Good Morning, Quilters!
Are YOU discouraged with your free motion quilting progress?
If so, YOU are not alone-several quilters have mentioned their discouragement in theĀ Quilting with LKQ Facebook group.
Today, I would like to address those of you who are feeling a bit discouraged….
And to quilters who have overcome discouragement–Please chime in with YOURĀ tips.
It’s Hard to Be a Beginner
No matter your age, it’s hard to be a beginner!Ā It’s much more comfortable to be competent and skilled.
Unfortunately, there is only one way to gain that level of skill–practice.
I Feel YOUR Pain
A few years ago, I began dabbling in watercolor painting.Ā Though I’ve been practicing fairly regularly for months, 98% of my work is awful.
As I write this, I’m not sure I have the courage to post a photo….
As a quilt instructor, learning watercolor painting has been an excellent reminder to me how discouraging the learning process can be!Ā I often want to quit.
However, there are three things that keep me going:
- I enjoy the process.
- The challenge excites me.
- I believe the end result is worth it.
Enjoy the Process
I love the process of watercolor painting.Ā I love theĀ colors (though I often turn pretty, clear colors into mud–argh!)
And I love the meditative process of painting.Ā If every one of my paintings went straight into the garbage-I would continue to paint because I enjoy the process.
A long time ago,Ā even as a novice with wobbly quilting lines,Ā I loved the free motion quilting process. (I still do, of course!)
I love the fabric and the thread colors and the hum of my sewing machine….
The focused time, away from the cares of the day or the news or social media, fills me with joy.
Embrace the Challenge
If everything inĀ life was easy, we wouldn’t bother getting up in the morning.
The challenge of the day gets me moving. (Coffee helps too!)
It excites me to wonder whether I can paint a peony today, or quilt a new motif.
Sure, it’s fun to be able to think about a funny little dog and quilt it, but it’s equally fun to challenge myself to quilt a new design.
Experimentation is exciting–even if the results are sub-par.
The fun part is the challenge and progress–not the achievement.
Believe the End Result is Worthwhile
I LOVE anything handmade.Ā I love the connection with the quilter or painter or potter…
YOUR handmade quilts will be cherished by your friends and family –because YOU made them.
Your perfectly imperfect quilting gives your quilts a hand made quality that you can’t buy!
Avoid Comparison
Don’t compare yourself to other quilters who have been quilting for years!
Julia Cameron, (The Artist’s Way)-describes this as artist abuse.Ā Ā
And don’t compare yourself with bloggers–who show only the best part of their work–not the mistakes. (Trust me–I know a quilter who places her scissors or a spool of thread over the mistakes…)
Don’t Assume You’ll Never Get Better
Just because you are struggling now, don’t assume you’ll never learn how to free motion quilt smoothly.Ā The learning process is not linear.Ā Learning a skill is often characterized by steady improvement with occasional jumps in learning.Ā I remember struggling with free motion quilting and then one day out of the blue (or so it seemed) I was swirling and twirling as if by magic.Ā (The next day was a struggle)…but this was followed by more and more “magical” days.Ā (I haven’t gotten very many “magical” painting days…but I keep trying LOL!
The Secret Recipe
Someone once said to me that quilters seem to think there is a secret trick to free motion quilting.Ā But it’s really like dieting, we know how to lose weight–eat less, exercise more.
Here’s the secret potion:
2 dollops doodling
3 dashes quilting
Stir confidently for 15-30 minutes per day
Then bind it–Binding is like salt–everything tastes better with binding!
YOUR James Beard Award Winning Quilter,
Chef Lori
PS….All tutorials, images and information are the property of Lori @ Lori Kennedy Quilts.com and are intended for personal use.Ā Ā Feel free to reblog, pin or share with attribution to LKQ.Ā For all other purposes, please contact me at Lori@LoriKennedyQuilts.com!Ā Thank YOU!
PS..This post contains an affiliate link to Amazon.Ā If you chose to purchase–at no additional cost to you–I may receive a little “pin-money”.Ā Thank you for supporting LKQ in this way!
32 comments
marykayf
Thank you, Lori, for your wonderful words of wisdom – and encouragement!
