Free motion quilting lesson (was Re: following the lines)
- From: "Kathy Applebaum" <KathyA@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sun, 9 Dec 2007 14:37:29 -0800
"Anne Rogers" <nospam@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:J-6dncpWT9m-9cHanZ2dnUVZ_sCtnZ2d@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
I know I need to practice a whole lot more, but this is really
demoralising, there are a lot of designs that it's really difficult to do
without marking, such as a ring of feathers. Does anyone have any tips?
I changed the subject line because I thought others might benefit from my
long ramble. :)
Two tips.
First off, a ring of feathers is *easy* to do without (much) marking. Mark a
circle for the spine, mark a larger circle for the edge of the outer
feathers, and a smaller circle for the edge of the inner feathers. When you
quilt, concentrate on nice, smooth feathers, and just worry about getting
close to the marks. Once the marking is removed, no one will know if you
were 1/8" off anyways.
The second tip is practice, practice, practice. I know, we all want instant
results. But it ain't gonna happen (unless you're one of the very few lucky
people who are naturally gifted at it, in which case I hate you. *big grin*)
One of my early "aha!" moments was talking to an amazing FM quilter. I
realized she had put in lots of hard work and had lots of talent. So if I
put in the same amount of hard work, I could easily be half as good, even if
I didn't have the natural talent. :)
One practice tip is don't start out trying to make the pretty designs. When
you learned to drive, you didn't start out driving the Indy 500, you started
out slowly in a parking lot (or the driveway or a country road, but you get
my drift). Same with quilting. Take a 20" x 20" quilt sandwich on plain
muslin (in the American sense) and some contrasting thread. Mark a 1/2" grid
on the whole thing and FM quilt every line on that grid. The next day, take
that same square, and now FM quilt all the diagonals, without marking the
lines but just by looking ahead to the next intersection.
For your next lesson, take a new quilt sandwich and write your name in big,
cursive letters on it. Now quilt that line you just marked. (Why your name?
Because it's something you "draw" all the time, so your brain already knows
the ins and outs. All you have to worry about is the quilting itself. Yes,
it really DOES work.) Do this a few more times, even quilting right over the
lines you just quilted. The next day, take that same quilt square, but do a
1/4" outline around your previous quilting. And do 1/4" outside of that.
Repeat until you've filled the square. Then do a microscopic stipple in
between two of your 1/4" lines. (or circles, or scribbled lines, or any fill
pattern that strikes your fancy.)
Repeat these lessons until you feel really *comfortable* doing these things.
Don't stop just because you're itching to move on. (If you get bored, I can
give you lots more assignments! *grin*) Only then will you be ready to
practice harder things like feathers, flowers, etc. By doing the other
lessons first, you are teaching your muscles how to control the fabric and
the machine, as well as teaching your brain how to look ahead. Once you get
those down, when you move to "designs", all you have to worry about is the
mechanics of the design, not control.
--
Kathy A. (Woodland, CA)
Queen of Fabric Tramps
mailto:KathyA@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
http://fabrictramp.typepad.com/fabric_tramping/
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