Friday, July 19, 2013

Getting Started with Free Motion Quilting

Sewing a quilt top together is only part of making a quilt. Some people send their quilt tops to other people to turn them into quilts. I prefer to finish the quilts myself.

When I first looked into how to quilt a pieced quilt top I couldn't figure out where to start. So I asked a friend that I knew quilted a lot. She said there was nothing to it and just do it.  I could not understand what she meant. I was no closer to figuring out how to quilt a pieced top than I was before.

I came across a website called Craftsy. Wow, this website is great. I took a course called Machine Quilting with Wendy Butler Berns. I learned a whole lot from that class, like how to drop the feed dogs and which foot to use. Now I'm hooked on Craftsy classes.

As good as online classes are, a real class.  So, I looked online to find a quilt store in my area.  The computer said there was a quilt store in Manassas, Virginia.  I live fairly close to Manassas and couldn't believe my luck. Yes I was skeptical that the store would actually be there.  I headed out and sure enough there was Suzzie's Quilt Shop.  I headed inside a found a very friendly staff, wonderful selection of fabrics and classes. I hit the jackpot. I signed up for a free motion quilting class and was really excited when I left.

I went back 10 days later for the class. Boy did I learn a lot.  /when I left I had the confidence to actually quilt a quilt top that I pieced together.

I went home and quilted the Atlantic Flyway Quilt.

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