amandasgramma

A comment was made on another post that freemotion quilting means quilting without stencils, without patterns, without drawing on the quilt. I do longarming (new at it). I mentioned on a longarm forum that I was doing freestyling on a quilt - drawing the design on the quilt and going at it -- without a computer. They informed me that I was freemotioning. Now someone says that it's not.

Okay - you all tell me -- what is YOUR description of freemotion quilting?

katier825

To me, it means without a computer and using a FMQ foot.

Candace

People can be "word nerds". Feed dogs down, FMQ foot and doing the quilting by yourself, not a computerized design.

alderdweller

I don't know the answer. I am still trying to get up the nerve to try FMQ. I have been practicing and getting a bit better. I have a question for you. Do you find it helpful to draw on the fabric? I have just been doing meandering patterns, which I like. I really don't want my stitching to be too close together, and I'm having a problem not meandering back too close to where I was. Thanks for the help!

Holice

means when you are controlling the direction of the stitching and the length of the stitch. Dropping the feed dogs and you are in control.

thepolyparrot

"Free-motion" just means that the line of sewing isn't "machine guided."

You're not letting the feed dogs drive the fabric - you're deciding where you're going. :)

Holice

there are stencils for meandering. folks say it helps to draw the design on the quilt even in meandering until you get the rythm of the pattern.

Treasureit

This is something I have been wonder about too. Can I use a stencil and free motion quilt it or are they just for long-armers? I am struggling to attempt much on my own.

kathy

my opinion..... freemotion/freestyle would be like drawing with the machine, no templates or drawn design, (which I can NOT do!)

kathy

a stencil is just a pattern to trace a design onto your fabric and yes you can use one, a template is a design that you follow around with the machine and I don't see how you could do that with a regular machine, I think it would just be too hard.