You can use a stencil or draw the design on with a marker, or draw the design onto Glad Press & Seal and stitch over that - there are lots of ways to mark quilts and lots of ways to quilt them.

Free-motion doesn't mean that you're ad-libbing every step of the way - it just means that the sewing is not machine guided. You're sewing in any direction necessary to complete your design. Whatever you want to do. :)

I can't free-hand draw a circle to save my life, so I make a template for the circle base on which I'll sew feathers. Or I sew the "spine" of a line of feathers and do the "poufs" free-hand.

But, some people are a lot better than I am at following drawn lines, so they can draw their whole pattern and sew it just the way they draw it. I can't even manage to backtrack without going off the line! :)

I think of freemotion quilting as anything I quilt without using a pattern and without using a computerized machine. Using a pantograph or a printed block motif would not be freemotion. Using rulers would not be freemotion (as the ruler would keep my machine from moving freely) Anything that I quilt using just my brain, hands and needles would be freemotion. This is just my humble oppinion. Others may disagree and that is o.k.

Free motion quilting is quilting with the feeds down. Isn't the idea that your quilt is free from the direction of the feeds? Free-HAND or free-STYLE would be without a stencil or other computer aid...like free-formed feathers. I agree with the poster up there who says people just get too hung up on words. Really who cares what you call it, at the end of the day, you are a QUILTER!!! :) LOL*

Edited to add - so anytime you aren't using the feeds you are free motioning...but you are free styling when you are free motioning without any guides! LOL* Wheew!

I have jumped in with bothfeet on the FMQ, thread painting, or whatever name some other wordsmith is using at this time.
Please check out my few threads, In my attempt to do just the thing we speak of. I must admit I had no idea what I was doing I just bought the machine,some thread, and a hole lot of fabric, and just put needle to work. I have had so much more fun doing it my way, Right or wrong only you know what you want to do. So my advice is to (just do it) the outcome might just surprise you.


Ray..

I too jumped in with both feet. Didn't have time to practice, so just did it & I'm proud of the outcome. Looks pretty good! Recipients love it, too! I used it on a baby quilt that was shipped the day the baby was due. He was immediately wrapped in it for the trip home from the hospital. Doesn't get any better than that! :-)

Something I've learned over the years in seminars to help my students is that we record information in different ways in different parts of our brain. For example writing notes [not word processing them] about something we are learning records in a different part of the brain than what we see or hear about the same thing. That's why so many free motion books/instructors encourage you to use a white board or paper and pencil and practice a free motion pattern you want to master over and over. Even if you are drawing on the fabric or using a stencil every pattern can be broken down into specific movements. So if you haven't already - try drawing your meander pattern the way you want to do it over and over; then go back to your practice sandwich and see if it helps.

Yes, I couldn't do it without drawing. The only time I don't is when I do meandering.

Me too! And pencil and paper is cheaper than practice sandwiches! Often if I draw a design enough, one quick go on a sandwich is enough to 'get it'. When I first started, I was sceptical of this but it really DOES work - for me anyway! :-D

free motion is you doing the drawing with the machine. I love your work.