This Saturday is the day that I will be conducting a machine quilting workshop. I have been busy with making samples, organizing and planning to get ready. Although mostly I will show the type of free motion, non-marking type stitching I do on art quilts, I do know that I am dealing with mainly traditional quilters so I will want to cover some stencils and marked designs.
I came across, and purchased a
pre-printed panel at The Marsh Store called "Skill Builder", I think these are great for beginners or just to have on hand whenever you have a bit of free time and want to "practice" your free motion skills. The Idea is to remove the thread from your machine and stitch out the designs. In some cases only 
a portion of the design is marked to get you started and then you take it from there. What a great way to "set" the movement in your mind.The only thing I did not like about the panel is that the printed designs go almost right to the edge, making it difficult to stitch that area. Using some inexpensive broadcloth, I added a few extra inches all around the panel so that there is now something to "hold" onto.
I hope to get lots of pictures from the workshop to post.
