Rennie

I bought a plastic template with a quilting design. I traced it on material (to practice) with one of the Crayola washable markers. My question is - do I put the feed dogs down when I do quilting by this method? Obviously I am not free hand quilting but am following traced lines. Forgive me if this is a silly question - but I have not done much quilting other than straight line with a walking foot and also with my embroidery machine. Also, am I supposed to use the walking foot while following these curvy lines or what? Thanks for any help on this.

feline fanatic

Most quilting stencil designs are made for multiple quilting applications (ie Hand quilting or free motion quilting using a rack system or sit down system).

The choice of doing it free motion quilting (FMQ) or with your feed dogs NOT engaged is up to you. But I suspect you will like the process better by following the lines doing FMQ with your feed dogs down (not engaged) so you can manipulate the sandwich in any direction, forward, backward, diagonal or sideways. On practice pieces, which are small you can follow the lines using your walking foot and feed dogs and constantly be turning the practice sandwich without too much wear and tear on your shoulders and arms but on a larger quilt it would be cumbersome to have to manipulate the sandwich through your harp doing motifs with curvy lines.

Tartan

It depends on the stencil. If you can trace the pattern with your finger from start to finish, it for FMQ. If it is for FMQ, then you want to put on your darning/ FMQ foot, lower your feed dogs and quilt it if you are gong to use it for a quilt. It is much easier to FMQ on a quilt so you don't have to flip the quilt around.

quiltingshorttimer

I'm unclear when you say quilting templates--are we talking quilting stencils that you used to mark a design with, or what is now what seems to be called templates, but I've always called rulers? Guess it really doesn't matter with your questions--think the answer for you on whether you need to use walking foot will depend on how many curves the stencil has--and how tight the designs are too.

JANNY

what are your opinions on using these for FMQAre these the templets I see in the magazines that sell for $120.00 and up for the set? What are your opinions on using these for FMQ? It is quite expensive to buy the set and then not be able to use them effectively. This seems to be an option when you can't afford a long arm machine.

rryder

Janny, I think the OP was talking about using a stencil to get the design marked on her quilt. As others have mentioned it will be easier in the long run to Fmq it if it has tight curves or is for a large quilt, since by fmqing you can avoid having to turn the quilt.

As to your question I think you are talking about the rulers that are now available for doing ruler work using a special ruler foot on a domestic (sit down) sewing machine.

The rulers don't take the place of a long arm machine because you are still moving your quilt and the ruler under the needle rather than moving the machine over the quilt.

I do a lot of ruler work on my quilts and have enjoyed the process quite a bit. If you are already comfortable with free motion quilting at your domestic machine then you can easily learn to do ruler work and can get very nice results. But, like all Fmq it does require practice. If you have not done any Fmq, then there will be a learning curve with the rulers.

Here's are the specific things I use rulers for: 1. They can save time because you don't need to do as much marking for certain things like cross hatching. Instead of marking every line on a regularly spaced design, you only need to mark your initial ruler placement (or forgo marking at all and use the pieced seams of your top) and then use the markings on your ruler for subsequent placement as you are quilting.

2.I'm able to get nice smooth straight lines and large curves as well as circular circles without having to do much in the way of marking my quilt top. This is makes them helpful for geometric designs where the normal wobbliness that shows up with Fmq would be noticeable enough to distract from the design. The ruler foot runs along the edge of the ruler, eliminating most wobbles (as long as you pay attention and don't drift away from the ruler-- that's part of the learning curve, remembering to keep the ruler against the ruler foot).

3. creating a frame around an area that I want to emphasize.

4. Creating a recurring motif that needs to be regular in shape, like a snowflake, or Spirograph type of design, quickly without having to trace a stencil.

for any other kinds of designs I just Fmq without the rulers.

If you think you might be interested in doing some Fmq ruler work check out the YouTube videos that Amy Johnson has put up. Just do a search for Amy Johnson, quilting with rulers. That should get you to her blog and also to her YouTube videos.

Rob

tessagin

Just a quick FYI, if I were you and whatever you do, make note of it. Attach a note to the piece with the needle, thread, stitch length, foot and whether or not you had feed dogs engaged or not. You can put this in a binder for future reference. Also the fabric, batting and backing used. I would also put the date. With the date you can refer back to the board for notation of other tips.

quiltingbuddy

This is a great idea. I wish I had been notating stuff along my quilting journey. It would have made my life so much easier.

nativetexan

continuous line quilt stencils are definitely for FMQing. I've done some marked designs by regular stitching but stop and turn and stop and turn a lot. Not fun, but do able. as said, trace with finger until you get the hang of the design. and i've taken classes on FMQing with feed dogs up and down. depends on fabric, batting, etc. usually down for me though.