Pliers and Elastic

The other day I shared a video from Leah Day about adapting the free motion foot on your sewing machine to get better results when free motion quilting.

I thought it be worth sharing my experience so far...

I bravely bent the bar at the top of the spring, but it actually snapped off... luckily it still holds the spring in place!

My pliers had prongs on so I didn't snip the plastic guide at the front as Leah suggests, but if I am honest it doesn't bother me at the moment so I think I will just leave it for now.

The hardest thing has been the elastic band..

Initially I thought the band had to be wound on so there was no gap between the spring and the top of the foot. It has worked fine, but the gap between the foot and the quilt seemed enormous and made me slightly nervous!

Today I finally put 2 and 2 together and realised that there does need to be a gap so that it skims over the top of the quilt. But it is important that it doesn't lower completely onto the quilt, otherwise you won't be able to get any free motion out of the foot!

The machine is much quieter and it is fantastic to not have the foot jumping around every stitch it takes. If it starts to go off course the elastic band can be added or removed to change the pressure the foot is putting on the quilt.

At first Leah's advice seemed a bit extreme, but I am glad I followed it!

Using pliers...

I have been following Leah Day since I found her blog earlier in the summer, I have used her wonderful blog to practice free motion quilting. Her designs are so imspirational.

So when I found out the folk at Craftsy had recruited her to teach a quilting class, and I could get it 50% off because I already have classes there, it was an immediate decision to enrol!

I have watched the first couple of lessons and she talks about adapting your free motion foot so it works better on your machine.....

The suggestion she makes is pretty drastic, but I decided it was worth a go - plus I have another foot in the post if it back fires on me!

So I set to the foot with pliers and an elastic band to adjust it as she suggests.

She actually has a video of it posted on You Tube from a while ago, so I thought I would share it with you.




In all honesty I was nervous about making the changes, but it has meant the machine is quiter and the foot now just glides over the surface of the quilt whilst I work. It has also taken a little bit of playing with the height of the foot and the tension on the machine, but I do like how the quilt glides under the foot...

Free Motion 9/365

A little bit late today - I completed the block as the boys were getting into bed, but then started working on a huge, bright quilt and then end is in sight!

So today's block is called Cursive F's, which are lovely f's in rows....

It was an interesting design to quilt (sorry for the awful photo!), I experimented with straight f's, elongated f's and small f's.

I really enjoyed working with the block, but as Leah points out, it is a border design, I am not sure I put it into a quilt as the main pattern.

Free Motion Quilting 8/365

Today the block is Wobbly Cosmos.

It is a pretty cool design because it works out from the centre and is like an explosion of colour!

I really like the fuchsia pink Aurifil Thread I used too!

Looks really groovy!

Free Motion Quilting 6/365

Today I am really late doing my free motion block, work has been a bit chaotic!

So today I decided to have a go at swirls and rounded corners.

The block is called Flowing Glass:

The block is quite easy to do, but getting the stitches consistent is quite hard. Plus I didn't work into the middle enough on the first side - a fear of going out too far - so when I was travelling up the other side I really had to go right across the void!

The gloves were great again and made real difference to moving the square around.

Free Motion Quilting 5/365

Yesterday was the Matrix, which I really enjoyed working on. It is such an intense design and perfect for filling space.

Today I went back to swirls: Spiral Vine.

It looks really good! Yesterday at the Festival of Quilts I invested in the quilting gloves that Leah suggested on her blog (I am not stalking her I promise!). They are called Machingers Quilting Gloves, which you can get from Leah's shop if your in the States or from Creative Grids in the UK. They definitely made moving the square much easier and I felt I had much more control.

I will let you know how I get on using them on the bigger quilt I am working on.....

Free Motion Quilting 4/365

I managed to have a go at this design once I got back from the Festival of Quilts yesterday, but I didn't manage to get it online. So today there will be two designs.

The fourth design is Matrix.

It isn't too hard to do, but I did get a bit confused about direction in one of the corners and then I think I put too big a dip into the line so the lines kinda get confused and muddled... but pretty easy to do and looks good!

I will do the next one later... swimming with the monsters first!

Free Motion Quilting 2/365

OK, so yesterday was fun... I checked it out today and it was OK...

Today was harder!

I picked at random from the beginner page Sea Algae....

Not too bad, but not great. I did enjoy seeing it coming together though!

Where to tomorrow...... any suggestions from the beginners page?

Never Curb Your Enthusiasm

I am notoriously enthusiastic about quilting and sewing.....

If you read my blog regularly, you will know my addiction to fabric is seriously detrimental to my bank account...

I am also a huge advocate of the power of crafting/sewing to boost peoples self esteem and confidence. The sense of achievement and fulfilment a person gets from making something is unmeasurable.

I teach 4 young ladies every Thursday how to sew. They are sisters, each with their own strong personality and strengths and weaknesses. The eldest (N) has both dyslexia and dyspraxia, which has made her sewing journey an interesting - sometimes triumphant, sometimes hard...

We decided a couple of weeks ago to make quilts. Everyone picked a couple of charm packs, which have mixed with plains. The girls picked their own pattern and we started cutting. Each quilt reflects the makers personality in a way I never thought was possible!

Working steadily and gaining confidence, N started pinning her own work. She has a gorgeous quilt of reds and pinks that we have just basted together. Her seams have steadily improved and the smile on her face when she finished the lesson is infectious.

Last week we tried straight line quilting and free motion quilting. N loved the free motion. The lack of restraint and the fact she could make 'mess' and it still looked good caught her imagination.

Today I showed her my Shadow Waves sample from Leah Day's website and she wanted to give it a go... so we did!

Her attempt was amazing.. and I mean amazing!

She then decided it needed something else and could she investigate filling the waves with circles....

Here is her work:

What do you think?

I think this 14 year old young lady, who has struggled with traditional education, has found her groove!

Free motion quilting 1/365

So, after checking out Leah Day's website and her fantastic journey through free motion quilting last week, I have decided to try out her designs.

The best way to learn a new skill is to do it, and do it often!

So I am going to try and do one of her blocks everyday... I think by the time I have practised free motion quilting everyday for a year, I should have cracked it!

So here is today's go:

It is the Shadow Waves block that starts the beginners section of Leah's patterns. It's not perfect, but I do like the texture and I tried to concentrate on getting the stitches the same length!

Tomorrow I have picked Sea Algae, we shall see how that goes!