Originally Posted by Kas

Free motion quilting is not just doing it without a marked pattern to follow. It is quilting with the feed dogs down and you move the fabric yourself. You can do it freestyle w/out a line to follow, as well as with marked lines. I have made my own stencils using template plastic and a woodburning tool (outside so I don't hurt myself with the fumes). Make sure leave bridges in the plastic so you don't have whole pieces falling off! Pepper Cory has a great book on marking quilts where she talks about lots of ways to make stencils. See if your library has it or can get it for you.