learn how to doodle on a quilt with free-motion quilting

Quilts or quilted items with beautiful stitching always catch my eye because I wonder, "how did they do that?" I know that there are people and places where you can take quilts to be quilted with stunning designs, but I know that many people do it themselves. Do they use templates? Is it a special machine? How does it look so amazing?!?

All of this has had me convinced that, as I do more and more quilt projects, I would never be able to quilt like that. In fact, I sort of laughed at the idea of taking a free motion quilting class from Craftsy. It just seemed out of my range of abilities.

I was wrong.



For the last week or so, I've been watching Start Free-Motion Quilting. Not only am I hooked on watching the lessons, but I've actually tried some quilting...and felt successful! My samples that you see at the top of this post are far from perfect, but I've never done anything quite like this before AND I wasn't actually using the right kind of sewing machine foot yet (my local shop didn't have the part in stock).

Before I get too far into my own experience, let me tell you a bit about this class. Elizabeth Dackson teaches the basics of free-motion quilting over nine lessons. In the approximately three hours of high definition video, she shows eight styles of free-motion stitches with some variations, and just about everything else you might want to know about getting started.

Throughout the class Elizabeth recommends practicing the stitches by doodling them first. Well, this just made so much sense to me! Suddenly what used to look complicated now looked like what I do for relaxation. Of course, when you're actually quilting, it's different, but this starting point made all the difference for me.





The lessons are broken up mainly by stitch design, which makes it easy to jump to one style that you want to work on. You get to see up-close what the process looks like, and you get to see a lot of it, so you'll feel prepared to try it yourself.

However, since watching someone just sew on and on could get tedious, Ms. Dackson pauses as she demonstrates. In these pauses she talks about important tips and tools, and things to watch out for, and these parts are invaluable. She's very experienced and knows what she's talking about. These extra pieces of information are listed as chapters within the lessons, so you can find them easily.



Oh, and if you ever have a question, you can ask and Elizabeth (or sometimes other classmates) will help you out. I haven't asked anything yet because anything I've wondered about has already been asked/answered or covered in the class.

I mentioned that I'm hooked on watching this, and I do mean that. I'm enjoying listening and watching, and as I get to the end of one lesson, I just can't wait to start the next. But I also couldn't wait to start trying this out.

My samples show my mistakes, and getting used to the movement is definitely going to take some time. And yet, I'm not discouraged because I feel prepared. And I've already corrected some errors. By the way, I showed my samples to my mom, and we both had this moment of "who am I?", because I never would have thought that I'd be tackling free-motion quilting.



If you've ever thought that you want to learn how to quilt with anything other than a straight line, sign up for Start Free-Motion Quilting. The regular price for this class is $39.99, and worth it. (I'm frugal, so that's saying something!) However, Craftsy is offering a special discounted price for Wild Olive readers for just one week!

Sign up for Start Free-Motion Quilting today for only $19.99.

My jaw dropped when I heard what a great discount they were offering! Especially because as part of the class, you also get patterns to make two different pillows and a baby quilt! Oh, and you'll have access to the class forever, so even if you're not quite ready to jump in, consider buying it now while the price is so low.

I can't wait to do more free-motion quilting, and I hope you'll give it a try too!

This post was sponsored by Craftsy, but the words and thoughts are all mine.