Sally Broste
One of the earliest lessons Lori suggested drawing a grid and fmq up n down in first grid and back and forth horizontally in second block, repeating across row, then opposite in the second row going back. IT WAS SO FREEING!!! And the texture was great! Now when I get hung up or freeze about my fmq I just start my grid again and feel better.
Cheralee Stover
I embraced the realization that my doodling will never have the open, consistent spacing that most FMQ looks like. And that’s okay. If I travel back over a line, I don’t mind. I never sacrifice the integrity of the piecing and construction of my quilts, but I don’t even aim to imitate the exact designs others make. They aren’t “mine”. So, while I call what I do “quilt scribbles”, I know that anyone who sees it will recognize it as my work and it’s neither good nor bad. It’s simply me, in thread form. Letting go of duplicating another’s work made a huge difference. My flower petals aren’t round, so I make them lilies. I just work towards better lilies.
Carolyn G. Riddle
I don’t do machine quilting -only hand quilting. Am I the only one? Cri
Doreen
Good Morning, I also hand quilt and really enjoy the process. Now I am big stitch quilting as well as attempting my free motion. Big Stitch quilting is getting to be popular again and fun to do.
Judy Barchi
Thank you Lori, I never considered myself good at freehand drawing, but now I realizing my doodling is improving with practice…it makes me feel I’m trainable after all.
anniebodos
I want to FMQ, but I absolutely hate to doodle. I bought one of those little items you recommended from Amazon and do a little doodling on it (until I misplaced it in my cleaned up sewing room š). Found it yesterday and will go back to practicing. This blog post and your book have been a real blessing and help. Thank you so much for al the help and encouragement. ā„ļø
Cyndy
While I don’t HATE to doodle, I just plain can’t draw, which includes doodling. I do better with putting something under the needle, and “doodling” on the sewing machine.
Shelley A Kaurin
I tell everyone and myself I am working on a learning quilt. People say it’s great when all I see are it’s faults, but it’s ok because every quilt is just a trial run.
suzanne
The saying “every day is a new day” can be trite, but it is also true for some days I just am not as coordinated, or straight is not in the machine’s vocabulary, but I’ve learned to warm up a little at the start of the day, and select my goal for the day based on that, this really helped me through discouragement. I also pick patterns whether in piecing or quilting with room for creativity so wayward work is just part of the plan. And over time skills improve, and I have improved in selecting projects that give me satisfying outcomes.
Diana
I have been discouraged because I do not know what to do with the weight and drag on the quilt as I am quilting. I am exhausted after each session because I have wrestled and fought with the quilt. I do not do small projects except when practicing. Smaller projects look great. Big ones not so much. Has anyone tried the quilt support contraptions that I have seen on Instagram? The quilt is held up by strong clamps.
Nan Wilson
I use a combination: my adjustable height ironing board to the side of my machine and borrow the kitchen bar stools for behind the sewing table. This works very well for me and the price is right. Because I have a very simple and old machine, I do not attempt fmq on large quilts–simple linear designs work best.
Susan Geldmeier
I bought dog grooming bars and quilting clamps for my last big project.
It made a huge difference
Kathie Banks
Hi Diana, Quilt your big projects like you would eat an elephant. Even a meander can be quilted one bite at a time. Put your hands in a frame like position and quilt only inside that frame. Pull the bulk of the quilt up on your table, add a table or ironing board to the left of you and bunch quilt in your lap. I like to work against a wall so nothing falls on the floor. Once it’s all puddled around you…position your frame-hands and quilt that spot. Stop often and rearrange frequently. One bite at a time. Relax those shoulders and stitch one bite at a time. Even a custom project with a different motif in each block can be quilted this way. One bite at a time.
Angela Gildea
Not discouraged at all – just very busy with new grandchild (born last week) and another one due this weekend! I feel that I have got the basics and that I can pick things up in a few weeks!
Marta
Just wanted to say, IMHO quilting is not test tube science, it is an ART!
Nancy
Thank you so much, this is such a positive push to continue on!
