MadQuilter

Interesting question. I look at quilting in 3 categories: Straight-line stitching, Free-motion, and ruler work.

With straight-line method I leave the feed-dogs up and use either a regular foot or a walking foot to sew a pattern of straight stitches and/or grids. Stitch in the ditch is most often done this way.

For free motion, I drop the feed dogs and move the quilt sandwich to stitch my design using a darning, quilting, or echo quilting foot. It does not work on my machine to keep the feed dogs up and drop the stitch length. All I get is TINY ANGRY stitches that way. As for the pattern, I can make it up as I go along OR I can Premark the pattern in a variety of ways before I start. A lot depends on the type of look I want. Many quilters get confident enough to do Stitch in the Ditch freehand. (I am not one of them)

Ruler work is a form of "straight" stitching but it requires a special foot and special rulers to get the job done. You can use straight, curved, or patterned rulers and I have recently found out that I LOVE doing Stitch in the ditch with the ruler. It goes so much faster than with the walking foot.

mjpEncinitas

For my Domestic sewing machine Janome 6600: When I FMQ I do not use rulers to do straight line quilting. I use the dot to dot method. (Angela Walters, Craftsy) The more I do it the better I get and its much faster than using rulers or a walking foot. If something is critical to be absolutely straight I use a walking foot. For FMQ I leave the feed dogs up (common) and leave the stitch length on 2.5 (uncommon) and this helps make my stitches more even. It's not perfect but its a little bit like a stitch regulator.

For Sit down sweet sixteen there is no walking foot or feed dogs. I use FMQ and do my straight lines dot to dot. I haven't needed a ruler yet but its early days for me with this machine.

For either: It is much easier to do curved FMQ, so when I can I use a quilting pattern that incorporates curves rather than straight lines. I like the 'organic' feel of the curves anyway. Adds a lot more interest.

Practice, Practice, Practice. Choose easy patterns on your first quilts so they look good with little experience.

maviskw

Yes, in my response above I tell about using my stencils and pounce, or corn starch and a small foam paint brush.
That would be free motion but not free hand. I would be following a pattern.

maviskw

This is true, but Free-motion has more to it. You can do it free hand, without a pattern and just wander where you wish, or you can mark the quilt and follow the marked lines. There is a difference. It's really fun both ways.

mjpEncinitas

FMQ can be done with stencils. I've used those for one of my wholecloth quilts. Most stencils do not have a lot of straight lines which makes them easier to use. I find it easier to do freehand FMQ now but stencils are a good way to perfect your skills.

There are some great stencils out there. I took a wholecloth workshop with Cindy Needham and she brought her stencil collection, hundreds of them. There are some beautiful stencils. She suggested if we buy them look for ones that can be used for lots of different things. Stencils are also size sensitive so I never bought any. They are going out of fashion, as people move more towards rulers.

I prefer the freehand method that Leah Day and Angela Walters and Cindy Needham do.