Sensitivity and Free Motion Quilting

I've been working on my little sawtooth star quilt this week and got a big reminder of an important detail of free motion quilting - sensitivity.

While this might not sound like a big deal, being able to look, listen, and feel both your quilt and your machine while free motion quilting is extremely important.

This is an ability to:

Look - Know what your machine and especially the area around your needle LOOKS like when it's working properly. If you see thread tugging in a weird way, stop and check what's going on.

Listen - All machines make noise when they run, and usually make MORE noise when there's something wrong. What is that weird chugging noise? It sounds like the thread is caught on something. Oops! It is caught on the back of the quilt.

Feel - You're hands are right on top of the quilt, responsible for moving it, but they can also be mini radar detectors for any issues going on with the machine. Tugging or resistance from the quilt are two sure signs that something is very wrong.

The quilt should always be easy to push around when the needle is up - if it's not, stop stitching and check. This sensitivity to changes in your quilt or machine can save you a lot of time and headaches if you work on developing it, and if you listen to what your intuition is telling you.

Here's a little case in point:

While quilting the stars of this quilt with stippling, I noticed that on about every other star I'd experience a weird tugging / pulling feeling coming from the machine.

The quilt was still moving smoothly as ever and I didn't see it hooked to anything, and the resistance was slight, but still present in the movement of the quilt under the needle.

This feeling wasn't very noticeable when stitching simple curves, but as soon as I began moving the quilt more quickly, I felt a constant tug and resistance against the quilt.

Rather than continue to stitch this way, I stopped and took the quilt off the machine and flipped it over. Lo and behold, my stitches were looking pretty bad on the back, almost as though I had a major tension issue going on with the machine.

But here's another plus for developing a sensitivity to free motion quilting - you'll be much more likely to diagnose the right problem and fix it easily.

Logically if your tension worked fine on that setting yesterday, chances are unless you changed thread it shouldn't be wildly different today.

So I took a look at the bobbin area instead. It's always a good idea to check your bobbin thread first when dealing with a funny running machine because a lot of thread issues stem from this area.

A simple tug on the thread told me loads about what was going on - the thread was literally STICKING as I pulled it from the machine.

Bobbins are designed to do one thing - spin and unwind thread.

I use little genie magic bobbin washers in my bobbin cases to make the spinning of the bobbin smoother and more even, which reduces bobbin issues and thread breaks so an issue in this area is pretty noticeable.

If I tug on the bobbin thread coming out of my machine, I expect it to smoothly spool out.

I know there's a problem when I tug on this thread and the thread comes out in fits and spurts, feeling as though it's sticking as it unwinds from the bobbin.

So I pulled the bobbin out and checked that I had wound it properly, then I checked the bobbin area - is it full of lint or stray threads? Time to brush it out!

After replacing the bobbin and bringing the thread up to the top of the machine, I gave the thread another tug - smooth sailing once again.

While it may seem a crazy simple fix, all my machine needed was a quick brushing out.

As you quilt this week, keep an eye and ear open for the way your machine sounds and feels when it's stitching nicely. Try to develop a feeling for the good stitches so when things go weird, you know what to do, or at least what is the most likely culprit.

Time to shut up and go finish this quilt!

Leah

Torrent of Fear - Part 2

Last week I posted a bit about the background of Torrent of Fear, the first quilt I'm tackling this year as apart of my personal goal to create 12 goddess quilts this year. Today let's discuss the construction technique that managed to get her together in just 3 days.

Yes, you heard that right - the top of Torrent of Fear is complete! I'm happy to report that this quilt top is ready to be quilted!

Just in case you don't believe me, check out this video which details how she was constructed and a fun reveal as each piece of freezer paper was peeled off one by one:

Click Here if the Video Does Not Appear

So how was Torrent of Fear pieced so quickly?

Very simple - it wasn't.

This quilt was put together using No Sewing Until You Quilt It, a method of applique that allows you to put together a quilt top without taking a single stitch.

Essentially this quilt top is TOGETHER, but it is not stitched, appliqued, or pieced at this point. Instead it's all being held together with glue and french fuse, a lightweight fusible interfacing.

Way back in 2005 when I was first getting into quilting, Ann Holmes, a member of the guild I joined, shared her technique for putting quilts together very similar to a stained glass window.

