February 2012 FMQ Challenge Tutorial with Diane Gaudynski

Welcome to the 2012 Free-Motion Quilting Challenge Tutorial for February.   First, I want to clarify that this blog is copyright protected.  Please do not copy images or insights, with out written permission by SewCalGal.  To clarify, you do have permission to print a copy of this tutorial for your personal use.  Any other use would need prior approval.

On a personal note, I was inspired by the beauty of Diane's quilting, which actually became a reason why I am hosting this challenge!  To clarify, it was in 2010, when I was pretty much an "in the ditch" quilter, although I had done extensive hand quilting, when a friend who attended an Asilomar workshop with Diane, encouraged me to try FMQ and take a class with Diane too!  I decided to make it a goal to focus on learning FMQ, for a year.  I signed up for Diane's workshop at Asilomar in June 2011, and began watching FMQ DVDs, reading books on DVDs, taking as many classes as I possibly could, and researching every possible way to learn and improve my FMQ skills.

I thoroughly enjoyed taking a workshop with Diane, as well as using her books for on-going reference.  To me, Diane Gaudynski is the Elizabeth Taylor of Quilting.  She is an elegant, beautiful, inspirational woman, and so are her quilts.  Diane is also a quilter that continually gives back, to help make our world of quilting so wonderful. 


Diane lives in Waukesha, Wisconsin.  She is a quilter, teacher, author and a multi-award winner that creates beauty and inspiration on a home sewing machine, using many original designs.


I am truly honored to have Diane Gaudynski as our FMQ Expert this month.   She has provided an excellent free-motion quilting tutorial, which will be available during the month of February only.  To clarify, this post will be updated March lst to remove the tutorial below:           

February FMQ Tutorial, by Diane Gaudynski “Echo Feather Plume”

INTRODUCTION

I’ve been machine quilting since 1988!  I began with excitement and great expectations for what could be done on a home sewing machine, and quilted with a walking foot for two entire years.  Desperation for soft curves and pretty designs made me realize I needed a new machine for free motion quilting, as my poor old machine just could not handle it.  I bought a new Bernina 1030 and discovered I could free motion quilt after all with a good machine and patience. 

At each stage of my quilting experience I was happy, and didn’t know how bad or how good I was, but always tried to be better with each project.  Because I had been a hand quilter for a short time and came from the tradition of marked designs for hand quilting and was making traditional classic quilts, that’s what I did first in FMQ.  Now I combine both marked and freehand designs in my work, with many interesting freehand backgrounds as well.

Stencils were my friend, and I traced my first feather design and slowly quilted on the marked lines, backtracking over lines of stitches to get to the next area, working carefully and slowly.  It worked, and with my first effort on the outer border of a bed quilt, I became confident I could do more and do better.  I made many bed quilts, and learned techniques as well as how to handle a big quilt in a home sewing machine. 

Invisible thread was my choice at the time, for its forgiving nature, and not showing machine stitches.  All you saw was the illusion of quilting, the dimension.  After wearing out a machine from using it, I switched to quilting with fine #100 silk thread in a variety of colors that blended with the fabrics beautifully.

I learned if I controlled the speed of my hands and also slowed the machine’s speed I could do some difficult designs well.  If I went one speed I ran into trouble, and if I used the “pedal to the metal” approach everyone was doing at this time, I couldn’t get any quality at all.

Stencils led to drawing my own designs on paper and tracing them, then quilting many motifs without marking at all.  Stippling was a challenge at first but became easy with repetition, but I wanted new backgrounds so came up with some of my own. 

I’ve taught machine quilting since the early 90’s, and have become a better quilter because of it.  Figuring out why things happened in class, and trying to find methods for success for my students inspired my own work and made things easier for my classes.  My two books on machine quilting have helped many become excellent quilters:  Guide to Machine Quilting, and Quilt Savvy:  Gaudynski’s Machine Quilting Guidebook.    They are available at www.amazon.com, or www.americanquilter.com among other places.  

