POosterman

I just started free motion quilting and found that to be my best option without buying a new machine.

Berta48

Could you post the video so we can watch it and know how to do it?

minnow895

i place two door stops under my machine .that makes it so i don't have to strain to see what i am doing. i have also heard that if you make a table that is even with you machine the material slides easyer and sdosen't get caught on the sides of the table. i have had that problem the flater the quilt the better

dlf0122quilting

I use the lightweight nylon gloves with the rubber dots on them from Target, they are much cooler on the skin and I use them instead of my Machingers that I paid twice as much for. If you can find a gardening glove with rubber knobbies on them that fits just a little snugly on your hands, they work great. The other thing I use all the time when I FMQ is a thing called the Sew Slider (I think that is the name) which is a sheet of material that has a hole in it for the needle and it sticks to the table extension on your machine. The quilt will glide on it and you won't have to work so hard at it. I also have been told to make sure I starch the backing before doing FMQ and it will glide better. Just a couple of thoughts for you to ponder and try out on your machine. Are you using an extension table on your machine when you FMQ?

SewExtremeSeams

Thank you Newbie and Hawghugger: you have given me two great ideas. I have been looking into the Flynn Frame and wasn't quite sure about it. Your pictures Hawghugger were a great help to me.

I, like many of you who wrote into Newbie's questions, am like you... sorta intimidated by FMQ. Guess I just need to do it. Thanks evryone :)

Lostn51

I bought the brown cotton jersey gloves with the dots on them at Lowes for .99 and love them. My hands dont sweat and I get the job done!

Billy

NewYearsOld

I have tried the gloves and they work well, however, they are too warm for me. My most favorite method is to use the Finger Cots (you can find them by the band-aids) Assorted sizes in a box, very cheap. Or if you want, rubber fingers at the office supply store. you don't have to have one for every finger, but you have to see what works for you. I have done all of my quilting this way since I found them. I quilt on my Viking Lily 550, about 7 inch throat.

Lisa

butterflywing

i've seen machines made to work that way. there's a dealer that appears at almost every show. she sells a special table to accommodate the machine, which is built to be used in that direction. it's a big honkin' machine that sits in a cut-out
hole in the table and the fabric glides around on two huge wings on the back and the left side of the table. the combo costs two fortunes and the table alone costs a fortune. but, hey, if they can do it, you can do it. why not? if it fits, wear it! :wink:

flybreit

All I can say is "Why didn't someone think of that sooner?!"
I'll be trying this soon!

Definitely get the quilting gloves and the Sew Slip is amazing!

Camai Johnson

In between ferrying kids to their Monday night "stuff" I went to the library and pulled out some machine quilting books tonight. I was short on time at the end but found one where the author talked about (and demonsrated) how she adds batting a section at a time so when she rolls up her sides to slide them into the throat, they are much much smaller. Then when she is ready to do the left side, she adds batting and same for the right side. It made alot of sense.