I was instantly hooked on the technique because something about this construction and design really worked with my brain. I was suddenly able to design and create any quilt I could think of so I used it to create many quilts, including the first goddess in the series Life and Fire:

So why haven't I been using this technique for all my quilts?

At some point in 2010, I became obsessed with perfection. I wanted the pieces of my quilts to fit seamlessly together and the quilting to flow effortlessly to the edges, and in order to achieve that look I used alternative techniques that used a lot more precision and finicky steps, but also produced much more "perfect" results.

I say "perfect" here because even the quilts I created with these methods had issues. They were not any more or less perfect than my previous quilts, but they were much more complicated and time consuming techniques that gave the illusion of perfection.

Looking back, I think I was mostly into the idea of making my life difficult.

Thank goodness that phase is over! When I settled on the design for Torrent of Fear I took a good look at the techniques I was using and decided enough was enough - I'm returning to the older methods that worked great before because if it was good enough when I was a beginner, it's definitely good enough now!

And it is! Torrent of Fear came together quickly and was very exciting to put together. I forgot how much I love the big reveal at the end - peeling each piece of freezer paper off the surface to reveal the fabric underneath. It's like unwrapping a present!

Now that the quilt top is complete, it's time to consider the quilting. Rather than quilting the snot out of her, I'm planning to keep the quilting much more open and play with many interesting techniques like couching decorative threads and yarn over her hair and glittery threads in the blue section.

Overall it's all about having fun and letting go of fears of imperfection and inadequacy. Who would have thought making quilt about fear would make me so fearless?!

Let's go quilt,

Leah Day

Multi-Colored Insanity

Yes, this is what insanity looks like:

This month I've been in the process of taking all 365 designs from the project and putting them together to create one massive quilt.

The thing is, 365 is not a square number! I can either add 15 designs to create a quilt that's 19 rows by 20 rows (380 blocks) or take 4 away to create a quilt that's 19 by 19.

But that seems a bit cheap. The last thing I want to do is create a quilt that's SUPPOSED to have all 365 blocks, but in fact it only has 361.

Or maybe I'm obsessing about this a bit too much?

One solution would be to place the 4 blocks in each of the corners and add a long outer border to the quilt. I could even combine many designs together to create a fantastic design flowing along each side.

I could even quilt the name of the quilt along the top border - 365 Days of Free Motion Quilting - but I'm worried this will get the quilt disqualified from shows because it's essentially like stitching my name to the front of it. Any judges want to weigh in on this idea?

The technique to join the blocks together is a very simple Quilt-As-You-Go technique. Binding strips cover the blocks from the front, fully encasing the 1/4 inch seam allowance from the edges of the blocks. On the back more binding strips cover the raw edges.

Here's a very, very simple run down. I actually go into much more detail on this technique in the DVD Beginner Free Motion Quilting Filler Designs.

How to connect one quilted block to another quilted block

1. Trim down your blocks to a desired size. Whatever size the blocks need to be, they need to be EXACTLY the right size. Don't eye ball it - square it!

2. Cut a 1 inch and 1.5 inch strip of binding fabric as long as the block.

3. Fold the 1.5 inch strip in half, wrong sides together, and press the snot out of it.

4. Place the 1 inch strip on the front (right side) of the quilt block.

5. Place the 1.5 folded in half strip on the back (wrong side) of the block with the raw edges matching up with the raw edges of the block.

Stitch a super accurate 1/4 inch seam allowance, stitching through the block and BOTH binding strips at the same time.

6. Finger press the 1 inch binding over (leave the folded binding alone). Place the second block on top of the first, right sides together and line up the edge of the block with the edge of the 1 inch binding.

7. Stitch the second block to the 1 inch binding with a super accurate 1/4 inch seam allowance.

Spread the blocks flat and, if your seam allowances are stitched properly, both should nest into the space created by the 1 inch binding.

8. Now finger press the folded binding on the back over to fully encase all raw edges and either zigzag stitch or hand bind the fold in place.

9. Repeat with each block to create rows of your quilt, then repeat more strips of binding on the front and back to connect the rows together. So long as the blocks and strips are cut accurately, and so long as you stitch with a perfect seam allowance, this method can join any set of quilted blocks together.

Keep in mind this isn't the only way you can do this! This is simply the way I'm putting the blocks of this 365 quilt together because each block was quilted and trimmed which means there's no remaining space around the edges to attach the blocks in any other way.

