Kathy58

Hi I am Kathy from Missouri. I am trying to teach myself to stipple. Does anyone have any suggestions? I either have problems with my tension on the back side. and also learning the rythym. Thanks for any help.

Ruth Cozadd

Hi Kathy, I can share with you some of what I do whenever I do free motion quilting. The very most improtant thing is that you must be willing to practice! Most of my students think that after one 2hr. lesson they can go home and quilt a queen size quilt thith no problems. The second thing is to start small, this is so critical for a beginer. ( by small I mean less than crib size) For practice pieces I usually have my students use muslin so they can see what they are doing about 36 in squares.
Now for the actual process, clean and oil your machine, change the needle. I prefer a quilting size 12. I also wax the bed of my machine and table top to make everything glide easier.
I spray starch and iron the backing fabric to make it eaiser to handle, fasten it down so it is perfectly smooth, then layer the batting and the quilt top and pin or baste as you prefer.
I always use a darning foot and lower the fee dogs (or you can cover them if your machine won't let you drop them) set you stitch length to 0.
Now you are ready to practice. Do not mark your top. Start with something you already have in your head. I suggest the alphabet. Yes I am serious. Do a continious line of cursive letters. Do this at least 6 or 7 times ,you will be amazed how much better the last line looks compared to the first. Turn you piece over several times to make sure your tention is ok make adjustments if needed.
After this make some lower case r's several in a row, round off their corners do several in a row. On your next row do them with one up and the next one upsidedown and continue that way across the fabric . Make you first row straight then do another with the row in a gentle curve Work from left to right then back form right to left without stopping or starting. Kepp you next row nice and snug up to the row above it You are now stippling! good luck Practice Practice Practice

Minda

Hi Kathy, There is a product called SewSlip that is great for free motion quilting. The quilt sandwich glides soooo smoothly on it. It doesn't replace practice, but it allows you to free motion quilt with less drag when moving the fabric.

Kathy58

Ruth,Thank you so much. I never thought of cursive letters. It makes it much easier to have an idea like that. I have pieced several quilt tops and have done some machine quilting in the ditch. I am very anxious to learn free motion quilting. That might be my problem (lol) . I appreciate you taking the time to explain it all to me.

Boo

Kathy, Ruth posted a wonderful introduction to free motion quilting. It is not unusual for a beginning free motion quilter to tense up and hold their breath. For me that continued way too long. I would find that I couldn't quilt very long without getting pain in my neck and upper back. I hosted a chat lecture by Susan MechMD who wrote "RX for Quilters". During the Q&A she suggested a few tips that I would like to share. #1. The bed of the sewing machine should be even with your comfortably bent elbows. #2 Your chair should be at a height that allows your feet to be flat on the floor while your knees and hips are level. If this is not possible, place something on the floor to raise your knees. This could be a platform large enough for your feet and foot pedal. #4 She also talked about lighting and the need for brighter light as we age. One of her suggestions was a halogen light, or 5,000 kelvin flouresent fixtures. These are easily found in home improvement stores. #5 Finally, she reminded us to breathe :!: Relax and take breaks every 15 minutes. Get up, walk around and stretch. Her book is quite affordable and full of tips I paraphrased here. If you start out following her suggestions, you will save yourself aches and pains. You will be more prepared to be successful. Good luck to you and happy stitching. :D

Donna

What great information! Thanks

dforseth

Thanks for all the good tips. I haven't been quilting very long and a friend taught me the free motion. I have picked up some wonderful ideas here. Thanks for them all.

Debbie :wink: :) :lol:

foxxigrani

Thank you so much for that detailed information. I have been wanting to try free motion quilting for yrs but am chicken. I may not make resolutions but that and applique are going to be two of the things I want to get good at this yr or next or yr after that ha ha... I always have something to look forward to right?

So thank you so much. I will print out your instructions and use them when I sit down to quilt.

Rita

Kim

Hi Kathy! One suggestion I have for you is to sew fast! You will find that your stitches will be a lot more even the faster you sew. Going slow makes it really hard to get even stitches. Good luck!

kddid

Different times I have tried to get a pattern of stipple ing to practice with. I think it also is called meranding. Can you tell me how to get a pattern that would help me? kddid