If you haven’t yet signed up for my Fabulous Free Motion Quilting online class beginning 19th June 2009, now’s the time to do it!
But just in case you can’t join in, then please enjoy some of my favorite free motion quilting tips. I’ve been free motioning for over 30 years, and it’s my very favorite technique so I’ve picked up a lot of tips along the way – enjoy!
Selecting fabric for your quilting projects is one of the best things about being a quilter. With such a variety in colors, textures, patterns and finishes, the quilter has an enormous fabric palette to choose from.
Art quilters particularly benefit from the wide variety of fabrics available, and cotton fabric, whilst being the quilter’s favorite, is no longer the only fabric of choice. Beautiful silks, velvets, sheers and decorative fabrics all vie for attention in the eyes of an art quilter.
When choosing quilting fabrics, particularly cottons, quality is something that is not always considered, so it is worth mentioning that not all fabrics are created equal.
Art quilters have never had it so good with the variety of machine quilting thread that is available to them these days.
Cotton thread, originally the quilters’ choice of thread, is now available in a wide variety of colors and weights, with Egyptian cotton particularly, making a huge statement.
And for machine quilters, whilst cotton thread is still a favorite, it now gets to compete alongside other beautiful and tantalizing quilting threads made of polyester, rayon and metallic.
J: Ok Linda, what’s the best way to go about finding the best sewing machine for a quilter ?
L: Joan, researching online is the easiest way to start looking for a new machine. If you are a member of an online quilting group, ask around and find out what machines other members recommend, or you could also ask your quilting friends. This gives you a starting point and you can then begin researching further.
Just to help you along, I’ve compiled a list of sewing machine manufacturers. Visit their websites and search for quilting machines.
Pick two or three different types or brands that you think you might like and then do a search for a dealer nearest you. Visit the dealers and take the machines for a test drive. You’re bound to fall in love with the one that’s perfect for you.
J: So Linda, what other things should I consider when looking for a quilting machine ?
L: A couple other things to think about Joan.
Joan, the first thing to decide is what type of quilting machine you need. There are two basic types of quilters’ machines available:
J: So, Linda, you were going to tell me about the special features of a quilters’ sewing machine.
L: Ok Joan, when selecting a quilters’ machine, there are certain features that quilters find very useful and these features help them do a better job of quilting.
Joan is a little confused about quilting machines Quilters Machine
J: First of all, what exactly is a quilters’ machine? Isn’t it the same thing as a sewing machine?
L: No, not really. Joan, in recent years quilting has turned into a multi-billion dollar industry. Some would say (usually husbands) that quilters are obsessed and single minded in their attempt to cloak not just their household with all things quilted, but the planet also. I say there are worse addictions.
And along the way we have diversified, so we now have all sorts of quilters:
traditional, hand, art, contemporary, long arm, short arm and wanna bes, just to name a few.
… and an art quilter wanna be 
Hi, my name’s Joan and I’m a beginner at quilting. I’ve only been quilting for a very short time and I really don’t know all that much about it yet, probably even less than a beginner would know.
I’ve recently done a few small quilts for my family and they turned out ok, but what I really want to try is art quilting – that just sounds like so much fun!
Well, now that I’ve been quilting for a short while, I’ve got lots of questions. It can get very confusing trying to sort out all the stuff you need to know about quilting, and I’m not even going to start with art quilting just quite yet.
Quilters are always on the lookout for great tips for machine quilting. It seems to be the one area of quilting that most quilters have trouble with at one time or another.
For some great tips, read the article – 10 Machine Quilting Tips – available on the Creative Textile & Quilting Arts website.
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