I also prefer this method over just satin stitching the blocks together because it puts a bit of space between each block, almost like sashing.

I can already tell the most time consuming part of this project will be finishing all the binding on the back of the quilt. I still haven't decided if I want to hand stitch each back binding strip or blanket stitch it.

Multiplying the number of blocks by the size of this quilt means there will be 324 - 4 inch sections to hand bind, plus another 18 sections the full length of the quilt....yeah...I really think I should use the machine for this job unless I want to finish it around the time James goes to college!

Time to shut up and quilt!

Leah

Note - I realized when I first published this article that I wasn't clear about the border and adding the title. What I meant to ask was this - what if I actually quilt the words into the top of the quilt "365 Days of Free Motion Quilting"?

I guess I could cover it with fabric if I enter it into a show, but the photos for entry will always have the title showing front and center. Any thoughts?

Question Thursday #4

It's another Question Thursday day and I have a wonderful term from MC at Slair's Lair for the perfect scale to stitch with. You know you've found the perfect scale when it's not too big, not too small, but it's just the right size - the Goldilocks Zone!

I've seen lots of wonderful stippling from everyone that has linked up so far to yesterday's post! It's so exciting to see your progress in just 4 weeks of quilting together.

Now let's see if I can answer some of the questions that have come in this week:

To paraphrase what Mimi said in the comments earlier this week:

Do you take notes of tension changes / machine adjustments to help you remember how to get the machine back to normal?

This is a great question because many quilters are afraid to touch any part of the machine for fear of not being able to get it back to normal.

The best solution for this is to keep a small notebook or journal close by your machine and jot down where your tension, stitch length, stitch width, and even the pressure of the foot, if you have that knob, each time you fiddle with your machine.

Personally I keep notes on what I change the machine to when I do something different, and especially when I'll need to return the machine to this exact setting again in the future.

For example, I often applique with a blanket stitch set at 2.0 stitch length and 2.0 stitch width and use the open toe applique foot. Would I remember this if I hadn't written it down? Absolutely not! I can't keep specifics of stitch length and width in my head so it really does help to write it down.

When it comes to tension, it really is different with each machine. On my old Juki, I was fiddling with that tension knob every single day, on the Janome Horizon the tension is set on "auto" for piecing, applique, and free motion so I never have to worry about it.

It's totally different with each machine so figure out if you can either leave your tension alone, or if you can set in one place for FMQ and leave it there. If so, make a note of it so you'll remember!

Next let's hear from Mrs MomMegan Craftsalot (love your name by the way!):

How do you properly finish the ends of thread when are quilting and back yourself into a corner? Please tell me when you "break your thread" are you suppose to hand sew it in? Can you just cut it off and move on?

I showed this just a bit in yesterday's video, but this is such an important question, I have a better video to illustrate what to do with your loose threads:

Just in case you can't watch the video: To properly finish off your loose thread ends, first tug on the top thread to bring the bobbin thread up to the same side of the quilt. Next take a cheater needle and pop both threads in the top of the needle. Then run the threads into the middle layer of the quilt for around 1 inch or so, then cut them off.

I keep my single cheater needle on a Pin Place so it doesn't get lost in my big magnetic pincushion.

Please, whatever you do, don't just cut off the thread tails and move on. Many teachers will show you how to build up the threads to "lock" them in place at the beginning and end of a line of quilting. The only thing this does is puts a knot on your quilt and a potential for your stitches to come unraveled.

If you're in a big hurry, just leave your thread tails long and pull them all to the top of your quilt where you can see them. As you quilt your quilt, just shift them out of your way and only after it's done, sit down with a cheater needle and hide all of the threads within your quilt. Your quilts will thank you!

Pat from Color Me Quilty asked:

When quilting with a good quality cotton such as Aurifil, is there a way to keep it from breaking?

If you're using a high quality thread and it's breaking constantly, something is obviously rotting in Denmark.

First look at the way your top thread is being fed into the machine. Tug on the thread a bit. Does it glide off easily or is the spool sticking and not turning easily?

If your thread isn't gliding easily, chances are that is the problem. Unlike piecing where the thread is slowly unwinding from the spool, free motion quilting uses thread a lot faster and requires the thread to feed much more quickly off the spool.

So a thread like Aurifil's awesome 100% cotton, which never breaks for piecing, might suddenly start breaking when you quilt with it.