I continue to give information and tutorials on my blog at www.dianegaudynski.blogspot.com  and tips on Twitter even though my teaching schedule is now limited.  I have one class scheduled in October ’12 at the National Quilt Museum in Paducah, KY.  Visit www.quiltmuseum.org to get information. 

Contact info:  My website is www.dianegaudynski.net and there you will find photos of my work.  You may reach me at dianequilter@sbcglobal.net

FMQ BASICS:

·         Threads:  I recommend lightweight cotton threads such as Aurifil #50, Superior MasterPiece, Mettler #60, YLI Soft Touch, DMC #50, or #100 silk.  Use the same thread in the top and bobbin, preferably the same color, but different colors work OK if tension is balanced.  With #100 silk in the top, any of the above cotton threads work well in the bobbin.  For beginners, I highly recommend the same color, top and bobbin, probably the same thread too.  Don’t try and match the bobbin color to the quilt backing.  Instead keep the bobbin color the same as the various top thread colors if possible for a really nice stitch.

·         Thread color:  Look for a shade that matches the top fabric or blends.  A shade just slightly different from the fabric often adds beauty plus lets you see what you are quilting.  Try a soft yellow on ecru muslin, or lilac thread on light blue, soft gold on rose or tan, etc.  Avoid high contrast threads until you are more accomplished as they showcase errors and draw the eye to any problems.  Dark lightweight threads on light fabrics never show a machine stitch well.

·         Needles:  For this exercise use a #70 Microtex needle.  If you don’t have one, use a #70 Universal.  Normally, choose the thread size and then the appropriate size/type needle.

·         Marking tools:  Blue washout markers have always worked great for me, but use whatever you prefer.  Mark-B-Gone is good, use a light touch, and always plan on immersing quilt in water when done, then rinsing thoroughly.  Or use a marker of your choice. For dark fabrics try the Clover white marking pen, iron out the marks when finished.

·         Batting:  My preference is wool batt such as Hobbs Tuscany or Pellon Legacy.  Soft stable cotton batt like Quilter’s Dream Select is also good.  Find what works for you.

·         Machine Tension:  Usually lower the top tension one number for FMQ.  Do some tests and see what is needed to get a perfect stitch.  Sometimes the bobbin tension needs tweaking, either tighter or looser as well.  Learn to work with your machine to get the best tension, and do some sample stitching on a quilt sandwich to get it right.  Do NOT be afraid to lower the top tension so that the stitch looks like a gentle curve, a “clamshell,” and thread is not stretched tight.  On some machines in classes I see tension that has to be set on “0” and if the stitch looks right, that is ok.   I usually set my Bernina 730 with #100 silk thread at 1.75 or 2.

·         Stitch Length:  For lighter weight threads, use a smaller stitch length.  Heavier threads like #40 cottons will require a larger stitch.  You will have better loft or “puff” in the design, and quilting will look so much nicer with small, even stitches.  Try for a free motion stitch about 1.8 mm.  My stitches are smaller as I use such a fine thread, probably are about 1.5 mm.

·         Hand positions:  Except for large designs, long lines, etc., I try to rest my arms on the surround of the machine, preferably having the machine set down into a table or cabinet.  Use your hands to move the quilt, fingers resting gently and lightly on the quilt and moving in tandem to control the quilt top.  Don’t press too hard, don’t “scrub floors.”  Keep your elbows down.  Keep your shoulders down.  Be delicate but firm with your hand control.  No, I don’t use gloves or hoops, never have, they are a nuisance and hoops are a visual distraction.  I like Neutrogena Norwegian Formula hand cream to give my hands a bit of the sticky factor.

·         Work area set-up:  It’s definitely best to have the machine set into a cabinet or portable table so your work area is extended and at the right height.  Have a comfortable wheeled chair with adjustable height and back support.  It is a misconception that the chair has to be much higher than the machine.  Find a height that is comfy for you and your body.  Keep the foot control under your right foot (like driving a car) not way out so you have to stretch your leg and reach for it.  My cabinet has a leaf extended to the left, and one to the back with an obstacle there to prevent a large quilt from sliding off and causing drag.  It’s crucial to be able to move the quilt freely with NO DRAG.  Don’t be afraid to stop, adjust the quilt, start again.  Use the auto needle down feature if you have it.

