Can’t Fail Free-Motion Quilting Techniques

One of my favorite phrases is, If you think you can’t you’re probably right! Did you ever have that thought when it came to free-motion quilting? Luckily my Sewing With Nancy guest, Molly Hanson, took the can-do attitude and taught herself artistic stitching. Now, you can watch her can-do free-motion quilting techniques online and view the specific techniques in her book.

Molly’s goal in teaching free-motion quilting is to inspire creativity. The best news is that creativity isn’t difficult! To prove it, we’ll start with Paisley free-motion quilting techniques.

Paisley

The wide-to-narrow paisley design is often paired with geometric quilt patterns. It’s a free-motion design perfect for beginner stitchers.

Note from Nancy— I’ve tried free-motion quilting in the past and was never able to master paisley. After following Molly’s directions, I had success after the first try. Really!

Woodgrain

Quilting nature-based designs seems to bring a sense of calm. Woodgrain is a design that relies on imperfection for its beauty. This is not a design to stress out about or fuss over. Small wiggles and bumps give it character, and variance in width of the grain adds to the beauty.

Swirls

Swirls work well almost anywhere. You’ll learn how to manipulate the shape by creating a half or even a quarter swirl, or stitch around one swirl to create more layers to fill a space. This design teams well with many other free-motion styles.

Print Tracking

Our last free-motion quilting technique of this series is Print Tracking. Just like it sounds, you choose a printed fabric and track or stitch along the design. This outline stitching allows you to make the fabric design really stand out, while giving you the opportunity to quilt all sorts of new shapes you might not otherwise try.

Watch both the first and second episodes of Free-Motion Quilting For Beginners online.

This week, the second episode of Free-Motion Quilting For Beginners is our featured video. Also watch the first episode online.

There are four seasons of programs to watch online, or on your iPad, iPod Touch, or iPhone. Have you downloaded the app?

You’ll really enjoy Molly’s Book!

In Free-Motion Quilting for Beginners learn how to:

Set up your machine for free-motion quilting, no technique is left out.
Begin by learning how to quilt your name, because soon you’ll be signing unique works of art.
Master all the fundamentals of free-motion quilting by working on manageable fat-quarter-sized fabric pieces.
Confidently stitch 10 different quilting designs, including stippling variations, pebbles, square meander, swirls, and woodgrain.
Take your skill to new heights as you quilt 15 practical projects to enhance your daily life, such as a tabletop organizer, table runner, tote bag, weekender bag, and laptop sleeve.

For a chance to win a copy of Free-Motion Quilting for Beginners, let us know which free-motion style is your favorite. A random winner will be announced on January 1.

Bye for now,

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