Little Penguin Quilts Through the Year

Little Penguin Quilts Through the Year

Sunday, September 15, 2013

I have a confession to make...

I'm afraid of free motion quilting...  I want to learn how to do it, and I keep trying little practice pieces, but I'm not sure I'm getting the hang of it.  I really should take a class on it, but before trying that, I decided to read up on it, and watch Leah Day's videos, and practice.  It still scares me!

So... I decided the only way to get over my fear was to finally commit to FMQing a whole quilt.  I've been working on a slab baby quilt completely out of my scraps, and it seemed like the perfect project to finally take the plunge.   Yesterday, I did it.  I FMQed the whole thing.  I'm not ready for stippling yet, so I decided to try loops meandering all over the quilt.  And I have to say, I got better at it as I went along.  Once I figured out the right speed at which my machine and I would work well together, and how much space I could cover at one time, I felt pretty successful.  That's not to say I don't have a LOT of practicing to do still, but I don't feel too bad about my attempt.


It mostly looks like this:
 
and this:

 
or this:

 
with a little of this:
 
 
I might need to rip that one out and redo it!
 
Unfortunately, I noticed some of this on the back.  I know that has something to do with my tension, but I'm not sure how to fix it.  Raise the tension?  Lower it?  Any suggestions?
 
 
Thanks for being a witness to my first attempt at FMQing a whole quilt.  Honestly, I'm pretty proud of myself.  But, I'm still a little afraid of it...
 
Linking up this week with Needle and Thread Thursday and Really Random Thursday.  Thanks for the fun linky parties!

5 comments:

Catrin Lewis said...

That looks a lot like my first attempt at fmq! I went for loops instead of stippling too. You're right, the only way to get over the fear is to jump straight in.

Looking at the back I think that you probably need to raise your top tension, but I'm no expert x

kim said...

That looks great for a first effort!

Jessica Hadden said...

I can so identify, you are not alone!

Anonymous said...

Congratulations seems like you are definitely on the road to FMQ!. When you feed dogs are down you control the stitch size. I have had this happen to me and was advised that I was moving the fabric too fast. Thanks for sharing. have a great weekend. Marie (mlismore@optusnet.com.au)

Kelly @ My Quilt Infatuation said...

I think your first attempts on a whole quilt look great. There is just no substitute for the weight of a quilt, even if you've practiced on smaller pieces beforehand. I agree with Marie. On the back where you have "eyelashes" it's because you're moving too fast. If you slow down a little bit, that should fix itself.

I'm so glad you shared at Needle and Thread Thursday!

:) Kelly @ My Quilt Infatuation