Hi Ladyrags:
Basic machine quilting is easy to learn. PRACTICE is what will give you confidence and skill. I don't have a video to recommend (I learned in an adult ed class years ago), but I do have a lot of advice!
First, make several "sandwiches" of fabric & batting, about 20" square. Baste them together every 5" or so with safety pins. (I use the pins that are about 1" long, but some folks like larger ones)
For straight (or slightly curving) lines, use a WALKING FOOT. This feeds the top layer along at the same rate as the bottom layer, so the top layer doesn't bunch up in front of the presser foot. Practice following lines drawn on your practice sandwich. Remove pins as you approach them (it's hard to get them out if you wait till you've stitched right up to them!). When you start or end a line of stitching, make about 1/4" of very tiny stitches so your stitching won't pull out. If you feel like you're losing control, just STOP for a moment (good advice for life in general, too).
Free-motion quilting, once you get the hang of it, is much easier & faster than using the walking foot. It's also more versatile, as you can "draw" any shape or design you can think up. Lower the feed dogs on your machine, and put on a darning foot.
First, practice just moving your sandwich around in random directions to get the feel of the stitching. You'll soon get a feel for how fast you need to move the sandwich to coordinate with machine speed, to get more even stitches. Use slow hand movements with slow machine speeds, and faster hand movements as you speed-up the machine. Again, use small stitches to anchor the start and end of lines.
Then draw some shapes like stipples, flowers, spirals, your name, etc. on the sandwich, and try following the lines with your stitching. It's often easier to get a smooth curve when moving faster, rather than slower. You'll improve quickly with practice! Once you feel you've got the "hang" of it, it's time to do...a real quilt!
Baste your quilt the same as your sandwich, pins every 4-5". Be sure, when basting it, that the backing is smooth and taut; this will prevent pleats in the back when you quilt. The quilt top should also be pulled smooth and fairly tight (but not stretched out of shape). When I had wall-to-wall carpeting, I'd stretch and pin the backing right to the rug, using straight pins around the edges; next layer on the batting; lastly stretch and pin down the top. Then use safety pins to baste the layers together. After basting, just take out the straight pins. Now I have to tape the layers to a wood floor. This also works, but I need knee pads to do my basting!
Machine-quilting gloves really help you keep a grip on your quilt. Clean gardening gloves are a good substitute; some folks use rubber fingers or other aids. Gloves are really the only extra you'll need, aside from the walking and darning feet.
You'll read a lot about rolling up your quilt to fit it under your machine, throwing it over your shoulder, etc. etc. This makes some sense if you're using a walking foot to do long lines down the quilt. But if you're doing free-motion quilting, ignore all this, or you'll spend all your time trying to keep your rolls in place. Just get a small section of the quilt (about a foot square) in place under the needle like a puddle. Smooth it and make sure it's not pulling in any direction (like, by the rest of the quilt falling off the table), and make sure you can move it around freely. Concentrate on quilting this small section. Then move on to another little section, and puddle it under the needle, and so on. I usually work from the center of the quilt toward the edges. This helps prevent bubbles and pleats, and also gets easier as you get closer to the edges, so you're rewarded for doing the harder bits first!
Machine quilting isn't as difficult to learn as people think. Of course, getting as good as Sharon Schamber or Diane Gaudynski will take a LOT of practice...! But, you'll soon find you're able to do a nice job on your own quilts. Every stitch doesn't need to be perfect on a quilt meant to be used and loved, and no one but you will see where you wobbled off course. Really!
Let us know how you make out!
:shock:
And, when it comes down to fabric/batting/backing its different almost each time so I always do a test using top-/batting/backingfabric for the quilt in question.
