Today I decided to teach myself Free Motion Machine Quilting... OMG!!!!!! I'm Loving it!! I just did my very first design, a circle feather stitch and I'm in love!!! Machine quilting will never be the same again for me!!!!!!!!!

I decided to start myself small and work on a lap quilt I have had layered for Months!!! I made the quilt top YEARS ago, and figured I would try my hand at free motion with this one. That way if it turns out crappy, it will still be mine!! wooooo hooooooooo soooo much fun!!

Okay... had to share with you all!! Back to the quilting!

Way to go Aggi!!!! I got my quilting foot several months ago but still need to give it a try.

I did my first free motion in November. Isn't fun!

Isn't it fun? I love to free motion! Congrats!!

3~CHEERS FOR AGGI
:D :D :D :D :D :D

Go Go go Aggi, post pictures so we can all see please :D

my favorite thing! That's what I'm doing now, I'm on a wee bit of a break, ran out of bobbin thread.

Way to go, Aggi!! I'm still working up the courage to do it.

Ugh! I'm so glad it's worked great for you. I'm struggling with free motion quilting, though I must admit I have discovered a technique invented by Glorianne Cubbage (owns a shop in Seattle & teaches this method) called "Twice Quilted." I saw her on a program of Fons & Porter (#1103) and I wrote down all the information so I can google her and buy some of her patterns. I video taped the program and am going to get some friends together and we're all going to watch it; that way we can help each other out. I hope it works. I think once I am a bit better I will be happier. That or I am simply going to have to save my pennies to buy a Bernina with a stitch regulator! :P

I like piecing quilt tops but I love machine quilting. It puts me in the zone.

Is this the same as long arm quilting?

Renee I don't have a long arm quilter. I am using my regular Husqvarna machine. I have done some free motion in the way of trapunto, but have never attempted putting a full size quilting under the darning foot. I have to admit I'm loving it!!! I put 14 designs on the quilt so far. You can't see the design from the front as I am using invisible thread (hee hee you can't see all my mistakes that way), but I am posting a photo of what the design looks like on the back. I'm really happy with how it is going so far. ooh I am also posting a photo of the quilt I'm quilting too :)

I am putting the designs in the middle of the green square in a square and also in the middle of the two pink fabrics squares

No, it is very different! A long arm is a special machine that only does quilting. You stand to quilt and it looks like such fun! I would LOVE to own one, but the cheap ones are about $7000 and the one I want that will do king sized quilts is about $14000. Ouch! Free motion quilting is done on a regular sewing machine. It's where you drop the feed dogs and by moving the quilt around by hand you create the design you want. Some people seem to just fall right into it and do great but evidently I am the type who needs lots and lots and lots and lots of practice. :roll:

It's beautiful Aggi! Thanks for clearing that up for me, I thought that's what you meant but wanted to be sure. I've only done one free motion and it's because I am a procrastinator, it was fun but exhausting. I just did stippeling, it turned out okay but yours is wonderful! Great job!

Aggi, you are doing a wonderful job. Very smart to use invisible thread on the top while you're learning. Actually, if you use the same color thread, that doesn't show up much either. Aren't those gloves the greatest!?

Dumb question of the day:
:roll:
How do you drop the feed dogs?
My Singer has a walking foot, and I want to try machine quilting, but can't figure out how ...

Help :!: :oops:

not a dumb question at all!!! I have a little lever on the front of my machine that I switch and the feed dogs drop. In some machines you can cover the feed dogs with a piece of raised plastic that comes with your machine.

Jackie I am starting to get use to them, although I am still doing the Michael Jackson look and only using one!! I tend to keep one hand under my quilt as I'm moving it, so I only have a glove on my left hand, the one that is on top of the quilting helping to guide.

Yes invisible thread is the way to go for me with this until I feel more comfortable and confident of showing off fancy colour threads on top :)

I loooooooooooooove stippling!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

hee hee I was definetely in a zone today. I hope to get more of it completed tomorrow. it is after midnight here now and I think I am heading off to bed. I hope to have a full day of quilting tomorrow. Trevor is working another 12 hours shift from 8am-8pm, so I'll have the place to myself!!

Really nice job Aggi. Both on the quilt and free motion work. I just got a stippling foot for my Husqvarna for Christmas and trying to screw up my courage to try it. But yours looks like you've been doing it for years! :thumbup:

Nice job Aggi! Looks like you have been doing it for quite awhile! Wish I took to it like you do.

