Originally Posted by
Weezy Rider
What do they call quilting that uses the old stencil patterns then? Don't you FMQ those? Who works with those?
I don't care for the all-over bit. Right now I have some strips that I might like to do a couple of ovals on, then straight stitch some others. I'd like a site that shows that method. I've got some books - Leah Day does have some decent practice techniques, but I don't like the finished style. I'm playing with that quilt sampler, and I simply don't see the fills she is using. My vision for the blocks is totally different.
I guess I want a tutorial about mock hand quilting, FMQ style. I want to highlight the fabric and color, not machine skills in particular. I think the mock, using patterns would require finer control.
I would get some fabric with a bold print. make some sandwiches up and practice FMQing on the lines of the print. When you can follow the lines pretty well, then you can use stencils to mark your fabric and quilt on the lines.
The reason why machine quilters like the patterns they do instead of the traditional quilting motifs is you have to constantly stop and tie off your threads. Many traditional patterns are stand alone motifs where the more modern FMQ patterns let you do all your quilting without stopping, tying off, and restarting all the time.