aggie98

I'm new to quilting and just kind of jumped in without knowing much. I bought a cheap small machine to be sure I really liked it. I pieced a couple of jelly roll quilts and then signed up for Free Motion Quilting a Sampler with Leah Day on Craftsy because what I really wanted to learn was free motion. Of course I didn't realize she was using the 2012 BOM from Crafsty so I "had" to make that first (but was really glad I did because I learned alot.) Anyway the class is great and very helpful as far as free motion quilting. I still haven't done the main quilt, I keep getting sidetracked with other projects, but I have done some free motion on some smaller projects.

The first one I did was a Minnie Mouse panel for a friend's little girl. I think it was a good first project because it was relatively inexpensive and I wasn't worried about ruining something I spent a lot of time piecing. If I made a horrible mistake I was just out some time and a few dollars. I just outlined the picture and then went back and added some filler. I didn't have to think about what to do and it was good practice doing different motions and I realized I really did enjoy it. Next I did a Hello Kitty panel as a charity quilt and got a little more adventurous with different designs on it. I think one of the most important things is just to relax. I don't remember where I heard it but someone recommended having a glass of wine before you started. The other important thing is practice I bought some clearance fabric that had designs I could trace to get used to the movements and then just tried out some of Leah Day's designs on muslin. I did have a difficult time fitting everything in the throat of my machine, and I knew there was no way I could do a full size quilt on that machine so I did upgrade machines and that made things much easier. Don't be afraid to give a try, but also don't feel bad if you do and don't like it.