Set in Motion: An Intro to Free-Motion Quilting

What Is Free-Motion Quilting?

The word ‘quilting’ is currently used to describe everything to do with making quilts but technically ‘quilting’ is the action of sewing the three layers of a quilt together, whether the quilting stitches are made by hand or by machine. When quilting by machine – often with the aid of a special quilting foot – your sewing machine makes lines of stitches across the surface of the quilt. The combination of the quilting foot on top of your quilt sandwich (top, batting, back) and the feed dogs beneath, pushes the quilt along as the stitches are inserted. You guide the quilt as it passes under the machine needle, but the machine is making the quilt move. When you use free-motion machine quilting (FMQ) to make the quilting designs on your quilt, the process is different. In this case, the quilt is moved underneath the needle by you, not by the sewing machine. FMQ allows you to quilt detailed curvy designs (as seen on the ‘Pretty in Pink’ bag in the photograph), which would be tricky to do with a regular quilting foot.

It takes time to train your eye-to-hand coordination to do this and to familiarize yourself with the process. It is wise to do plenty of practicing before you try to use this method on a quilt.

Exercises to Get You Started

To help you get used to the change from regular quilting to FMQ, try doing some exercises on card first.

1. Using a pencil, draw some simple patterns onto a piece of card, for example: (a) a zig-zag (b) a row of semi-circles, joined together (c) a series of curls, one after another, like waves (d) a continuous curvy line, rather like seaweed (e) your name in continuous writing.  You can see these patterns in the finished stitch sample (photo 12).
   
2. Next, with a colored pen in your dominant hand (the one you write with), go over each line of the pattern on the card, holding the card steady with your non-dominant hand.
3. Now put the pen in your non-dominant hand. Hold it still and upright over the card. Repeat each pattern underneath the first one but this time, use your writing hand to move the card underneath the pen. Don’t move the hand with the pen in it, just the card. This is the action you will be doing with FMQ – your machine needle will be the still point where the line is created and you will use your dominant hand (or both hands) to move the fabric beneath. You may find that the second version of each pattern does not quite match the first one!

Equipment Required for FMQ

• Your sewing machine and the manual
• A strong machine needle (size 90/14)
• An embroidery foot for the machine
• An embroidery hoop (recommended for beginners)
• An easy-thread needle (with an open end for the thread)
• Specialist adhesive fabric spray (such as 505 by Odif – you can use quilter’s pins or tacking stitches to hold the layers together, but it will be easier as a beginner if you don’t have to worry about pins or extra threads)

Materials Needed

• A piece white cotton fabric 8 x 8”
• A piece of batting measuring 10 x 10” (I recommend 100% cotton batting)
• A piece of backing fabric 10 x 10”
• Good quality thread
• Tracing paper
• Black pen
• Water-erasable fabric marker

Marking Out the Design

1. Trace onto tracing paper the five designs you practiced in the paper exercise above. Go over the design with a black pen.
2. Trace the designs from the tracing paper onto your white fabric square using a suitable erasable fabric marker. Use a light-box if you have one, or tape your tracing paper and fabric onto a window.
3. While you are learning, you need a clear line to follow, so a water-erasable embroidery marker is useful. NB the finished sample will need to be soaked in water for the marks to disappear and you may need to apply water more than once before all the color of the marker disappears. (For this purpose, I use a water spray bottle intended for house-plant care!)

Preparing the Sample

1. Layer up the white cotton, the batting and the backing and secure the layers with specialist adhesive spray.
2. Place the outer part of the hoop on the work-table and lay the sample on top.
   
3. Drop in the center of the hoop, so that the sample is lying flat on the table, held in the hoop.
   
4. With the hoop pictured, the center is tensioned against the outside. If you use a conventional hoop, you will be tightening the outside of the hoop with the attached screw.
   

You will not always want to use a hoop for FMQ but as a beginner, it will help you move the fabric easily and with your hands placed on the edges of the hoop, you will not risk injury from the needle!

Preparing the Sewing Machine for FMQ

1. You need to be able to lower the feed-dog on your sewing machine (that is the ‘moving teeth’ mechanism beneath the presser foot).  On my own machine (a mechanical Bernina 1015), this is done by turning the bottom dial on the front of the machine towards the ‘darning’ symbol (seen in photo 5).  Every machine is different however and you will need to consult your manual to see how to do this on your machine. You can see the lowered feed-dog in photo 6.
2. 

