One of the suggested prompts for The 2020 31 Day Blog Writing Challenge that I'm participating in is "Skills I Wish I Had." And as you scroll through my post, you might be inclined to think, 'So what's the problem?' But it's not that easy.
A skill I wish I had - the one I want to talk about today - is free-motion quilting. If you know my work even a little, you know I lean to walking-foot quilting, and that means that the quilting of the projects below being done free-motion was hard-won.
It was in 2011 that I completed a project with free-motion quilting for the very first time. It was on a small quilt, and it wasn't the first time I'd tried. But it was the first time I didn't resort to removing all my stitches and giving up. It was monumental for me. "I [felt] like [I'd] had a life-changing experience," were my words at the time.
Another success was in 2013, when I tried the same circular motif on Chinese Checkers. This one was actually a halfway positive experience, inconsistent stitch-length aside. I got in the groove and it actually felt ok.
In 2015, with Mod Mood, I was fresh off a FMQ class, where I'd discovered this one design that I felt good about executing. This may be the largest quilt I successfully free-motioned, and I still am proud of it.
And then in 2017, with Spikey, I tried the Radio Static motif, which on this small piece was relatively successful.
So see, there are some successes, few and far between as they've been. But for each of these, imagine a dozen where I've gotten started, and then reconsidered almost immediately, removing stitches and resorting back to the familiar. Yes, I know practice and more practice is key, but even that is arduous work (read: I hate it) and inevitably I feel out of control, and give up. Maybe it's a mental block I'll eventually overcome, but at this point it remains an enigma.
I was really intimidated to try free motion quilting and it took taking a workshop (with Elizabeth Hartman at QuiltCon in 2013) for me to get over the hump. Learning in person and getting hands on time and discussion was really key for me learning free motion quilting.
ReplyDeleteFor me it's straight line quilting. I look at Red Pepper Quilts beautiful straight lines and then try to do them myself and get all sorts of weird puckers... so I unpick and just FMQ.
ReplyDeleteFMQ is it for me too. I don't even try anymore, haha
ReplyDeleteFMQ - I've found one loop that I can do, but otherwise I totally fail at this. I need systematic lines, even if wavy, with my walking foot, otherwise I totally get lost in knowing where I am going with FMQ.
ReplyDeleteI hated FMQ right there in the class I took! I don’t find it relaxing or an enjoyable way of quilting. I find it stresssful to think ahead of where to go next, how to get there, and I don’t care for too close quilting. It makes the quilt stiff. Even though I can’t sew a straight line to save my life not to mention Santas, I stick with “sort-of” straight line quilting. But most importantly, I like the quilt to be about the fabrics and the fabric design. I feel a lot of fancy quilting gets in the way of that.
ReplyDeleteI am in this boat with you!I am fairly comfortable with using my walking foot but only for smaller quilts. I am not confident with free- motion but have signed up for some classes and maybe that will help!
ReplyDeleteI did a little FMQ when I first started quilting (about 12 years ago), but I've stopped for several reasons. First, I'm 12 years older and I find it much more difficult to control FMQ than before. Second, I've moved and have less room to maneuver quilts. Third, I actually like straight line quilting and I think it's very effective on more modern quilts. Lastly, when I have really big quilts, they go to the LA anyway, but I still prefer less elaborate quilting patterns.
ReplyDeleteI love, love, love a good all-over FMQ design! I actually find it easier to quilt a large quilt with FMQ than the walking foot because I'm able to move the quilt in all directions. The skill I don't possess and therefore I avoid this technique at all cost is curved piecing. I tried it a couple of times, I even have placemats that have curves, but they are far from perfect and I just don't enjoy the process at all.
ReplyDeleteI love that you've given FMQ the good 'ole "college try." Funnily, you can replace "free motion quilting" with "walking foot quilting," and describe my walking foot skills. I struggle with it, feeling-wise because I don't like it (I hate it). But we each do what we have to do, right? Once again, I'm reminded that quiltmaking has something for everyone, and that's a good thing!
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