I was watching a video on "The Quilt Show" the other day and Judy Woodworth was the guest quilter and she was doing some free motion feathers demonstrations. One thing she was using as a tool to help her audition what free motion designs she would use. It was a home made clear vinyl sheet.

I had a piece of heavier vinyl and I put a simple binding on it. It took me less than 15 minutes. Since I'm doing much better with my free motion now, I think I'll be using this tool more to audition designs, and then quilt my own quilts.... at least the small projects anyway.

Check out my blog post for a couple of pictures to show you what I mean.

http://quilt-knit-run-sew.blogspot.c...oodle-pad.html

What a great idea!!! I have clear plastic sheets that would work well too :D:D:D

Great idea! I had hard of doing this with plexiglass, but I like this alot better.

My LAQ uses Saran Wrap and a Sharpie pen. She hangs it with the top so she remembers what we discussed when it's my turn in her queue.

I like this! Thanks for the tip! :thumbup:

Great idea :idea: Thanks!!!

That is a wonderful idea. I love it and am going to try it.

I'm still at the meandering FMQ, but if I ever get brave enough to try something more exotic this idea will come in handy. Thanks for the inspiration!

Great tip - thank you for sharing. I will definitely try this!

I'm learning how to FMQ and this tool will come in handy. What a great idea!! Thanks for sharing.

Thank you, Gail!

I love this idea but what if you can't draw a straight line?

Thanks for a great idea!

Thanks Gail, but I have a stupid ??? How do the marks get on the quilt? I guess I must be VERY dense right now.

Oh, Marg.

I was using this to plan out a free motion design. So my goal is to stitch the free motion designs onto the fabric without marking for the most part. I know, it sounds scary, but with practice, I'm getting better.

So you are right, this is more of a "what design to use" planning tool.

I have difficulty marking designs on quilts. Do you? So my solution is not to mark, but just do the stitching free-hand.

I'm getting better with every piece I do. I've only done small pieces so far.

Oh, Marg.

I was using this to plan out a free motion design. So my goal is to stitch the free motion designs onto the fabric without marking for the most part. I know, it sounds scary, but with practice, I'm getting better.

So you are right, this is more of a "what design to use" planning tool.

I have difficulty marking designs on quilts. Do you? So my solution is not to mark, but just do the stitching free-hand.

I'm getting better with every piece I do. I've only done small pieces so far.

Thanks for your reply. I understand now (I think).

After using this tool the other day to decide how I would free motion my little table runner. I did complete the free motion on my little quilt. this is a batik piece, so it's hard to see the free motion quilting from the front. But you can see the free-motion quilting from the back.

http://quilt-knit-run-sew.blogspot.c...-finished.html

I'm just binding it now and I'll post a picture of the front of the quilt tomorrow when I have completed the stitching.

Thank you so very much for the idea of the Doodle Pad. I am a hand quilter, and think this is a good way to audition quilting patterns for us too. I am just a beginner at machine quilting, and can see where this will help us all. I'd gotten a dry erase board and the pens to try doodling as a practice, and this goes just a little bit farther and shows what the quilt will look like. GREAT!!! I also found you can get the dry erase pens a lot cheaper at Dollar Tree Stores, if anyone is interested and has one nearby. Everything there is $1.00. Thanks again for sharing your tip.

thank you and God bless. Penny