*&%$ Free Motion Quilting

I don't think I'll ever like free motion quilting.  I know I've complained about how bad I am at it before.  I would just like to be able to do it a little better...i.e. not have my quilt look like a drunk quilted it.

I've got the machine speed and movement thing down.  I understand the concept.  I have some tools like gloves and a Supreme Slider for my sewing machine bed to help me maneuver the quilt with more ease.  I could be better and my stitch quality is only okay, but unlike most other things with quilting I'm not demanding perfection on that front.  (I did have a bit of trouble finding a thread that would work and not give me tension issues on the machine I use for quilting.  I ended up using the Auriful that I've been using for piecing.)

I can't figure out the design aspect.  I tried a simple meander on the owl quilt and it doesn't look right.  I get so hyper when I quilt and I forget to slow down and work in small sections.  Before I know it, I've backed myself into a dead end, gone too far, or quilted in circles when I didn't want to.  (**Part of the problem with this quilt, too, was that I used a really light thread and I had trouble seeing the completed quilting.  I used it because it's all that would work in the machine and it was the only color of that thread that I had.  I am wondering if I would have done better having been able to see where I had quilted.  The fact that the quilting was invisible was supposed to be a good thing because my stitch quality wouldn't be so glaring, but I guess it's a trade off.)

I know it's like doodling, but I'm still not good at that.  I can't train my brain to do it.  The only thing left me to do, I guess, is to try to draw on some type of medium that I would attach to the quilt but remove upon completion and quilt around it, through it, or over it.

My other option is to have someone else quilt for me which really isn't an option because I can't afford it.....and would mean I'm a quitter.

I have only the outside border to quilt and then the binding to sew.

I guess the good thing is that S think the quilt looks great, is impatient for me to finish it, and that she doesn't care how it looks---isn't so picky like her mom.