# Domestic machine free motion quilting



## Dandish (Feb 8, 2007)

I wanted to start this thread to encourage those who think they can't do free motion quilting on their standard size sewing machines!

Yes, you CAN do it. You only need acquire a darning/free motion foot (generic about $12, only need to know low/high shank), all it takes is practice. You can do it!

There are many examples right here on this board - MacaReenie, don't you FMQ on your domestic? - and tons of information and instructional videos on the web. I started out on an older mechanical Kenmore and then a BabyLock crafter's choice, which are both standard machines - in fact the throat space on the Babylock is pretty small. I'm no great shakes, by any means, but I can finish my quilts myself, and the more I do the better I get. A friend and I finished a quilt in October for another friend that measured 138" x 123" - about half way through we switched over to my Horizon which has a larger throat (11"), but the first half was done on my BabyLock. 

Here are a couple great videos showing what can be achieved if you practice and some help on how to get started:

Scroll down to the second video about "the basics": http://freemotionquilting.blogspot.com/p/start-here.html

She has tons and tons of information and help available to us on her website/blog.

Here's some more very good information (and fantastic inspiration) by Patsy Thompson:
http://www.patsythompsondesigns.com/free-video/

Her quilting on a domestic machine is absolutely phenomenal. She was a speaker at our quild last year and I enjoyed her very much and got to see some of her stuff up close - wow! She is a physician, BTW, who now quilts!

Also, if you google Sharon Schamber you will find great stuff, she is a multi-award winning quilter who up until recently worked on a domestic machine, but has since been working with a long-arm because she hand some hand/wrist problems.

I really just want to encourage those who would like to do it, but think it can't be done on your machines. It's a LOT of fun and there's a great satisfaction in getting "out of the box" of stitch-in-the ditch and straight line quilting. Your beginning efforts might look bad (mine did!) but with practice I bet you'll be very surprised at what you can do.


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## AngieM2 (May 10, 2002)

I did my first free motion quilting on the sections that make up my purse. It was small enough that it was not hard to handle, and gave me confidence to work on more projects.

So, I'd recommend something a little smaller to get the feel of the machine, then go for it.


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## HorseMom (Jul 31, 2005)

Oh Dandish what are you trying to do to me lol. I'm not one to leave my box very often, I'm a very insecure person! Though a while back I did buy a template for a Baptist fan. I laid it out on the quilt, used aerosol chalk to mark it (that stuff it great, expensive but wonderful)! Then got confused on where to lay the template for the next section, so I chickened out and quilted diagonals on the quilt =-D I'm the type of person that really needs to be shown to learn. Vidoes are ok, but sometimes my brain just can't grasp it. It took me over 2 yrs to finally "get" how to make a casing for an elastic waist band lol
Heidi


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## Billie in MO (Jun 9, 2002)

The only free motion quilting I have done is on the fabric postcards I make. I did try recently to quilt a pattern using a template, it was so awful I spent 7 hours ripping it all out. Just awful......

The week of Thanksgiving I did buy a quilt machine and frame. Found it on Craig's List. The lady was upgrading to a higher end machine. I gave all my scrap quilt tops away several years ago to my sis-in-law when she got her quilting machine/frame. Now I am making up a bunch for me so I can start practicing and learning how to use my machine.


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## MacaReenie (Mar 1, 2008)

Great thread!!! I was TERRIFIED to do my first one..and yes, all my quilts are done on my regular machine. No way could I afford to send mine out. First ones I did were all straight lines. Then over time, I got a little braver and did free motion quilting. That is a BIG part of how I can get quilts done fairly quickly. FMQ goes FAST once you get the knack of it. Start on smaller projects like others recommended, but my biggest piece of advice is to make something busy and fairly scrappy. Booboo's show up MUCH less on busier quilts! Just keep at it. Each one that I do, I force myself to try just a little something different and more intimidating. Scrappy table runners would be a GREAT first fmq project.


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## CJ (May 10, 2002)

Also check out Diane Gaudynski's website, she's like the goddess of quilting on a domestic!


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## Dandish (Feb 8, 2007)

I found when I first started FMQing that following a template was incredibly difficult- at least to make it look half way decent was difficult. About 4 months of practice and I could follow a template, having it look pretty good, and also free hand follow my own paths and seams so that I could even stitch in the ditch free-handed. I haven't done any for about 2 months now, and I couldn't walk up to my machine and sit down and do it well right away again, I KNOW that, so you need to practice a LOT and brush up on the skills when you've been away from it a while. It'll take some time to "click" - for me it was quite a while, but once it does, it turns into great fun!

