The Idiot Quilter Ep4- Free Motion Quilting Made Easy?

A product that I thought at first glance might make free motion quilting easier.

[@lynnie57]

Even though I am finding you five years after you posted this, this video is so helpful. Sharing your experiments, fails and successes is a big motivation for me. Thanks!

[@coribellanoche]

OMG - you are hilarious - and here I thought that I coined the term "idiot quilter" for myself. This past summer I went to a quilt show with my wife and was mesmerized by the intricacy of the quilts. The seed was planted and so this past November I scouted out the local quilt shops and with great trepidation visited each one. As a dude I was very paranoid as I looked about and saw that I was the only guy in the shops. So I went to KZbin, checked out some instructional videos and so I was off to the races. I have five quilts under my belt and have been adopted by the local shops as their "project" quilter. I am hooked. So, all that being said, I am in the throes of learning free motion quilting (FMQ) without out any FMQ aids. Bite the bullet my friend - forget the "quick fixes" and go for it. My two cents from the "idiot quilter cum laude." Greetings from Rapid City, South Dakota.

[@Jpudgy5]

I love the name of your channel! I feel like am idiot when I'm quilting, but I keep trying.

[@theidiotquilter]

Glad you like it but you know lots of us make silly idiot mistakes as we work on our projects and it is my goal to show how we can learn from our mistakes and to get over the idea that if something isn't perfect then it is a failure- not true!

[@donnafoley9557]

Stretch and seal for tracing paper works great. Give it a try. Stays in place and tears off great!

[@ushaanand4940]

Thanks for your tutorials and Happy New Year !

[@lindalou9547]

Thanks for sharing your quilting mistakes with everyone. Sometimes I think that I am the one that makes silly sewing mistakes. Good information.😊

[@ritaswenson1603]

Trace your pattern on press’s Seal from Glad Multipurpose wrap. It sticks nicely to fabric and easy to quilt on.

[@cindyhappel7376]

OH my goodness “it was a bitch”! And I laughed out loud!! I did a paper pieced elephant from Vicki craft designs and I can sooooo relate to “it was a bitch!”, taking the paper off, and off, and off! I did not think I would ever get all the little pieces. This is my first of your videos and you made me laugh so I’m subscribing!! All the best in all you do!!!

[@MissPurplePotato]

Hi Steven - Nice video & the lighting looks great!

[@WalkerHoundGal]

Sir, you’re an excellent teacher, and I appreciate you. The Source that dwells in you, the Source that is your well of creativity, the Source that you’re aligned with- else you could not create such beauty- is no idiot. I just wanted to tell you that your beautiful being deserves a little love from you.❤️🙏

[@theidiotquilter]

Thank you for your kind words.

[@autbrat78]

Ok, your so-called "epic fail quilt" is awesome! Very kewl imo.

[@laurelbush1672]

I always wash a quilt with die catchers. It picks up random die. If you want to lessen shrinkage Don't dry in dryer and wash in very hot water. You can use a air cycle too.

[@donnarichey144]

Thank you for sharing. I think you can just buy stencils and use those on the quilt, but just like you I think just practice and learn how to do your quilting.

[@mimiturbano]

Oh I love you! I am an idiot quilter and appreciate your honesty. My suggestion/idea may launch me to super idiot - who knows? I am about to start free motion and wondered about getting the design down and was thinking fabric chalk or light coloured pencils. I won’t wash my designs either but know that baby wipes remove chalk - we will see. 😊

[@paulinelarson465]

I had this same idea recently ! I traced a vine/leaf, repeating design onto tissue paper, for a baby quilt. It worked very well. First, I just did the skeleton of finished design, with the paper. Removed it and went back over, to fill in details and get more lines. Great for what I was doing. Seems that the 48 in length would work great for a long arm machine. But - you can get those permenant template guied things for long-arms, right ? On a small quilt, that I rolled up to fit my machine, I couldn't see enough of the field to "wing it" with the design I wanted. Sewing over a paper would be good for getting muscle memory, maybe.

[@Mickey-jn8hz]

There is a plastic ruler with those same squiggles, you just twist around and keep going. My problem is that my fabric shifts and I end up with pinches in the back and taking those stitches out is a bummer. Don’t know if I will EVEr be able to quilt on my sewing machine…..

[@rhonnak2996]

Press n seal plastic works too

[@rmorleyanderson]

Interesting Steven-I wondered about that too

[@wandagutierrez5338]

I have no idea what deli paper is but I use vellum or tracing paper to print off paper piecing templates so I’m sure that will work. And yeah, I’m not tearing paper off an entire quilt, no way. That’s a problem I had with it.

[@photoladyluck123]

hopefully you will see this - try a denim needle & i got a roll of 12" tracing paper from hobby lobby that is thin but shouldnt tear while quilting on it.

[@harryburkett7754]

I used bright batik fabrics in the Ring of Fire Quilt by Jenny Doan. The ring was comprised of black triangles which(in my mind) gave it a stained glass appearance. You might want to see if that is a quilt that you would like to make.

[@tamilevy2227]

Use tear away machine embroidery stabilizer. Tears right off!

[@brendapollon5678]

I did a design on freezer paper and put the design on the non waxed side. I then put the waxed side down on the fabric and ironed it. It turned out great but of course it was a small eight inch square

[@wendylloyd-davies4554]

Try Stipples Made Easy by Quilting Made Easy. Comes in 26' rolls with adhesive strips on the edges so you don't need pins or spray. Since you are using free motion quilting, you control the stitch length but long stitches will pull the stitches when removing the paper (holding your finger on the stitches will help) and small, tight stitches will make the paper harder to remove. 8-12 stitches/inch are ideal and takes a little practice to keep your stitches uniform-or use a stitch regulator.

[@kathkwilts]

Smaller stitches don’t make your quilt stiff but smaller spacing between lines of stitching can make it a bit stiffer. It really depends on your batting, tho...

[@theidiotquilter]

Ye I know that now- you do realize I made this video 2 years ago when I was first learning- I have come a long way since.

[@DL-zp3fk]

Golden threads paper

[@lindapucillo7875]

Did you try a stencil and.chalk pounce? Haven’t tried it, but looks easier than copying on paper and pulling paper off.

[@sherree5024]

I bought a little free motion aluminum attachment for $75. The idea behind it is it rides along on the grid in the acrylic template. It wasn’t quite what I expected and wanted to return it or exchange it and they said definitely not. As a result I would never buy anything from Sparrow quilting again. I found the same attachment online for eight dollars.

[@sally..3242]

Use freezer paper and press with iron; let cool and walla…….will stick to fabric and will not leave a residue……

[@Oceanskye11]

Am a free motion quilting newbie. Tried tissue paper & deli paper but didn’t work out too good. I read online some quilters use doctors exam table paper. Just ordered a roll of it on Amazon, 18” X 225’ for $7.99! (Sold by seller name, dealmed). Hoping it works as will only be about .50 cents -$1.00 per quilt.

[@nancyschumacher6650]

Cut a path in the paper or cardboard. If you wash your quilt use dye catcher.

[@vsand9798]

Does a lint roller work? I wonder of a lint roller would work.

[@cyvonn]

I can imagine that in a dark colored fabric, all the little pieces of paper would be a pain.

[@gwenmangelson]

I used 505 and I cant get the paper off after stitching~! lol I dont recommend it

[@tevraking3012]

Theres paper that dissolves with water I think

[@TheJAG1357]

Good info in the video thank you. I don’t think you are an idiot though