What is the solution here?

It's simple really - fix the way your thread feeds into the machine.

One of the best possible tools you can buy is called a Spool Stand. I don't carry these right now because the ones I like are way too heavy and huge to ship, but they're truly awesome:

I keep a spool stand next to every one of my machines. The Janome Horizon even has a spool stand attachment that you can screw onto the back of that machine so it takes larger spools.

Even when piecing and appliqueing now, I always put my thread on a spool stand because it will feed much more evenly and effortlessly into the machine, which in turn reduces thread breaks and issues that happen when the spool doesn't glide easily.

Of course, your thread could be breaking for another whole set of reasons. When I buy thread, I always write the month and year on the side of a spool when I buy it. This helps me remember how old a spool of thread is because thread can actually go bad.

Recently I was piecing a quilt and my thread kept breaking even though I was using high quality Gutterman 100% cotton. What is going on here? Then I remembered back to when I bought that spool of thread - James was 6 months old! No wonder it was breaking - it's at least 4 years old and has been stored unprotected in my basement - all things that could weaken the fibers enough to cause frequent breakages.

The lesson here is simple: if you're getting frequent thread breaks try to ask questions and diagnose the problem. It might be as simple as your thread is too old or it's not happily feeding into the machine.
The next question is from Karin from the Quilt Yarn:

When I did a workshop on FMQ we were advised to start the stippling from the bottom up so that you could see how far apart from the preceding lines you were. Is there a right way of doing this or is it a matter of personal preference?

Karin, have you ever met someone else named Karin? Did they sign their name the exact same way you did? Chances are your signatures might have looked similar because you were writing the same word, but you definitely had your own unique touch to your name.

I use this example because it's the best way I can illustrate that every single person will stipple differently. You will start in different places, you will move across your quilt differently, you will fill the quilt itself in different ways. And that is OKAY!

There are MILLIONS of ways to stipple your quilt. Each teacher teaches this a little differently. Every quilter will learn and apply those lessons differently.

So the best thing you can do is focus on what works. Always move to what is easier, to what feels most natural for your brain and your body. If starting at the bottom and working upwards feels natural for you, do it!

I hope it's clear that everything I post here are IDEAS. It's not a scientific law or a rock solid fact. These are all ideas which means some work and some don't. Just keep moving to what works and what feels right.

In the comments of yesterday's post DrMary asked:

I've noticed that you are using a new type of pin set-up to baste your quilts?

Yes, I'm now using Pinmoors and simple flower head straight pins to baste my quilts. This is a new product developed by Loretta Ivison that works by locking the sharp end of normal straight pin so you can now baste with the normal pins you already have around the house.

I've started using Pinmoors to baste my quilts because they're a lot easier and faster to use than safety pins, tear my hands up far less, and are easier to take out, especially when I'm filming a video.

You can learn more about this cool item right here in the Day Style Designs Quilt Shop!


Helen and Tsigeyusv both asked pretty much the same question in the comments of yesterday's quilt along post:

I noticed in this video, when you paused in your quilting, that in one part the needle stopped in the up position and in another part it stopped in the down position. Do you have a preference and is it different based on quilting a straight line as opposed to a curved line?

If I have the option on the machine, I will always end with my needle in the DOWN position.

This makes almost all aspects of free motion quilting much easier:

• When shifting and squishing the quilt, you won't lose your place if the needle is down.
  
  
• When stitching on a line, you can always stop with your needle down on the line to stay on track.
  
  
• When quilting a filler design, stopping with the needle down makes it much less likely for the stop to show.

I could go on, but I think you get the point. If you have the option, always set your needle to the DOWN position.

The thing is, not all machines come with this function. Right now I'm quilting on the Janome HD1000 which is a $300 machine and has almost no special features.

It doesn't have a button to select to put the needle automatically in the down position so in order to get the needle down, I either have to carefully tap the foot pedal or move my hand to rotate the hand wheel.

So sometimes, as in the case of yesterday's video, I forget to do either! I apologize if it was confusing, but for the record, I usually stop with the needle in the down position every time I stop.

But this just lets you know how easily you can learn how to use a machine with fewer, or no, special features! Once you get comfortable always taking one hand off the quilt to rotate the hand wheel, it will become a habit that you don't even think about.

Never let the limit of special features make you think you can't free motion quilt on the machine you have right now. Chances are it will work just fine, but only if you put some time and effort in playing with it.

