Start Free-Motion Quilting

Class Preview

Discover free-motion quilting with comprehensive, start-to-finish guidance. Confidently quilt gorgeous free-motion designs and feel-good texture.

Introduction

Meet your instructor, Elizabeth Dackson, and jump right into learning her three golden rules of free-motion quilting. You’ll set up your machine, grab a quilt sandwich and start practicing!

Stipple Patterns

Organic, free-form stippling is a great technique to play around with and get a feel for matching your machine and hand speeds. As you quilt, listen to Elizabeth’s advice on needles, thread and troubleshooting.

Loopy Flowers

Expand your design repertoire with playful, loopy flowers as Elizabeth discusses batting as well as tools and strategies that can make your quilting easier and more efficient.

Woodgrain

Elizabeth shows you how to build a quilt sandwich by pin- or spray-basting and how to join scraps of batting without lumps. Follow along as she demonstrates the more linear woodgrain design, complete with knotholes!

Circuit Board

Get your quilting squared away with the geometric circuit board design. As you quilt, Elizabeth discusses feed dogs and choosing a free-motion foot for your machine. Should your bobbin thread run out while you’re sewing, you’ll see how to start a new one and bury your thread tails.

Linear L Design

Loopy, cursive L’s can be used to fill a quilt patch with a repetitive, linear pattern. Stitch them as you learn about a variety of marking tools you can use to create guidelines, and where to look as you’re sewing. If you’re considering stitch patterns for a project such as the included Mod Kaleidoscope pillow pattern, Elizabeth gives you some planning advice.

Wishbones

Learn another linear motif, the wishbone, as Elizabeth discusses how to troubleshoot common quilting problems such as thread breakage, and shares options for stitching in different directions.

Clamshell & Pulley

The mock clamshell loop is an easy and attractive overall design, perfect for a beginner. As you sew it, learn more about setting up your work space and setting the mood for quilting. Then try the pulley stitch as you learn more about correct posture. Finally, Elizabeth shares some of her design inspiration.

Bonus: Stitching Out of a Corner

As a bonus, Elizabeth has one last quick tip: How to get your design back on track when you’ve accidentally boxed yourself into a corner or other tight spot.