It’s time for a give-away!! Are you excited??
I ran into quilter extraordinaire Patsy Thompson at Spring Quilt Market, and she gave me a copy of her latest DVD Free Motion Fun…with Feathers! Volume 4, to give-away to one lucky Quilting Gallery reader.
You can watch an intro video on Patsy’s web site that gives you an outline on what you will learn in this DVD set.
I took a couple of photos while in Patsy’s booth. Unfortunately the lighting is poor, but you can still see some of her fabulous quilting.
I’m lucky enough to own Patsy’s other DVDs. She’s taught me so much and inspired me to actually try free motion quilting last year. Now, I love it.
How to enter: Leave a comment below sharing your favourite quilting tip. Your tip can be about free motion quilting or any part of the quilting process from cutting, piecing, quilting or binding. One random winner will be chosen Monday, July 19th.
Facebook, readers: You need to visit the Quilting Gallery blog to leave your comment and be entered in the give-away: CLICK HERE
And the winner is #120 Avery Claire. Congratulations!
My tip is for marking the quilt before quilting. I like to use Crayola washable crayons (test on the fabric you’re using) because they come in a multitude of colors and have always washed out for me. My words to live by are ‘enjoy the process’ and don’t rush through the project.
Relax; Practice; Play; Experiment; and just do what makes you happy when you are quilting that quilt top!! Happy accidents have produced some of the best surprise results!! Oh, and the “Quilt Police” don’t really exist – but if your local quilt guild has a few “wannabee quilt police” – then just DON”T invite them over, and DON’T show them your finished quilts!! That should cut your stress level in half – at least!! :)
That is amazing quilting, I love it!! Would love to try… My tip is something I learned at bernina course.. Use a pastry brush to clear out fluff from your bobbin housing. the fluff with cling to the pastry brush and come out, something even the brushes designed for the purpose do not seem to do. (and clean out frequently of course, as has been said before)
I too like to use Machingers gloves and the supreme slider and Magic genie bobbin washers to make quilting easier. Also experiment with different threads when quilting.
I can’t do anything without my little white gloves.
Well I have only just really started to really go for free motion quilting, so would love any help/tips/encouragement this DVD would give……..my top tip is to get a pair of quilting gloves, i really noticed the difference after i started wearing them, wouldn’t be without them now :))
My fave tip for MQing came from Patsy Thompson herself … have a glass of wine before you start!
That and Machingers help a bunch.
Thanks for the opportunity!
I will never be as awesome as Patsy at MQing but Im OK with that. I love every aspect of MQing and find it so much fun. My tip would be to just relax and slow down and also to try lots of different methods and different threads and needles til you find what you like the best. Hope to win the DVD because I am moving on to feathers soon.
My machingers disintegrated and got white specks on everything, so I use a Clover product that you apply to you finger tips and it holds the quilt in place.
My favorite tip and one that I had forgotten is to pin!!! I had been wondering why things weren’t turning out well and I read a post about pinning …my blocks are much better now.
I’m an absolute beginner in machine quilting, but I love to you quiltpounce, it helps me to work more accurately
I place a rolled up piece of that rubber mesh shelf liner under the back of my machine, so that the machine tilts towards me…better view! Sandy in MD
Make a small sandwich of the same fabric you are quilting to check thread and tension. Also to get in the hang of quilting before you start on the real thing.
Oh, how I need those DVD’s.
Here is an interesting tip from Tricia Quirk Spitzmueller.
When first learning to machine quilt, sing a repetitive song to yourself such as “99 Bottles Of Beer On The Wall.” Funny as this may seem, it distracts the left brain and allows greater freedom of movement and a more graceful flow. I used this technique when I first practiced signing my name in cursive on my quilts. I had to trust that I knew how to sign my name, as I had done it a thousand times, and that my hands could find their own way. You’ll find yourself saying, “It’s a miracle” just like I did!
I think that doing a test square before you begin is a must. It saves a lot of frustration later. Listening to music while quilting really calms me down and I’m less tense. Thanks for the offer. Happy Quilting!!!
be courageous! I had courage to just try out free motion all by myself and now I love it. I would love to win this I haven’t tried to do a lot of feathers yet, I guess I need some more courage!
Accuracy! I have found that taking time to be accurate in cutting really makes a difference. It’s easier said than done though!