Shelley A Kaurin
I did Lori’s 25 days n the pandemic. Her lessons are like the ingredients in a recipe, you need them all to work together in the end, but you learn them one by one. I was a total newbie, didn’t know anything about thread etc. I posted my assignments on FB and got so much encouragement Happy I stuck with it,I have more confidence.now. Lori you even commented on one of my posts. That was encouraging.
barbara falbey
I’ve gotten inexpensive quilts at goodwill or thrift shops, ones that were tied or very simply quilted and enjoyed using those for free motion practice. Some have become placemats in their new lives.
Chris B.
Your post today rang true with me as did many of the comments. Practising (and warming up when Iāve been away from it for a while) really does help. I see the slips and errors still, but I see the improvements too. As Nwgirl says, it brings me joy.
Itās true that we benefit from that quiet, unplugged time at the machine as almost a form of meditation.
I have also been doing watercolours for several years. My work today isnāt fantastic, but itās improved from when I began.
Letās be gentle with ourselves. Thanks for your inspiration and encouragement.
Anne
When I was beginning FMQ, I bought panels of juvenile prints and made simple baby quilt tops. I practiced on those, then bound them and gave them away to charities. Babies donāt care if itās not what you hoped for, they enjoy the colors and softness. I feltproductive and I gained the necessary skills.
Practice is the key to improvement.
Bobbie
Yes, the doodling is SO important. I hadnāt machine quilted in about a month. I sat down to do so last night WITHOUT doodling first. What a disaster! I needed to spend the necessary time regaining that muscle memory instead of the half-hour unsewing!
pegsplace
Just the message I needed to hear today. Vacation starts in two days and free motion quilting is on my priority list. I love the feeling of doing it but it is the tension that gets me and I can never seem to get it right. I am going to try to ignore it and see what happens.
Jill
Lori is right! We just have to keep going and keep practising. I never thought I would get nice smooth lines and curves or have control over what I wanted to sew and where. My quilts are nowhere near perfect but I love them and no one will ever notice the jags and bobbles because the overall effect and texture takes over. Those to whom we give our quilts argrateful for our love and admiring of our hard work and talent. I have been free motion quilting for three years and have felt competent for the last eighteen months. It amazes me to see what I can create as I would not have said I had an artistic bone in my body! However, that is the beauty of our wonderful craft. Just keep going!
Cindy Clark
Doodle…doodle…doodle! I really love to doodle.
I have been practicing my free-motion quilting on charity quilts…for Project Linus! The kids who receive them don’t care about perfection..they just cuddle with the quilt. So it’s a win/win situation. Thanks for your encouraging words!
nwgirl
It was after I discovered the more free flowing freemotion techniques that Lori and a few others teach that I really started enjoying FMQ. Yes, sometimes I use tight or more formal designs, and sometimes even rulers, but the “doodle” method brings the most joy. And no matter how many times you think you “messed up”, recipients of those quilts are always thrilled, with no idea that you made “mistakes”. Be kind to yourself and just enjoy the process of learning. It will get easier and more fun as you go.
Lynn
Every one of my quilts is a learning experience. Learning something new that I want to repeat or keep doing, but more often learning something not to do or repeat.š
Marta
Exactly !! So true !! well said…
Bette
Everything you said in this post is so true! A friend once told me āit doesnāt have to be perfect to be excellentā and that has stayed with me. Enjoy the process and know that the recipient of your quilted gift will treasure it in spite of a few errant stitches. Thanks Lori!
Doreen Sherk
Good morning Lori, your article is just what I needed to hear. I have been quilting for a number of years and am still not confident in my free motion quilting so I stick to quilting with my walking foot. Yes I can get some pretty results with it, I want to free motion quilt. Your article gave me the confidence to just get back to it. Your recipe is perfect advise. I have purchased your first book for inspiration and few years ago. Thank you for sharing your talents, ideas and words of encouragement.
Julie
Chef Lori – Love your recipe! My FMQ isn’t very precise, but I like the hand made look of it. I’m always in awe of those perfect masterpieces at quilt shows & I aim to improve my work. However I recognize my limitations & am pleased with the progress I have made.
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