PrettyKitty

Eeeek! I'm so excited.......I started free motion quilting (am new to it) the border of my 'Quilt for Me' last night. I have done the centre panels in a diagonal straight line grid, and the braided border will be stippled. Heres a pic of it (pre-quilting) to remind you what it looks like)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/maryeli...7616262186142/

I started to do the stippling on Sunday after I had done all the straight lines, but all of a sudden the thread KEPT jamming underneath, where the bobbin is. This usually means the machine needs a clean, so I did all that, changed the needle etc, but it still kept jamming (new nickname for my machine - Bob Marley, cos he just loves to keep jamming :lol: ). So I gave up.

I went back to it last night (in the meanwhile the quilt has acquired a new coat of ginger kitty hair as I had left it out on the table) and mysteriously the machine was fine. So off I went! I'm not doing the stippling too tight as I want it to be puffy rather than flat. But it's looking good so far! Couple of hiccups (must remember to put the needle down when I pause for any reason) but I am pleased with it so far. It's hard work though! I did about 20 inches of the border (which is 8 inches wide) before the thread broke, so I took this as a sign to go and have dinner and come back another time.

YAAAAY! Love it! can't wait to carry on! :lol: :shock: :-o :-) :D :P :lol:

tlrnhi

Sounds like my first attempt at free motion.
ALL of it, including the cat fur. lol
You'll get the hang of it!

tslowery

Glad you have attempted this. I am no where near brave enough to try it. Good luck and hope Bob stops that jamming for ya. lol

sandpat

Well....you GO GIRL!!!!!! Can't wait to see pics of what you are doing. Its great fun isn't it??? :lol:

quiltswithdogs

What is "free motion"? Maybe I know it by another name?

amma

Sounds like the kitty fairy fixed your machine while you were away!!! I can't wait to see your quilt....it sounds like you are having a lot of fun with it :D :D :D

sandpat

Free motion or sometimes you'll see it as FMQ, is when you drop the feed dogs on your machine and quilt without a set pattern kinda. I'm not good at explaining..mostly you might just see stitching that looks like "doodling" although some people might draw (with thread) something like pebbles or other "free hand" designs..hearts, butterflies, etc.

Use the search function at the top and type in free motion, you will see some pictures posted that will explain it better than I can.

kathy

Prettykitty, are you sure you put the presser foot down? Even tho it doesn't sit on the fabric it absolutely has to be down. :wink:

littlehud

You have answered your own question. Obviously, you need ginger cat fur to stipple. LOL :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

quiltswithdogs

I think free motion must be the official title for what I've called "meandering". Have you ever heard it called that?

I love the look but I sometimes overlap my loops and squiggles. Everyone I make gifts for thinks it's so fancy and never seems to see any mistakes. It takes more handwork with the machine though, so I can only do this on a block ie for a pillow. I use a special foot. I forget it's name