My tip….. change needles before starting a new project or if run over a pin. Clean machine regularly. The amount of lint that collects if you don’t do this is incredible. Don’t forget to oil it, too. You’d be amazed how much better your machine will run.
while machine quilting, take your shoulders out of your ears and listen to music to give yourself a rhythm to quilt by :)
My tip: use a lint roller to clean off any stray threads, lint, pet hair, left over threads from unpicking, any other stuff – I keep one next to my ironing board, can spread the quilt out on that and roll over to remove any unwanted fluffy bits – that way they are not quilted onto the surface, easier to remove, and your quilt is cleaner.
Thanks for the chance to enter and maybe win these wonderful free motion quilt dvds. Isn’t it wonderful that there is a place for everyone in this quilting world of ours, from beginners to the best, we all have a place. :-) Jennifer in Australia.
Sometimes I like to do a decorative stitch on my binding but I am really particular on how it looks on both sides. So what I have found that works really well, is I stitch the binding to the quilt, press and then put a bead of Elmer’s School glue on the raw edge stitch line. I then fold my binding over to meet the stitch line, press for good adhesion and then I can follow the line to place a decorative stitch. By gluing, this allows the right placement with no moving.
The best thing I can tell anyone is to practice, practice, practice. The more you do free motion quilting, the more it imprints on your brain and the easier and better it gets.
Beautiful work. I really appreciate the workmanship in her work having tried machine quilting myself. I find gloves help me move the fabric under the presser foot. One mystery is what happened to one of my gloves – I have looked everywhere in my sewing room! Thank you for sharing.
Learn as much as you can and share with your fellow quilting sisters. I have learned so much from these ladies and appreciate every bit of information they share with me.
As I have gotten older I learned that rotary cutting with a light colored mat makes lining things up much easy to see……unless of course your fabric is the same color as the mat.
thanks for a chance to win……..
happy Sewing
Don’t practise – seriously! Don’t use worse fabric to try if you are ready to make something! Use your favourites fabrics – in such situation trying harder and you’re doing your best – the results are better than during practicing!!!
Before free motioning, I need practice. I’m a newbie, and it takes me a few minutes to get to that sweet spot as far as speed. Just like it is hard to ride a bike very slow or very fast, there is a happy middle. I use little square sandwiches to practice before going to the quilt. Then I use these little squares to wipe off our dog’s muddy feet coming in from outside.
Quilting tip: Put all natural bulbs in your quilt/craft room lamps and fixtures. It will make a huge difference in your colors!
this looks like an exciting video, she talks about the corners. i need help with that. I need to just practice, practice, and more practice.
Use rubber fingers to hold the quilt for free motion and practice some before each session on the real quilt.
get up and stretch at least once an hour and drink some water.
When I am quilting, I try to think that I am doing it for the love that I am putting my hard work into. Try to never get frustrated, quilting is fun ,, Not a chore…
I use the office sticky fingers to pick up block pieces when I am chain piecing so I don’t have to lick my fingers to seperate the pieces from a stack of cut pieces, did that make sence? well it does to me, cuz you know we are usually munching on some kind of chocolate and we do not want to get that on our blocks when we are on a mission of a project.
Machingers, chew gum, hum to your favorite song, baste the quilt on my long arm as I go along – this really helps to keep it even, and most of all use the large black horse mats that you buy at the Tractor Supply Store to stand on – great for your feet and back. Tomorrow is my birthday so it would be a really nice birthday present….hint, hint!! hehehe
Don’t be afraid. We all have been beginners at some point in time. Just take a deep breath and try it. See? you can do it! Release your creativity and let down your guard. You are in a new world now, on your own, nobody to bother you, and you are in control. You go girl!
When I quilt on my DSM I love using the Halo to help hold and steer the quilt under the needle.
Here’s one of my favorite techniques: Apply a small piece of double-sided tape to the back of a template, then position it onto the quilt top. The template will be secure, and quilting around the template will be easier and more accurate. Thanks for the chance to win one of Patsy’s excellent DVD’s!
Relax and breath. If you are quilting on your domestic machine, remember to keep your shoulders down. It is so easy for them to creep up to your ears. If it’s on a longarm, still relax and breath, keep your shoulders loose and don’t hold the handles with a death grip.
I am just starting to learn machine quilting, have been doing by hand for many years….this book sure could help….do I dare to dream to be able to quilt like that ??!!?? WOW
My favorite quilting tip is blue painters tape. I use it to mark lines, hold seams together, hold paper and patterns down when tracing designs. It’s kind of like duct tape is to guys-painters tape is to quilters!
My favourite quilting tip is to keep a lint roller handy. I have one that lives in my quilt room and I use it to clean up little threads from ripping out, fluff from my cutting mat, cat hair … etc. My work area is always tidy!
I just started longarm classes today. I sure would love this
Just relax and not to “over think” the process. Patsy taught me that with her dvd’s.