5 Tips for Beginning Free Motion Quilting

Start quilting your own quilts today on your home sewing machine!

Free motion quilting can be a little daunting to get into when you're just beginning. How can you control the quilt, the speed, and the design all at the same time???

Big stitches can be improved by either speeding up your machine or slowing down the movement of your hands.

As with all skill building things, free motion quilting gets easier the longer you do it. There are some things you can do to make your quilting experience easier.

1. Get started with a good setup - How you sewing machine is positioned makes a HUGE difference in how your quilting will look. Having your sewing machine on a flush surface is essential to reducing the drag on your quilt.

2. Slow Down and Take it Easy - You will need to accept an idea that may be new to you: your sewing machine has different speeds. Most quilters sit down and stomp their foot pedal to the ground and then wonder why their thread keeps breaking!

Chill out and take it easy. Some free motion designs will require you to change your speed continually in order for your stitches to look nice. It's a skill that you will learn, but only after you break the habit of drag racing with your sewing machine!

3. Work to match your hands with your foot - In the beginning, your hands will move slowly and your foot will want to move fast. Once you get more comfortable with the design, your hands will move faster, but your foot may not adjust as needed.

This creates large stitches. When this happens, work on increasing your machine speed SLIGHTLY so that your stitch length is reduced.

In this photo on the left you can see the thread has built up in the areas where stitches come to a point and change directions.

This build up happens when you sit for too long in one area (even 2 seconds too long can make a big difference).

This could be reduced by reducing your speed as you stitch into a point,then immediately speed up to get out of the area.

4. Pull up your threads - When you're starting, pull up your bobbin thread rather than let it get tangled on the bottom of the quilt. This reduces thread breakage and nasty messes on the bottom of your quilt.

5. Increase your grip - Either use a sticky lotion or quilting gloves to increase your grip on the surface of the quilt. The more you touch the quilt, the more your skin will soften and want to slip over the surface. You want to stick to it like a spider and the best way to do this is to use quilting gloves.

For more tips on free motion quilting, check out the Free Motion Quilting Project where Leah posts new filler designs each week along with tips and articles about quilting your quilts on your home machine!

 

 

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