That looks just beautiful! Maybe I'll give my next quilt a try... :?

Looks great Aggi. I need to work on my free motion quilting as well.

ummm not quite yet!!! I have lots of practicing to do before I attempt other people's quilts!!! LOL

Wow Aggi it looks great! You should be very pleased.
Barb

WOW!!! Great job. I wish I could be half as good as you and I have done it before. I need to be practicing but it is so frustrating when it doesn't look like I want it to. Yours is great!!!

Thanks Mary! I'm having alot of fun practicing! I worked on it until around 11 last night! I managed to get 14 of those designs on the quilt. I still have many more to go, and I plan to spend the rest of the day and night playing again!!

How do you manage the bulk of fabric to free up the square for doing the design? I would think those blocks that are along the edges would be fairly easy to get under the machine, but it's the ones that are deeper into the center of the quilt. I have only done free motion on pillow tops, so I can't imagine handling that much fabric and bulk to do free motion. You gals (and guys) are really something else.

Gail surprisingly it wasnt' too bad at all!!! You are not hauling as much fabric through the machine as you are keeping your quilt in the same direction only moving it side to side, up and down through the needle, so you are not moving it alot!

Thanks. That's interesting. I would have thought that there would have been a lot of weight to manage under the machine. Perhaps I'll give it a try on one of my UFOs.

Aggi it looks terrific! Your a natual!!! :wink:

Are you using the paper on top of the quilt instead of marking the design? I need to get some of this and try it. Your quilting is fantastic. Gives me hope that I can master it.

There are NO dumb questions only people that are afraid to ask. The folks here are the most helpful and good teaching bunch I've ever been around!

I have a Singer Ingenuity and my feed dog switch is on the back of the arm. I was free motion quilting today on the baby quilts, it's vverrryyy much easier than I feared. :-) I stayed away from trying it for way to long.

Don't forget, if you have one of the older model sewing machines you CAN cut an index card and tape it down over the feed dogs on each side. I'd use painters tape in several layers rather than get sticky stuff all over the throat plate. :?

Aggi, that quilt is beautiful and your work is fabulous!!
Hugs,
Sharon

Well this is one thing that I still need to accomplish myself this year. OOPS I think I said that last year also. Well lets see I know I need to get it on my list this year!!!!!!!!

hi, first time i'm message board so hope i do it right and Aggi gets this. Saw your free motion and I think it's great, and for first try, amazing. I do some free motion - meander, and around images on a panel, I also took lessons on a long arm and a quilt shop in my area rents time on their long arm (had to have taken lessons first). I did that an quilted a queeen size quilt for my sister, I was thrilled with it. Because I'm new to whole technique when I used long arm I then quilted border on my home machine. I'm getting ready to free motion designs on blank block of a queen size Irish Chain. Because I'm a little concerned about the size and getting it through the 7 1/2 throat of my Viking I'm quilting in sections (a Marti Michell technique) will quilt entire center and then add borders and quilt them. I was really interested that for your first free motion experience you used pattern that you applied to the quilt and then quilted it. That's what I'm going to do. Not sure how I'll get pattern onto quilt yet, but I'm working on it.
thanks for listening, and if you have any suggestions i'm all ears.

thanks peel

Peel, welcome to the board from Southern California. We have a section called "Introduce Yourself" Go on there and introduce yourself to everyone. Glad to have you on board!

do i call you Jim's Gem or Gayle,
in any case thanks for the welcome.
don't see "introduce yourself", where is it

peel

Good job for a beginner! I keep trying it & love it, I hate to see it end. Usually, by the time I get to the end, I'm doing pretty well. My biggest problem is that the quilt comes 'alive' on the table! :evil: It has a mind of it's own! I'm great on a 'practice piece' but when I get a BIG quilt....look out! Even though I 'package'it! It just takes lots of practice, so don't give up. I think I will do a practice once a week even if I'm not working an a quilt! :?

Aggi-- you're doing a great job in your quilting. Love your quilt; it is beautiful.

sewin'sam--I did a doll quilt for a great niece for Christmas and had the same problem. I did great on a practice and thought I can do this. I did all the designs I would use on my practice Ugh--I had a heck of a time with the actual quilt. My sis has a machine on a frame that controls the size of the stitch automatically, but it was tied up with big quilts my sis was doing for friends. It was fun though.