Thanks for the info CJ, I've not heard of her. Will check it out. Always new things to learn and try!


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## ErinP (Aug 23, 2007)

Free motion, stitch in the ditch, etc.... Of the numerous quilts I've done over the years, in everything from table runners to queen sized, only one was done on anything BUT a domestic sewing machine. 

Though I heard someone say once that quilting on a standard machine is like wrestling an anaconda and that has stuck in my mind ever since. Because it's so TRUE! lol


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## Dandish (Feb 8, 2007)

Horsemom, don't be insecure. It's all in fun! Start out really small - relax - nobody is going to judge - it's just for you.

Take some scrap material, make a "sandwich" - not too big - you're just going to play (safety pins work well to hold it together, but if you use a basting spray the pins won't be in the way and you won't have to stop to remove them). Put the foot on your machine, stitch length to 0 or drop/cover the feed dogs and go for it. Just get that feeling of freedom. It won't look pretty at first - lol. Work on finding a balance of the speed of the machine (controlled by your foot pedal) and the movement of your hands. Pretty soon you'll get some fairly even looking stitches (no FMQers have perfect stitches all the time, not even the very best, it's ok). It's an odd way for your brain to work - like holding the pencil and moving the paper, and in fact the more you doodle a design on paper the easier it will be to stitch it out - has something to do with muscle memory. Anyway, it takes time and practice to expand your brain like that (lots for me, and I'm still not very good!).


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## Dandish (Feb 8, 2007)

ErinP said:


> Free motion, stitch in the ditch, etc.... Of the numerous quilts I've done over the years, in everything from table runners to queen sized, only one was done on anything BUT a domestic sewing machine.
> 
> Though I heard someone say once that quilting on a standard machine is like wrestling an anaconda and that has stuck in my mind ever since. Because it's so TRUE! lol


LOL, I've heard that too. A couple of things that help tremendously: If possible, have your machine sit so that the bed is flat with the sewing surface - either sewing cabinet where the machine sits flush or an extension table for your specific machine, so it gives you a larger flat area to put your hands. The second thing is to puddle and kind of smoosh the quilt up - I've found that rolling it makes it terribly combersome. You need enough surface behind the machine and to your left to support the weight of the quilt too, so it's not pulling away from you and fighting you.

This is for larger projects and they are only helpful, not completely necessary. Don't let not being able to do/have these things at first discourage anybody from trying it!


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## Dandish (Feb 8, 2007)

This is my first "practice quilt" when I got my Horizon last Feb:











This is what I could do following a template about 4-5 months after that:










Not perfect, of course, but you can see the progress. I have a couple other things I'll take pics of tomorrow. YOU can do this. Believe me. That first quilt above was not my first FMQing, like I said earlier I had done some on my other machines. My first attempts looked, well, I don't know if words can say how bad - lol!


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## CJ (May 10, 2002)

Beautiful Dandish! I could never get the hang of FMQ'ing on my domestic.
Here's a link to Diane G's website:
http://www.dianegaudynski.net/


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## Dandish (Feb 8, 2007)

CJ said:


> Beautiful Dandish! I could never get the hang of FMQ'ing on my domestic.
> Here's a link to Diane G's website:
> http://www.dianegaudynski.net/


Thanks for the link CJ, really good stuff. I happily burned up my morning PC time there. 

I'll try to get a couple more pics up later this today, my last 2 completed projects.


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## Dandish (Feb 8, 2007)

Here are a few pics of my most recent finishes. The first quilt is my first try at machine trapunto: (colors most true in first photo)




























This was my summertime project:




























All the quilting on these was done free motion on the Horizon. In the autumn quilt the cornucopia blocks were cut from a gorgeous panel, framed and set on point with the alternating gold/orange blocks. The "produce" in those blocks is trapuntoed too, but it doesn't show up well in this pics (bad lighting, can't go outside today to shoot because it finally snowed!). 

The cherries are machine appliqued with a satin stitch and set with the pieced blocks.


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## ErinP (Aug 23, 2007)

Thanks for sharing, Dandish. I LOVE trapunto!! 
I have yet to work up the nerve to really try it, though...


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## CJ (May 10, 2002)

Absolutely gorgeous Dandish, I think you've got it down!


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