Free-Motion Quilting any tips to help a newby

[Liskajean]

I have made a few quilts made lots of mistakes, still learning. Free-Motion Quilting I am having the hardest time with. Does anyone have suggestions to help me out. I have stitched in the ditch on most of my quilts but seeing the beautiful quilts everyone makes on here I am ready to take the next step and need lots and lots of help from why sewing at the same speed and tention sometimes my stitches come out perfect other times I get a back full of lovely loops. Are there some good tutorials on-line available you have used? Any help would be appreciated. Thank you so much

Liska

[Pamela R.]

Re: Free-Motion Quilting any tips to help a newby

I'm relatively new to quilting also, and the one thing I've learned about FMQ is practice, practice, practice and then practice some more. I've read several articles online and have looked at google images for hours and hours. Leah Day has a nice website showing several different patterns to start with, some relatively easy..others not so much. You "just" have to get used to the rhythm of your machine stitching and move the fabric at a rate that goes with it so the threads don't pull. Sounds easy right...LOL. Don't expect immediate fabulous results but it does get better, just don't give up. Some of the ladies on this site have shown their expertise and I'm sure can give some tips and hints. And there are a few sites that have tutorials. I found using the gloves helped me control the fabric better and there are other "tools" that help the fabric move smoother on the base. Just keep practicing and find your own rhythm.

[Quiltfreestyle]

Re: Free-Motion Quilting any tips to help a newby

Pamela is right, it's all practice. I have a long arm machine & I'm still learning too.. What I did was use cheap muslin & pieces of left over batting to make a practice "quilt". I marked off "blocks" & used that to try out different patterns.
I also searched on you tube for free motion quilting tutorials, there's hundreds of them out there, Leah Day is a very good place to start. Her tutorials are very clear & the filming is exceptionally good so you can see exactly what she is doing.
Don't give up . It will get better,,, no one here was a perfect quilter the first time out.

[brook]

Re: Free-Motion Quilting any tips to help a newby

A lot of the loopy look comes from the hands moving faster then the foot. That is a hard thing to get a handle to do, but you'll get it. Your tension should be about "1" and the feed dogs down. And what everyone else said, Practice on a scrap sandwiched block. Or several blocks.

[JCY]

Re: Free-Motion Quilting any tips to help a newby

Get some good books on FMQ. Watch Leah Day's tutorials. Take a class. Practice, practice, practice! It really does get better with time & practice. JCY.

[Liskajean]

Re: Free-Motion Quilting any tips to help a newby

Thanks for all the advice I looked up the tutorials and I joined a quilting club this week. I had to stand up and introduce myself wow that was scary. It was a lot of fun. Hopefully with all your suggestions and thier guidance I will get it

[Annav]

Re: Free-Motion Quilting any tips to help a newby

Another thing that can cause the loopy look on the back is not having your presser foot down. My current machine wont' stitch if the presser foot is down, which is good for me, because I am always forgetting to put it down. But my older machine didn't care and every time I stitched without the foot down I'd get loopies on the back. The pressurer foot engages your tension and without it, loopies. So the moral of the story is, always put your presser foot down before you stitch. And the practice practice practice advice is excellent advice too!

[Slokarma]

Re: Free-Motion Quilting any tips to help a newby

Adjusting your FMQ foot. My first few feet didn't have an adjustment, so as per Leah, I added a rubber band to the post where the spring is and that helped a great deal. Fast forward to a newer machine and different foot….there is a screw on the side that I didn't see…DUH…until recently. It works really nice.

I also bought a new bobbin case so I could give it a looser bottom tension for FMQ. That helped a bunch! (You don't need to buy a new bobbin case if you are comfortable turning that little screw and then turning it back for piecing and such)

[Racing Nana]

Re: Free-Motion Quilting any tips to help a newby

OMG...FMQ
Took my first class for this and discovered it is an "art form".
Practice practice practice ggrrrrr I keep getting myself trapped in a corner and can't get out to where I want/need to go.

The only thing I can say is keep at it. I am.
It's like making a soufflé. You're gonna get a couple of sink holes before it's edible.

[cathym]

Re: Free-Motion Quilting any tips to help a newby

I just took a free motion class because like you, I couldn't get the results I wanted. She had several good tips and you've received some of them from other posters here. Here are a few more.

First, practice doodling with a pad and pin to get the muscle memory. It's hard to draw with a needle if you can't with a pen. I have gotten better at it.
Second, she taped a marker to the side of the machine, removed the needle and had me practice drawing flowers and loops etc. on a piece of paper but with my machine, if that makes sense.
Then she had me practice on a big scrap of fabric and said practice every time before you start.
Our project was a quilt as you go and the small blocks made it more manageable.

I was having trouble with the tension and took my machine into the shop. It wasn't all me...my tension plates were sticking part of the time. It's much better now. : )

[Hulamoon]

Re: Free-Motion Quilting any tips to help a newby

I posted this the other day. You might find something

Free Motion Quilting Tutorials (Motifs) | The Inbox Jaunt

[Liskajean]

Re: Free-Motion Quilting any tips to help a newby

Upon joining the quilt club I found out I need to make 20 mug rugs or finger thimbles for the quilt show, well the mug rugs will be a perfect place to practice the FMQ. I am not going to give up I will get this thanks to you all