#HOLLY MEANDER QUILTING PATTERN FOR FREE#
#HOLLY MEANDER QUILTING PATTERN HOW TO#

Second, set yourself up for success by making sure you have a fresh needle in your machine and that it is oriented correctly for your machine. This is the tension as set by the discs on the front of the machine that affects the needle thread. If you are working on a longarm machine or an industrial sit down machine, your bobbin tension can also be adjusted, but, to avoid muddied waters, we will focus on top tension here.

#HOLLY MEANDER QUILTING PATTERN FOR FREE#

So, how do we replace fear with confidence when it comes to sewing machine tension for free motion quilting? Let me show you, Rockstar!įirst, this article is about adjusting the top tension only. I think we all know that properly adjusted tension is an important part of successful free motion quilting, but it often feels like a “thorn in the flesh.” It’s a true double edged sword– being the secret to gorgeous FMQ when perfectly balanced, but diminishing gorgeous motifs when out of whack. Just the word alone may be enough to send shivers up your spine or make you tense your neck. She is passionate about being your guide on the journey to quilting with confidence! She loves creating a quilting community where you can make new friends and learn the skills to finish your own quilts. HollyAnne is an Aurifil Artisan Alumni and a member of our incredible team of certified Aurifilosphers. Let’s see if a week of practice will help me get over my fear of swirls and even more daunting–hooked swirls.Īre you quilting along? Let me know! Let’s build these skills together! And make sure to pop over to Vicki and Jen’s blogs to see their takes on the first couple motifs as well.Today we are excited to have Aurifilosopher HollyAnne Knight of String & Story here to demystify Sewing Machine Tension for your free motion quilting.

Even though I have tackled them a couple of times before, I never seem to quite get comfortable with them. I got more practiced and relaxed behind the sewing machine this week–so now I am ready to tackle next week’s designs–swirls. I love how this books starts out so easy and doable. I was able to quilt the whole thing in about an hour and a half and it was pure bliss. Here is my first longarm quilting project–I wanted it to be a success, so I did the whole thing with big loopy meanders.

#HOLLY MEANDER QUILTING PATTERN HOW TO#

Angela also tackles the most common mistakes that people make with each design and gives you tips on how to fix them. She shows you lots of ways to vary it, as well as how to use it in different areas of a quilt, like as a background filler or in borders. I practiced it with small circles, which is my usual way, and then changed it up to larger circles, which I found more challenging. With this design in your arsenal you can tackle a wide range of quilts. I actually love this motif and find it useful in so many places. In a natural progression, Angela has you move onto a loopy meander. It was a perfect place to start, but I was quickly ready to move on. I thought this troubleshooting aspect was very helpful.

If you are a brand-new quilter, Angela sketches this motif out for you and trouble-shoots common mistakes. I had fun practicing it in different scales: large, medium and small enough to be considered stippling. I’ve done hours of meandering, but it has actually been a while since I stitched out this motif. We definitely start with the basics here. Just give me a doable design and let me quilt the whole quilt. It’s beautiful, but it’s just not my thing right now. And that is my kind of quilting! I’m not sure I’ll ever be a custom quilter–the type that quilts each area of a quilt block differently. Something else that I liked is that all the machine quilting motifs that she teaches you is perfect to meander across a whole quilt (thus the name). The book is filled with Angela’s fun personality and encouragement that you should never, ever pick out your quilting mistakes.

As a matter of fact, you can get a preview of the motifs covered in the book and a FAQ from Angela herself here. She really builds up the designs in a thoughtful way. Another thing I liked about it is that while it contains all the information that an absolute beginner needs (sewing machine feet, needles, thread, batting, etc.), the motifs ramp up quickly and it ends with some designs that are quite impressive.

I’m a visual learner and this approach really appeals to me. I am not exactly a beginner, but I was intrigued by the step-by-step, photo tutorial style of this book. So, I will be working my way through this book along with my quilting and blogging friends, Vicki and Jen. When I heard that everyone’s quilting hero, Angela Walters had a new book out, called Free-Motion Meandering: A Beginners Guide to Machine Quilting, I definitely wanted to check it out. And I get inspired when new quilting books hit the stands. Are you ready to do some free motion quilting? I know that I feel more confident in my machine quilting when I am practicing regularly.

Holly meander quilting pattern