I have completed one quilt and used a long arm to do an all over swirling/looping freehand pattern. I was quite nervous using the long arm and settled for something quite easy. I now have an interesting quilt top (small) completed and want to use my new Mega Quilter to quilt it. I'd like to use some kind of different patterns for different areas (as I have seen on some gorgeous quilts) but cannot do so freehand. I know there are stitching patterns but how do you find them and transfer them to the quilt? I am practicing free motion quilting on the MQ but don't feel confident enough to do it on this special quilt for a special granddaughter. Could I use the long arm and do different patterns on different areas? How? I need lots of help here...

Bammy, do you have an area you can use a pantograph? That is a long printed pattern you can follow with a stylus. There are many sources for them and you might have gotten one with your frame. Just google 'quilt pantographs" and note the width of the pattern. My favorite free motion suggestion for a new quilter is www.pajamaquilter.com. She has two videos that are easy to follow and very gentle on the newbie. I think my best 'ahHA' moment was when she suggested practicing on a white board before trying it on fabric. Be sure not to put your elbow down as you are teaching your large arm muscles the design. Hang in there...there can be a pretty hefty learning curve. I also loaded muslin a couple times to just 'doodle' on to get the look I wanted on the 'good stuff"

Thank you for your suggestions. I have the mega quilter but it is not on a frame, I would be using free motion quilting. I will look at the pantograph idea etc. Thnks again.

You can draw with chalk on the area you want quilted or draw on very thin paper and tape that to your quilt and stitch through it. Some people even use press 'n' seal plastic wrap. I've used gift wrapping type tissue paper many times.

I trace the design onto tissue paper and then pin to the quilt to stitch through. This has worked very well for me. If the fabric I'm quilting on is light colored I use darker colored tissue paper and a white pencil to trace the design as I've found that graphite colored lead will transfer through into the fabric.
Having a pair of sharp 90 degree tweezers helps when picking out the little pieces of tissue paper that remain after tearing off after quilting.
Also, if you have powerpoint or some such drawing program available on your computer, you can import various stencils/designs and size to whatever you need and then print for tracing.