Quiltingboard Forums - Hello from Omaha Nabraska

Hello Tee from Omaha, NE. Welcome to the Quilting Board from sunny Nevada! So glad your "quilt as you go" quilts came out well. How did you quilt those?

I'll give you my little tip on how I'm learning machine, or free motion, quilting. Now don't laugh! This is working! Everyone wants to use stencils, or just wing it. Me, I went out to the Salvation Army and Good Will shops and looked for "practice fabric". I wanted something cheap (e.g. so I could feel all right about throwing it away when done practicing) in a variety of large florals, medium florals, small florals, other prints, vines, leaves, all kinds of prints, and some plain fabrics too. Some of it came in the form of old curtains, old stained tablecloths, old skirts, big mens shirts, printed sheets, plain sheets, and all kinds of fabrics, thin to thick. I also picked up a bunch of flannel to use as batting, although paper towels will work in a pinch. Then I started with the big florals and made good sized "practice sandwiches" out of florals on top, flannel in the middle, sheet on the bottom, sewed all the way around the edges so it wouldn't shift around. I use the "Easy Slider" under the needle. It really helps to keep the fabric moving the way you want it to. I have one of the hoops (they have a round kind and a square kind - I have the square) to put the fabric in, so it's much easier to control. If you have a speed control on your machine, that's a real plus. Then I started quilting, with the free motion quilting foot, moving slowly around the big flowers as if outlining them. Thank goodness I got better! First tries were a mess. But the whole point of this exercise, which was given to me by a very seasoned quilter, was to get the feel of free motion quilting, make all my mistakes on the practice fabric, learn what I needed to learn about thread tension, bobbin thread nests and how to prevent them, and to continue practicing until I was controlling the machine instead of the other way around. I can't say I "control" it, but I'm much more in control. I know just how fast I can move the fabric. I'm so much more comfortable with it. I've done all kinds of patterns on fabric. I'm just starting free hand arcs and echo patterns on plain fabric -- not perfect yet, but improving. I can do pretty well with a stencil. It's been a load of work, and a lot of time practicing, but I'm just streets ahead of where I started. The more I practice, the more comfortable I become. It's not your traditional path to learning free motion quilting, but I'm not sure I could have learned the "traditional" way. And I still have lots of practice fabric left to work with from that initial $25 investment.

So that's my story. If it appeals to you, feel free to copy it, or modify it to suit you. If it doesn't appeal, feel free to forget you ever read this.

Happy Holidays!