Finally Brenda K asked in the comments of yesterday's post:

Where do you look when stitching?

When stitching a normal straight line I tend to look about half an inch ahead of the needle. But when the line curls around and to the side and behind the needle I tend to lose the line and start looking right at the needle. Then I hesitate and wobble as I search for where I'm going. Any advice?

This is a great question Brenda! I'm like you - I tend to focus on the area I'm stitching INTO, not right at my needle.

When you lose the line, the best thing to do is either shift the quilt a bit or move your head slightly so you can see where you're going.

Sometimes I'll lean forward and tilt my head to the right to keep a line of sight on the line I'm stitching on.

The trick is just remembering to sit back up when you're out of that area so you don't get a backache!

Whew! That's it for this Question Thursday! It's high time I shut up and go quilt that little Sawtooth Star quilt so I'll have something to show you next week!

Let's go quilt,

Leah Day

Quilt Along #4 - Quilting on a Line

Is it really Wednesday again already? That means it's time for another Free Motion Quilt Along lesson!

Last week I promised we would work on something other than Stippling and I didn't lie - this week we're focusing on stitching on a line in free motion.

So let's watch the video and learn many different ways to master this skill:

Click Here if the Video Does Not Appear

Stitching on a line is a super essential skill to free motion quilting. It's right up there with travel stitching and echoing as in the top 3 most fundamental free motion quilting skills to master.

Why is it so important to be able to quilt on a line?

It's super important because one day you're going to want to stitch in the ditch or quilt around the edges of an applique to draw more attention and focus to these shapes. You might also find a stencil design and fall so madly in love with it, you'll want to stitch it on ever quilt you ever make.

Or you might find a gorgeous fabric that can make a pretty quilt all by itself. You'll mostly likely want to quilt that awesome fabric by following the lines on the print rather than quilting all over the design.

As you can see there are a lot of different places this skill is used and almost all involve quilting REAL quilts.

Of course, it is possible to quilt a real quilt without ever stitching on a line or stitching in the ditch. This is All Over Quilting where you cover a quilt with one single design on a large scale.

All Over Quilting is fast, efficient, and certainly gets the quilts done, but not everyone is satisfied with this method of quilting.

If you spent 3 days piecing special quilt blocks, don't you want them quilted in a way that enhances their overall design and shape? Don't you want to get credit for your hand work? Of course you do!

Not everyone wants to cover their quilts with wall to wall quilting which is why we need to know how to stitch on a line, or in the ditch, so our quilts can be quilted with designs that ADD to the piecing or applique design.

Of course, this involves quilting a real quilt, which can be tricky to film on video, and even more tricky for you to follow along with.

So far I've been demonstrating my lessons on practice quilt sandwiches created with plain black fabric so you can clearly see what I'm doing in the video. For this particular lesson, I've demonstrated on stripped fabric, printed fabric, plain black fabric, and a "real" cheater cloth quilt (more on that quilt below).

It's entirely up to you what you want to practice this lesson on, but I would advise at least trying to quilt on the line of stripped fabric and a fairly simple print.

If you want to baste a small quilt top for this lesson, go for it! The more you practice this technique, the better you will get at it so it really doesn't matter what you choose to practice on.

Now let's learn some tips on quilting on a line:

Stitching on a line 101

Tip 1 - SLOW DOWN! Stitching on a line requires more concentration and focus than stitching random wiggly Stippling shapes. The best way to learn is by slowing down and running your machine slower so you can move your hands slower too. Once your brain catches up and you feel more comfortable, then start slowly increasing your speed.

No matter how comfortable you get, stitching on a line will always be slightly slower than stitching free hand.

Tip 2 - Don't Rip. Don't you dare pick up that seam ripper if you stitch off a line! Keep stitching and learn how to correct the mistake you made in another area of the quilt.

Ripping will only ever increase your skill at ripping, and I've never seen awards for "Best Seam Ripped Quilt" at a quilt show though it would be an interesting category to judge.

Tip 3 - Use your hands. Your hands can do more than just move your quilt around on the machine. Your hands are useful guides if you learn how to position them properly.

When you're stitching straight lines, keep your hands parallel to the needle. If you can, use the index finger of your right hand as a guide to keep the line straight. I show this technique a bit better in this older video right here.

