Quilting Tutorials — Free Motion Quilting

For the most part, I am a self taught quilter. I got very basic instructions 15 years ago and just went for it. I immediately fell in love with the process, but have learned much along the way. I now look back on some of my earlier quilts and am so delighted at how far I’ve come. I also chuckle and shake my head a little at how I once thought those earlier quilts were so good. They were alright and are perfectly usable and fantastic for cuddling, but there are things I have learned since then that have allowed...

One of my favorite parts of the quilting process is to sit down with a top after it’s all done and figure out my quilting plan. This is my opportunity to decide what I want to accent and make a focal point and how to best elevate the entire design. I’ve found that the basic principles I learned in my art classes many years ago are so important to quilts and a quilting plan as well. As you watch the video to see my process for creating a quilting plan for our Stacked pattern, I want you to pay attention...

Did you start FMQ on a regular machine? Is that the best way to try out FMQ? I did. I actually learned Free Motion Quilting right after I made my first quilt. The very first one I did, I hand quilted, but then knew I wouldn’t get far if I kept doing that (it was a baby quilt and took me 2 1/2 years to finish). My mom had recently taken some free motion quilting classes and showed me what she had learned, so I tried it and was hooked from the beginning. I have quilted every quilt I’ve made....

What is the most common thread you use when there are a lot of color changes in the top? And bobbin? I am not one to constantly change thread color (unless that is what a client requests). I’ve found, that for the most part, the quilting blends well enough that I can use the same color.  For example, my Christmas Whirl quilt (the first photo) was done completely in white, regardless of the bold red, greens, and yellows. Currently I use Glide 40 wt in most of my quilts, top and bottom. 95% of the time, if I have white...