When it comes to Free Motion quilting I’ve been self taught. Thanks to an artist mother who has a home that is better stocked than most craft stores and encouraged me to dabble in painting, sewing and various other crafts. I’ve had a lot of practice trying new things. When I first started quilting, my kids were little, hubby was in school and money was tight. So quilting by check was not an option. So I asked questions at my guild. Took the handful of knowledge I was given and went for it. Trying my hand at free motion quilting pebbles and feathers.
Now that the kids are grown and money is not so tight I still quilt my own. It’s not my favorite thing always but I feel a sense of accomplishment saying I made my quilt completely by myself. I’ve know I have lots of room for improvement in my quilting. So I recently started taking some classes.
I watched Christina Cameli’s Secrets of Free Motion Quilting and Patsy Thompson’s Feather Basics. They both taught me things that my self teaching had totally missed. I used what I learned to start quilting my Clamshells quilt.
I’ve got all the pebbles done in the background and a couple of the clam shell rows are finished. I’m thrilled with what I learned and how it is helping me improve my skills. I’m even really liking the effect of my quilting rather than just being happy to have a finish under my belt.
Update: See my next free motion quilting step.
