Welcome to Free Motion Friday!

Are you ready for some free motion quilting practice time? I sure am…and I hope you’re up for joining me most Friday’s over on YouTube as we practice our free motion quilting together! I’ll be sharing my doodles, ideas, tips, and tricks – as well as my ripped out seams, mistakes, and learnings – and invite you to learn along.  Of course, like many things here at Faith and Fabric, each of my free motion doodles will have a faith-based design element to it…but I’m sure you probably expected that. 😉

Before we get started with our free motion work, there *are* a few things we need to do to get started. So, let’s dive into so we’re all set up for success as we begin this free motion journey:

• SELECT YOUR FABRICS:
  • As mentioned, I’ll be saving all my practice pads (assuming they’re worth saving!), and turning them into a quilt once finished. To help speed things along, I’ve purchased a layer cake from Moda Fabrics, designed by Me and My Sister called Badda Bing. These little cherries and flowers are so colorful, and I know it’s a fabric I’m going to love working with all year long!
  • An added bonus of layer cakes is the fabric comes in a) just the right size b) precut c) ready for you to sew. Win win win for sure.
    
• CHOOSE YOUR BATTING:
  • There are so many kinds of batting on the market, but some (I’ve found) just work so much better than others. For quilts that I’ll be FMQing, I really like low loft needle punch batting. Yes, I really did buy this large roll – and haven’t regretted it for a *second*. Plus, it’s turned into my son’s favorite toy as he practices his log rolling skills 🙂
  • If you’re wondering why needle-punched batting, it has to do with the construction. This type of batting is very durable, and with the low loft (1/8″ thick) you can quilt up to 6″ apart.
    
• PICK OUT YOUR THREAD:
  • When it comes to thread, everyone has a favorite. Mine? Glad you asked. In my sewing machine you’ll likely find Sulky’s Cotton + Steel 50wt thread. You guys, I love the colors, quality, affordability, and durability of this 100% cotton thread! Here are the colors I’ll be using this year; each coordinates *perfectly* with the fabrics, don’t you think?
• MAKE YOUR PRACTICE PADS:
  • practice pads are key to having something to practice on! I created an entire post on how to make free motion quilting practice pads that you can access here.
    
• ACCESSORIZE YOUR MACHINE: every fashionista knows that accessories make the outfit, and in this case, a few good accessories make the quilt, too.
  • free motion quilting foot / hopping foot: (here is the exact one I use) most sewing machines come with this foot included, but – if yours doesn’t – this is *pretty much* an absolute must. I have several free motion feet that I rotate between: one is an open-toe foot, one is a closed, and one doesn’t hop and instead hovers above the fabric as I sew. Having a variety of these feet is key, as the more you FMQ, the more you’ll begin to see differences between the types of feet and the results they give you. (here is the one I use on my Janome)
  • free motion or ruler glider: my FMQ game significantly increased when I picked up a gliding mat. These mats are made to gently suction to your sewing machine table and create an ultra slick surface that almost completely removes the friction/rubbing of the fabric on the surface of your machine. By having such a smooth surface, your quilt will effortlessly slide as you move it beneath the needle. Total game changer. (here is the exact one I use)
  • free motion quilting gloves: bikers have gloves, boxers have gloves, and quilters have gloves. Just as the glider mat decrease friction, these gloves increase it with the small rubbery nodules on the gloves. These nodules give you a superpower-like grip on your quilt as you slide it around, preventing accidental slips along the way.
    
• GET ORGANIZED
  • Now, I’m a planner, so I created these adorable little stickers to add to my Quilter’s Planner on each Friday of the month as shown below. Aren’t they so cute? You can download them here, totally free, and add them to your planner as well – after all, writing (or stickering!) it down is the best way to be accountable, isn’t it? There are two different kinds of stickers included in the free download – there are the larger squares to go on the weekly section of your planner as shown below, and smaller thinner ones to go on the Fridays within the monthly section. #organized #youknowit
  • If you don’t have sticker paper at home, this is the one I use. It works great and lets you turn anything into a sticker! I like the soft matte finish, as it matches the pages in the planner. It prints 100% crisp, which is a lot clearer than it looks in the photo below, too (definitely time for me to upgrade to a better camera). To cut the stickers, you can easily use your rotary cutter with either the straight or wavy blade. I opted for the wavy blade on the weekly stickers and a straight cut for the thinner monthly ones.
    
• WATCH THE WEEKLY #FREEMOTIONFRIDAY VIDEOS ON YOUTUBE AND POSTS ON THE BLOG
  • In addition to hosting #freemotionfriday on Instagram, I’ll be sharing most every week with an in-depth video on YouTube, so be sure to subscribe to the Faith and Fabric channel to learn each week’s new technique!
  • Each week’s free motion design will also appear in a blog post; you can find them under the category of Free Motion Quilting
    

• GET READY TO SHARE 
  • If you’re a blogger or social media fan, I invite you to grab the image below and share it when you post your first free motion practice session on January 1st as well as the hashtag #freemotionfriday and tag me at @faithandfabric. It’ll be a great way for us to all connect and share our work with each other…as well as lessons learned, as I’m sure there will be many!