Thoughts on FMQ practice

As I mentioned in yesterday’s post, I had to do a LOT of FMQ practice before I felt comfortable quilting on the actual quilt!!

Now, my problem with FMQ practice is that I fight against the idea that I am wasting fabric and money!!! By the time I make the quilt sandwich using two pieces of fabric and one piece of batting, it ends up costing quite a bit. AND, because I have spent so much money on it, I am loathed to throw it away. Consequently, I have TONS of practice pieces lying around and taking up precious storage room in my studio!!

Somewhere, sometime in my life, I heard someone mention that they used paper towels to practice on and I took it one step further and bought a box of Shop Towels to use…..

I bought the brand name rather than the generic ones expecting that they would be a bit higher quality.

I pulled out three towels….

…being careful not to tear them.

I ironed them…..

……made the “sandwich” and headed to the machine. It worked GREAT!!!!

When I wanted to work on a wider piece, I pulled out several sheets and just folded them together rather than separating them. At the end of the practice time, I felt very comfortable with the pattern…..

And the best part was that when I was finished, I tossed them in the trash!!! Nothing else to store!!!

Plus the entire practice session cost about 40 cents!!!

Now….a couple more comments…..

I checked that the towels were lint free so I didn’t worry about lint accumulation.

I changed the needle after I was finished with the practice time and have now dedicated that needle entirely to the towels.

I am excited about the possibilities!!!