   Photo 5

   

   Photo 6

3. Next put in a machine-embroidery foot as seen in photo above. Other machine feet are available with an open front and some are transparent making it easier to see the work.
4. Insert the size 90/14 needle. A strong needle is required as FMQ puts quite a strain on the needle.
5. Set the stitch length to zero. (On my machine, this is the third dial from the top, seen in photo 5.)
6. At the beginning, leave your tension dial (which regulates the top and bottom thread tension) in its usual position. You can change it later, if necessary.
7. Check whether you can alter the speed at which your machine stitches. If you can, slow down the speed. (On my machine, the switch is on the presser foot.)

Beginning the Quilting

1. With the presser foot raised, put the work underneath the needle.
2. With the presser foot still raised, turn the hand-wheel towards you so the machine does one stitch.
   
3. Gently pull the top thread towards you. As you see a loop of the bottom thread appear, insert the point of your scissors into the loop and gently pull up the end of the bottom thread.
   
4. You always need to begin with both threads on the surface. If you don’t, you risk getting snarled-up threads under the backing.
5. You need to secure these threads. There are two different ways of doing this.
   1. You can lower the presser-foot and do two or three tiny stitches on the spot to secure the threads.  Lift the presser foot again and snip the top and bottom thread tails which are on the surface of the work. Take great care not to snip the ‘active’ threads which are doing the stitching.  This leaves a small dot on the surface of the work.
   2. Alternatively, leave the two threads resting on the surface of the work, keep these out of the way of the stitching and later, when you are able, bury the threads in the wadding by threading down into the wadding and coming up again onto the surface. An easy-thread needle (where you can insert the threads into the back of the needle by pulling them) makes this process much easier. Snip the ends of the threads.
      

Continuing to Quilt

1. With the presser-foot down and holding the quilting frame with both hands to manipulate the surface, start to quilt.
2. For safety’s sake, ensure that your two hands are always on the rim of your embroidery hoop. The danger of catching your finger under the needle is one of the main reasons for using a hoop when first learning to do free-machine quilting.
3. When you are ready to move to a new area, stop with the presser foot down and the needle down. With a spring hoop, you need to release the center circle of the hoop and move the outer circle beneath the sample. Then re-insert the center circle as before and continue to stitch. You do not need to take the work out of the machine. (With a traditional embroidery hoop, you need to release the screw on the outer circle and move it to the new area, before re-inserting the center circle and finally re-tightening the screw on the outer circle.)
   
4. Check your stitches. Are they evenly spaced? (Remember, the stitch length is controlled by the movement of your hands.) Can you see any of the bottom thread appearing on the top? (You may be taking corners or curves too fast, especially if you can see ‘eyelash’ type lines appearing.) If you are unsure about your tension, you can try using a different color thread on the top to the one on the bobbin.  You may need to experiment with altering the top or bottom tension slightly until you only see the top color on the surface and the bottom color on the back.  Make a note of the tension requirements of your machine for FMQ so that you can set up the machine again the next time.

Finishing Off the Quilting

1. At the end of your row of FMQ, stop and take the sample away from the machine. Gently tug on the top thread until the lower thread comes up, then bury the threads in the wadding and trim the ends as you did in ‘Beginning the Quilting’ Step 5(b).
2. When all the rows of pattern have been completed and finished off, trim the excess batting and backing from the sample.
3. Soak the sample to get rid of the marker lines and allow it to dry.
4. You might like to finish off the edges of your sample with a zig-zag or with an overlocker. Over time, you could build up a ‘sketch-book’ of ‘pages’ like this first one.
   

FMQ in the Future

Once you are confident about doing FMQ with a hoop, you may like to layer up a sample and quilt it without a hoop. This time you will need to move the fabric with your two hands on the surface of the sample. Wearing quilting gloves will help you grip the fabric. Take great care not to let your fingers get near to the needle!

After a good deal of practice, when you are ready to use FMQ on a quilt, you need to concentrate on the one part you are working on, with the rest of the quilt lying loosely in folds around your machine. You may find you need to grasp the quilt in one hand to move it evenly under the needle.

Take time to build up your skills, before tackling a large quilt!