Tip 4 - MOVE the quilt. If you start stitching off the line a lot and can't seem to get back on it consistently, take a good look at the quilt. Is it positioned in an awkward angle where you can't see where you're supposed to quilt next? Rotate it!

Look at where your stitching - is this angle and movement difficult or easy for you to maneuver? Rotate, reposition, squish, fold, curl - do whatever you need to do in order to make that section of the quilt easier to quilt.

Of course, you're not always going to have the opportunity or ability to rotate the quilt for every single angle you quilt. Sometimes it's just not practical to continually move the quilt around that much.

So also spend time stitching in some odd angles. Stitch straight lines from left to right and from right to left. This will probably feel a bit like writing with your non-dominate hand - a little awkward, but not unbearable. The more you do it, the better you will get at working with many angles AND staying on the line at the same time.

Now let's talk about the quilt I'm working on in the video:

Now I'll be honest - this isn't a REAL quilt. This is a cheater cloth quilt I designed and had printed at Spoonflower.com. You can purchase this 1 yard quilt in green or blue right here.

Here's a quick disclaimer about these prints: Keep in mind that the dyes in Spoonflower fabric is more delicate than traditionally printed fabric. I've personally found a lot of fading with these prints, and I'm being honest about it here because I don't want you to be surprised when it happens.

Instead of throwing these quilts in the washer, instead soak them in the bathtub and don't use detergent. Also don't prewash your fabric when you get it - just add a border and baste it so it's ready to be quilted.

I'm designing these prints mostly for my use to teach and show you how to quilt something that at least LOOKS like a real quilt because I don't always have time to piece a quilt AND quilt it in one week. For this reason, the cheater cloth I'm designing has to be very dark, which means the fading is even worse.

Just keep this in mind if you purchase these Spoonflower cheater quilts - they will be great to practice with, but probably not the best hard wearing quilts.

Now let's talk about quilting this quilt in free motion:

I could easily quilt all over this quilt with large scale stippling, filling the quilts in rows as we learned in Quilt Along #2.

But if you had pieced all of those Sawtooth Stars, wouldn't you want to get credit for them?

So I don't want to quilt all over the stars and ignore all those piecing lines. I'd like to draw attention to them and make sure they stand out in the finished quilt. To do this, the first step is to stitch each star in the ditch.

But here's another point - you don't have to stitch EVERYTHING in the ditch.

If you choose to pay attention to the piecing design that doesn't mean you have to stitch every single seam you pieced in the ditch. This is not only overwhelming, but also a big waste of time.

Take a look at your quilt and decide the major elements you want to focus on. Only stitch the outlines of those particular shapes and ignore all the others.

For my sawtooth star, I've decided to stitch only the star shape in the ditch. This means I'm ignoring the center square shape and the outer square shape (the edges of the individual block). The lines I quilted are in white below:

You can always decide which lines you want to quilt and which you want to ignore. The lines you ignore can then be quilted over with any free motion filler design.

So this is the way I stitched each star of my practice quilt in the ditch. Below I've numbered the blocks in the order I quilted them - always working from the center of the quilt to the outer edges.

I also quilted in the ditch between the green sashing and black border. I now have three distinct areas to quilt in: within the stars, within the sashing, and within the border.

Each of these areas can now be quilted with different filler designs to finish the quilt, or if the batting was rated high enough, I could even bind this quilt as is and call it done.

Now you may be wondering - why in the world are we doing this in free motion?

Can't we just do this with a walking foot?

Yes, you're absolutely right to wonder about this. A walking foot can easily stitch straight and slightly curvy lines with no problem, and because it slowly moves the fabric forward, it's much easier to stay right on a line.

But here's the major limitation of walking foot: it's not free motion.

A walking foot can ONLY quilt straight and slightly curvy lines. You can't stipple with it, you can't make free form designs, and it's unbearably, mindlessly SLOW!

Not only does it move slowly over your quilt, it also forces you to continually shift and rotate your quilt so the seam you're stitching is always straight down from the foot. That means to stitch 1 single sawtooth star block in the ditch, you will have to shift and reposition your quilt 16 times!

In free motion, you'd be able to stitch in the ditch, then fill the space with a design, and only rotate the quilt if you really need to. You'd also have the opportunity to wiggle over to the next star and fill it as well, all without breaking thread once.

This saves SO much time, and keeps the quilt flowing and moving, making it easier to finish!

