Quilting.....Free Motion

I have noticed that as I continue to produce quilts, more and more time is spent on the actual quilting. The quilting, the addition of those stitch lines, has become my most favourite part of the whole process. I am aware that there is a lot of information out there regarding the subject of free motion quilting, but I believe everyone needs to develop a way of working that best suits them. I thought I would share a few things that I feel are key to success in my quilting.

I think one of the biggest myths is that you need to go  FAST,  that is simply not so, you need to be in CONTROL. You need to develop a rhythm where your hands are moving in sync with the speed at which you are running the machine. It takes time to find it. It doesn't happen overnight. It does take " practice"  but not just grabbing a bit of quilt sandwich and stitching with no purpose....you really won't learn a lot from that. you need to actually "quilt" the more you quilt, the more you will learn and the better you will get. Most of the newer machines allow you to adjust your speed, try experimenting with different settings until you find something that is comfortable for you, something that feels right.

A topic I often hear discussed, is what music to listen to while quilting......I do NOT listen to any music at all. I listen to my machine. I almost "zone out"  as I stitch at a steady rhythm, I am extremely aware of the sounds the machine makes and will know immediately if a problem begins developing on the underside.

If you have " Needle Down" function. use it. As soon as I have pulled the bobbin thread to the surface, I engage the needle down feature, I essentially take 1 stitch in place before moving and do this every time I start and stop to ensure I don't get any jerky stitches...the goal is a nice smooth line.

When I quilt, I put my machine up on top of my cutting table so that I have a large surface to support the quilt, no pulling or dragging from the weight of the quilt is extremely important.

Finally, where to look when you are stitching, you need to know where you are heading and have your eyes focused there. Do not look at the needle, instead, look ahead, follow the line (even if only imaginary) with your eyes and your hands/machine will move in the same direction.

I plan to do another post later, about how I decide what to quilt, sometimes what you choose to quilt can make all the difference