Free motion quilting practice

I'm practising my free motion quilting.

This isn't something I've tried before.

I needed a small project on which to practise, so another hot water bottle cover was whipped up.

I like these loopy loops.  They remind me of those handwriting practice sheets my youngest son brings home from school.

Free motion quilting is relatively easy on a small piece like this.  It's when you try it on a bulky quilt that it gets harder.  

I'm thinking of purchasing one of those unattractive sewing tables that your machine sits flat in. Do you have one of these?  

My industrial machine sits flat within a table.  It's as ugly as can be, but is lovely to sew at.  I'm sure it will make all the difference to machine quilting.  My machine currently sits on a rickety little Ikea table with my overlocker.  Not really ideal.

(By the way, does anyone else get confused between 'practice' and 'practise'.  I'm having to recall primary school grammar to write this post.)

Comments

[carolyn Pennington]

Be very careful buyin gone of these Tables-particularly the brand in your pictue- I had one some years ago and it quickly became very rickety and had to have extra wheels put on to balance the weight- I was working 4 days a week with young children so wasnt using it all day...a friend had similar problems-Mine would be `free to a good home `but is headed to an Opshop!would never touch that brand ,and wouldnt pass table on to my daughter!
Apologies for sounding so negative and as for the stool that comes with it.............

[Jillian]

PractICE is the noun because it has the noun ICE in it ... if it makes you feel any better, I'm a primary school teacher & I still have to think about it every now and again :-)

[CC]

Good for you. I'm scared of free motion quilting and sticking with straight lines for now.

I always think of "A Country Practice". I never actually watched that show but It helps me remember practice with a "c" is a noun. How daggy is that?

[Wendy]

Beautiful! I love the loopy loops too. I bought a free-motion quilting needle for my machine quite a while ago, but have yet to get up the nerve to try it. Perhaps a goal for summer holidays. :)

[theaxx]

absolutely gorgeous!!!!! Plus, despite practise, a hot water bottle cover is such a lovely 'huggable' project to quilt. Love everything about it!!

thea.
xx

(spoonfulzine)

[Daniela]

Not only love the fabric and the "loopy loops" you had been practicing but also how cute and cuddly your hot water bottle is! Beautiful Kristine!

[Jean C.]

Don't ask me... spelling really isn't my talent that's for sure! Did you realize that you posted this twice? No biggie...
Oh, and I've seen where people take and put their machines on a large banquet table and then using a Styrofoam sheet tape that to your machine placing either canned food or something of the sort between table and foam (there would be a gap otherwise.) to support the new foam table... they say it works great, it's lightweight... easy to cut for shaping to your machine and you have all that space to work with for quilting! Money saving also!
Just a thought.

[Suz]

Cute...I'm thinking up a hottie cover at the moment too - probably going to patchwork some wool scraps together. Your quilts look great too. You have accidently posted this hot water bottle post twice :)

[letrecivette]

absolutely gorgeous!I love your blog so cute and elegant!
Have a nice week end,Monica

[Wendy]

I've been quilting both straight line and free motion for about ten years now. I just got a beautiful cabinet with an insert to go around my machine. Why did I wait so long???? There's an electric lift so I can easily raise the machine when I'm sewing garments or anything where I need the ability to go around the bed of the machine, but really, I sew nearly everything with it encased by the insert. It's heaven. My shoulders don't hurt nearly as much from hefting all of that quilt weight. I also went for the option of having a drop leaf that's raised to hold more quilt as it comes out of the machine. All of it - worth every penny and I kick myself for waiting this long. I could have been enjoying it years ago.