The ability to quilt on a line in free motion is a major TIME SAVER. It's faster, and once you master it, it will also be easier.

So that's it for this week! I hope you'll take some time this week to play with stitching on a line and in the ditch. Just remember it doesn't have to be perfect and the more you practice this technique, the better you will get at it.

Now let's link up and share your progress from last week's Quilt Along #3 - Playing with Scale:




Instructions for Linking Up Your Blog:

1. Write your blog post. Publish it on your blog.

2. Copy the link of the specific blog post. This is not just the link to your blog itself (www.freemotionquilting.blogspot.com), but the link to the specific post: http://freemotionquilting.blogspot.com/2012/01/quilt-along-2-quilting-in-rows.html

3. Click the blue link up button above and paste your link into the box.

Keep in mind that you're posting your progress from LAST week on THIS week's post. This way you have time to watch the lesson, play with the ideas, then post your progress to the next quilt along. I hope that makes sense!

As always, any questions you have, please post them in the comments below or on your blog and I'll answer 5 tomorrow on Question Thursday.

Time for me to shut up and quilt,

Leah Day

Quilting with Your Whole Heart

For some reason I seem to be turning into a quilting / motivation coach! Half my posts are about quilting and the other half are about overcoming obstacles that stop us from quilting and enjoying this wonderful hobby.

Still, I think it all works together nicely, particularly with the Quilt Along, and today I'd like to talk about putting your heart into it!

I attended a morning yoga class and the instructor led the class with the theme:

Practice with your whole heart.

Working through the poses, she continually brought our attention back to this mindfulness and I loved the way it kept my attention on my mat and in the pose and not wandering off to the millions of things I had to do today.

But we can apply this same less to more than just muscle stretches.

When you quilt, when you are creating something, where are you? Are you actively focused on the task in front of your, or is your mind stumbling through the past or daydreaming about the future?

The next time you're at your sewing machine, try bringing your awareness to your hands and the delicate movements they're making.

Focus on taking a stitch, finishing a seam, or completing that block, and instead of rushing off to the next step, take a minute to touch the stitches you just made. Look at them closely and see their perfection and imperfection. Don't use this as an opportunity to criticize yourself, but to appreciate what you can do. Relish your abilities!

When you get frustrated with a difficult task, take a deep breath and thank yourself for being a creative person. How many people refuse to even TRY a creative hobby out of fear, laziness, or apathy? You are awesome simply because you create.

As you work, bring your heart into your stitches. Think about the person you're making this quilt for, even if it's for you! Think about the gift that it is to receive a handmade quilt, and the gift that it is to be able to make one. Quilting is all about wrapping someone up in the loving warmth of a comforting blanket. Quilting is an act of love.

Back in that yoga class this morning, I kept returning to the idea of love and practicing with my whole heart flowing into each pose, each movement, each breath.

As I left that class, I began thinking about all the different ways this applies to my normal routine. I began to see that every task, even washing the dishes, is an opportunity to work through your heart - to put your whole being into the job and focus on absolutely nothing else.

It's actually a comforting thing, as I found working through this day, to play with James with my whole heart, to clean the kitchen with my whole heart, to drive to the grocery store with all my thoughts focused solely on one thing - going to the grocery store.

Very soon I began thinking about quilting and why this project feels so very different now.

When I dug into this feeling, I began to see that this year, more than any other, I have returned to quilting with my whole heart. I'm following my heart by teaching this way, by trying every idea that pops into my head, and by sharing it all openly here on the project.

Often the ideas for the next quilt along post come only after writing a Question Thursday post, which means this project is literally happening in real time.

For the last two years I've created videos far in advance which means by the time they were posted, I was already quilting something else. This was an extremely stressful way to create and it always left me feeling a bit unbalanced. I always want to talk about what's happening right NOW, not what happened 3 months ago!

After realizing all of this, I know exactly why the project feels so much lighter, so much more fun and more exciting than ever before: because there's so much love here!

I love to teach, I love to share, and I love that all of you are here to enjoy it.

So thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for being here and for quilting along with me.

Now let's go quilt!

Leah

A New...Old...But New Machine

Reading the title of this post, you might think I've finally taken one stitch too many and have gone utterly insane.

But in truth I really have just purchased a new, old, but new machine!

Yesterday I drove to a quilters house in Hollis, NC and bought a Bernina 1230, which is technically a "new" machine to me.

