Free Motion Quilting - What I have learnt

As you know I love patchwork. I have made clothes and bags, but patchwork is my passion!

 

It all started back in 1996 when I spotted a patchwork quilt in a magazine and immediately bought a small cheep sewing machine. That fist king size quilt has pride of place in my bedroom and is still used to build dens!

 

Faded and worn, but a den building staple!

 

For  person who avoided sewing lessons at school because they were for girls that is quite an achievement!

 

When I started patchwork I was  determined hand quilter. I couldn't seem to get the machine to quilt in the way I wanted it to, so I stopped trying - I didn't realise I needed special feet and strong enough thread.

 

In 2011 that all changed when my youngest son requested a quilt for his birthday which was 3 weeks away. I undertook a self taught crash course in machine quilting. The joy of the internet is that you can find out pretty much anything and I was able to find out why my previous attempts had never worked. The quilt was finished at 2am on his birthday and he still pulls it out to snuggle under whenever he can.

The birthday quilt designed by mini.

My first attempt at free motion quilting!

 

So my free motion journey has been a relatively short one - especially placed in the context of the 20 years I have been making quilts. And it is a journey I have loved. In fact I often love the free motion quilting more than the patchwork.

 

As a sewing teacher I have taught free motion quilting to all my patchwork classes. Some students love the challenge and throw themselves in whole heartedly, whilst others give it a go and then run away screaming!

 

It is a hard skills to master - especially on a small domestic machine - but is one that is worth working on. My free motion is not perfect and nor do I ever expect it to be. I have the privilege of knowing that if I select a thread that matches the fabric I am working on then all of my faults will fade into the background of the quilt. They will add texture and interest. Even if the thread doesn't blend in the not so perfect pebble will look perfectly fine in a sea of not so perfect pebbles. They will all look amazing together!

'Mistakes' make up part of the whole design.

For beginner to free motion quilting this idea of just doing it, ignoring the little 'mistakes' and trusting the journey can be tough. It can cause a project to be rejected. But you must keep going, keep quilting, keep moving forward. Each time to quilt with our machine you are getting better. Each pebble will blend in with the other pebbles.  You will never reach perfection but you will create a unique quilt that will wrapped around you family and friends for many years - 20 years and counting in my household.

 

When in doubt - just keep quilting!

Perfecting the Design...

Last week I finished a quilt top for a special birthday present.

It is gorgeous, but huge!

I have taken the Craftsy course by Angela Walters about Quilting Negative Spaces and she suggested breaking large quilts down into sections to quilt. To be honest I was a bit sceptical about that working - I mean if I quilt certain areas and then move on to another surely the layers will bunch up?

So I sat down with the gorgeous quilt and pondered a design... and I decided that the size of it does mean I have to work in sections, so what to do?

I had already decided to do a sun ray pattern in the octagons, a swirl in the middle and wavy lines radiating out, but the negative spaces had been a bit more of a mystery...

I tried a hoop design and turned over the quilt to discover a great big crease... plus the design just didn't look right in the space... seam ripper was found...

Then I tried a large single swirl... again it didn't look right and I got a crease....I hate that bloody seam ripper...

Finally I took a break and decided on a line design in one section and swirls in another... Now I am happy!

 

 

The Tula Pink design suits the sun ray design in lilac thread.

 

 

 

The corners of the octagon have lines rediating out.

 

 

Sun ray in progress on the next octagon.

I had drawn everything out, but when the ideas were actually transferred to the quilt, they looked wrong... so I am machine quilting the biggest quilt yet in sections, taking care to get it as perfect as I can...


I am late with my gift already, but I am hoping the work and effort I have put into it will make up for the lateness!



Free Motion Quilting Lessons

As I said yesterday, machine quilting with a walking foot was an elusive skill. It frightened me, free motion quilting was way to scary to even contemplate!

My machine quilting was kicked started by my lovely mini monster requesting a patchwork quilt of his own. It has started a new obsession with all things machine quilting - it is really addictive once you get past the fear factor!

Yesterday I came across this amazing blog by Leah Day:

The Free Motion Quilting Project



Leah started an amazing journey in free motion by quilting 365, 4 inch squares each with a different design.

Each design comes complete with a video to show you how to get started and tips on how to complete the design.

For me this is made all the more perfect because she has divided all of the blocks into difficulty. The beginners page has an amazing array of patterns. After watching a few videos I feel confident to give the designs a go.... I even even sorted out some cotton to get my own blocks ready for practising!

Every Thursday Leah has a question blog, so you can email her your question about quilting and she will answer them on the blog - perfect!

So the next stage of machine quilting starts next week!

Happy quilting!

Trying out new skills...

I have been a quilter for many years, but always had a fear is machine quilting. It was a totally irrational fear, but I know lots of people share.

In January, my youngest son announced that he was the only child in the house without his own quilt. He insisted that his birthday present was a quilt.... not a major problem, except his birthday was 4 weeks away! There was no way I could possibly make a patchwork top and then hand quilt it in 4 weeks!

There was nothing for it, I was going to have machine quilt his present and do it quickly!

He picked his fabrics and we decided on simple circles on a plain background, so the patchwork was simple enough. Then I faced down my fears and free motion quilted the quilt using swirls and stars.

I am very proud of my first attempt, and more importantly, mini monster loved it!

So now I have switched my focus from bags to teaching, I have some time to play with quilting, I am having a go at free motion and straight machine quilting:

I love this quilt and the way that the quilting is making it change and the texture is gaining!

The free motion flowers and a bigger challenge but I am enjoying it:

So the adventure in machine quilting will continue, accompanied by my stack of new quilting books for inspiration and tips!