dtsobel Posted January 19, 2015 Report Share Posted January 19, 2015 Our Falcon (Millie) arrived on Tuesday. It was installed on Wednesday. I was/am so excited but I don't even know where to start...... I know that I just need to "start". I know "Practice, practice, practice." Doug, dh went to Joann's and bought a bolt of muslin just to practice so we loaded a yard of plain fabric on Falcon. The vast white open space is overwhelming...... How do I truly start? What size should I work on? I am so confused, I don't even know what to write to you..... Also Falcon keeps beeping at me, any idea why? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chickenscratch Posted January 19, 2015 Report Share Posted January 19, 2015 Draw some 10 inch squares on that white muslin, then practice doodling in each square. YOu will be surprised you will be by the 10th or 12 square. The beeping is a warning to let you know the stitch regulator is on and it will sew if the head is moved. Warning you to keep your fingers away from the needle Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quilting Heidi Posted January 19, 2015 Report Share Posted January 19, 2015 Like Teresa said if the big space is overwhelming (it is for me too) draw on it and go from there. You can do squares of different sizes, grids and lines. Once you feel like you are making progress then do a more "planned" play piece. You'll have it in no time. I found that practicing my name really got me to get the feel of the quilt. It isn't something I'd usually quilt but I can write my name without any other thoughts so that let me concentrate on getting the feel of the machine. Another thing that David Jones taught me was to do a circle, round, round, round as fast as you can until eventually you are hitting the same spots. Once you have it in one direction go in another direction. You can do this! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zora Posted January 19, 2015 Report Share Posted January 19, 2015 Basically, I used the muslin to just practice moving the machine. Write your name, practice making loops, swirls and spirals. Start large, and move to progressively smaller. Once you have the hang of smooth curves, you can move on to doing a variety of feathers to find which ones work for you. Use a straight long arm ruler to practice stitch in the ditch..you need an extended base for that. I have the Hartley base and love it. Then move on to practicing a variety of fillers. Spend at least a half hour a day, every day, practicing. Since I have a hard time practicing on just plain fabric, I dug out my old scrap quilts and just went for it. I practiced continuous curves on one. I was the continuous curve queen by the time I got to the bottom of that quilt! It's intimidating, I know. But, it's a machine, and you can master it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ffq-lar Posted January 19, 2015 Report Share Posted January 19, 2015 Use your channel locks to stitch the grids. That will give you an idea of how they work. Once the grids are stitched, do as others advised and fill each one. The stitched edges will feel more like quilting on an actual pieced quilt top. I just cleaned my studio to the walls and found my old practice pieces from years ago. I relived how anxious I was when I started out. We all started there. Remember that every stitch you make takes you closer to where you want to be. So dig in and stitch away! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Busy Quilting Posted January 19, 2015 Report Share Posted January 19, 2015 Start with same type of writing lessons a pre schooler would get. e's in all directions up, down left right, then move onto l's all directions, then o's all directions now form your o's the opposite way. If clockwise the first time now do them anticlockwise now try u's then w's and you are on your way. Now some straight lines up don, left right then diagonally. So take your basic handwriting and progress Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Quilted Petal Posted January 19, 2015 Report Share Posted January 19, 2015 I too was intimidated at the large space I had to quilt, after being use to a 9" throat on a Janome sewing machine! I practiced doodling, just as I would with a pen and paper. I "drew" flowers, starts, trees, names, animals, just anything to get the feel of the machine. APQS also has fabulous videos on how to do quilting designs and there is a 14 page printout called "Quilting the Quilt" that I received free by signing up for emails. It has been very helpful too. Most of all, relax & HAVE FUN!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RitaR Posted January 20, 2015 Report Share Posted January 20, 2015 You probably knew this and are using it. For those who don't know, be sure and make the muslin two layers with batting in between. It makes a big difference just adding the batting. I still use the sandwich of fabric and batting, when I need to practice something. I keep one on spare leaders for a quick on and off. Good luck. All the info given is correct and makes total sense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carolinequilts Posted January 20, 2015 Report Share Posted January 20, 2015 Rita starts off with good advise for a really beginning beginning. You will need to figure out how to 'load' your quilt top, batting and backing. Once you've done that you should also get used to your controls. Do with without even threading the machine. Figure out how to start, and how to start the stitch regulator, how to use the channel locks, needle up down. Become comfortable with them because when you actually start stitching, you don't have time to figure out what button to push - it should be automatic. Get used to the controls from the front and from the back (they are the same, but moving the machine feels different. Once you know your controls, follow the instructions to thread the machine and start practicing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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