But it's also an old machine because it was built sometime between 1989 and 1998.

But it's ALSO a NEW machine because it has hardly been used!

When G. emailed me about this machine, she was really asking for advice as to whether she should sell it and get a bigger, quilting oriented machine. She already had the exact same model and came by this machine via a friend.

I instantly went on the alert because I've been waiting patiently for one of these awesome older Berninas to walk across my path again.

Allow me to digress for a moment into a bit of my sewing history:

Once upon a time, I was a newly married woman and starting a new job sewing garments for a living. The brother machine I was using at the time gave out after just one week of hard sewing.

I obviously needed a machine that could take the heat of high speed, high intensity sewing. So I went to my local Bernina dealer, at that time in Asheville, NC.

And what should I find waiting for me? A gorgeous, used, Bernina 1130.

This was my first introduction to this amazing line of machines. I played on the 1130 for more than an hour. No, I didn't need all the fancy stitches. No, I didn't need all the bells and whistles, but golly I fell in love with that machine!

But...I couldn't afford it. I had exactly $400 in my pocket thanks to a college refund check and the price on the 1130 was $675.

Looking back I realize what an unbelievable deal it was. That machine was complete with all the feet, knee lifter, the works. On ebay these regularly go for over $1000.

But I couldn't swing it. Josh and I refused to go into debt for ANY expense, even our wedding, so going into debt for a sewing machine seemed like a silly thing in comparison.

I walked out of that store and went to the local Viking dealership which advertised a machine for $300. Truthfully I was very satisfied with the Viking Prelude 340 I left the store with, but in the back of my mind I never, ever, forgot about that Bernina 1130.

As the years have gone by, I've kept an eye on these machines. Not just 1130s, but 1230s, 1630s and pretty much any other machines in that early computerized line. Pretty much ALL of these machines are golden. They've kept their looks and their awesome stitch quality which means their value is actually increasing as these machines get harder to find.

Every couple of months I'd check Ebay auctions looking for one, but I've never found the "right" machine.

Because it was such luck to run across that 1130 in that quilt shop, I always felt I'd get another lucky break and the machine that was meant to me mine would wander across my path.

And as luck would have it - one did just this week!

What's totally unbelievable is that this machine is ALMOST new. Every piece is here, even the original advertising books and print out guides:

It honestly feels like running across a mint condition tea set that was previously owned by Queen Elizabeth, with ALL the pieces, nothing scratched or chipped. It feels like this machine left the store and came home with me, despite the fact that it's probably more than 20 years old!

What I love the most about this machine is its stitch quality. Every stitch is - literally - perfect. As I said on facebook this morning - Truly nothing pieces like a Bernina.

Now you might be wondering about quilting. Yes, I most definitely can free motion quilt on this machine. Berninas have one of the best feet designed for free motion quilting - the open toe embroidery foot.

You might think the quilting ability of this machine is limited by the small space between the needle and the motor of the machine. This area is called the harp space and in the 1230, this space is around 6 - 7 inches (I haven't actually measured it yet).

But I don't think this is a limitation to quilting. For the last two weeks I've been quilting on a very small Janome HD 1000 with a 6.5 inch harp space and I haven't found this space to be terribly detrimental to quilting.

I believe the biggest reason it hasn't been a challenge to quilt on the Janome HD 1000 is because it's on a level surface with the table surface. It's much easier to move the quilt in general because I'm not pushing and pulling the quilt over the edges of the machine bed.

So I will definitely quilt on the Bernina 1230, but mostly plan to use this machine for piecing and applique. I always have two machines set up these days - one for piecing quilts and one for quilting. This way two projects can be going at a time and I'm not constantly having to switch out machines.

Now you might be wondering about my Janome Horizon 7700 - have we had a falling out?

Absolutely not, though it's hard to love a machine deeply when it's broken!

The catch spring on my Janome Horizon broke a few weeks ago and it turns out the whole tension unit in the machine has to be changed in order to fix this little bit of metal.

It's not all bad though. Since I have to drive all the way to Greensboro to get it fixed, we might as well have a workshop while we're at it!

I'll be teaching at Ye Olde Forest Quilt Shop on February 18th from 10 am - 3 pm. Give the store a call to sign up for the class and I'll see you next month!

I'm off to shut up and quilt on this new, old, new machine!

Leah