fair this weekend which is a huge step for me. I'll probably never give up on SID or straight line quilting but now I have a greater choice.