·         Feed dogs are down, lowered, for FMQ.

·         Aids:  I love the Free Motion Slider, Supreme Slider.  It adheres to the bed or surround and makes moving the quilt easy and smooth.  It’s terrific.

·         You may use invisible thread if you choose, but I find that a high quality cotton or silk thread looks nicer and blends in well so your mistakes don’t shout at you.  Also, you can see your stitches as you quilt and that is good, makes it easier to improve, and cotton is easier to use in the machine.

·         Basting:  I pin baste with #1 bent pins, about 4-5 inches apart generally, and around specific areas as needed.  Learn to place pins so they do not get in the way.  Sometimes, if seam lines will be quilted over with designs, my next step is to quilt these with water soluble thread, top and bobbin.  These basting stitches wash out when the quilt is finished, blocked, and bound.

·         Transferring designs to fabric:  Trace with stencils, use a lightbox to trace line designs, or the method of your choice.

·         Favorite stencils:   Look for something with small curves, no big shapes and no straight lines for beginning.  It’s easier to quilt many smaller curvy shapes than big sustained curves.  For this feather tutorial, if you need a stencil to learn the shape or mark a design, try the template from Anita Shackleford called “Infinite Feathers.”  www.thimbleworks.com  June Tailor also makes a set of graduated sizes of individual feathers, usually at fabric stores like JoAnn Fabrics.

TROUBLE  SHOOTING

·         If things go wrong, check or change one thing at a time until the problem is solved.

·         Use a new needle.

·         Machine should be cleaned and oiled according to manufacturer’s directions and in good working condition in order to FMQ successfully.  Get rid of the lint and gunk, oil the hook area in the bobbin if ok for your machine.

·         Make sure machine is threaded properly, top and bobbin, and bobbin is inserted and threaded right.  Always re-thread if problems occur.  Use all thread guides.

·         Use horizontal spindle for threads, or whatever works best for your machine for smooth thread delivery.  If it doesn’t work one way, try a different set-up.

·         Turn off machine, take a break, come back with fresh resolve, set it up again, re-thread, and see if that helps. 

·         Consult your owner’s manual!

FMQ DESIGN:  Echo Feather Plume

There are many ways to quilt feathers, and this technique has worked for me and for students who were “feather challenged”! 

The traditional method involves backtracking, a skill that is often very challenging for beginners.  This method replaces that with a narrow echo or repeat of a line of stitching between each small feather in a design. The design, above, shows the traditional method on the right side, and the echo method we’ll do on the left.

 Here we’ll do a simple plume.  As you progress you can branch plumes (shown above), add more plumes to them, curve them in different directions to form a border, add them to stencil designs to make them your own. 

You can use this technique for marked designs, or try this plume without marking.  If you find you cannot freehand quilt the teardrop shape of a feather, get a template or stencil and mark a design and use this technique to quilt it.  Complete directions for quilting a marked stencil are in my Quilt Savvy book.

Choose a thread color slightly different than the fabric, and when you learn a background design to quilt around this feather, use a thread color that matches fabric so the feather will stand out nicely.  Use the same color in the top and bobbin.

FIRST:  Draw the “SPINE”  The center line of a feather is called the spine.  It is the backbone of the design, and all the small feather shapes emerge from this line.  It is your base.  It is good to use your marker and sketch a soft curve in your 8” block and use the line as the spine. 

TIP:  Avoid tight or big curves, go for a very soft curve or you will have difficulty forming feathers.  

NEXT:  Quilt the spine   Begin at the bottom of the drawn line by lowering the presser foot, taking one complete stitch, and pulling the loop of bobbin thread to the top of the quilt.  Hold both threads with your left hand, gently and firmly, and take about 7 small stitches, not on top of each other, but very close.  These will lock in the stitches.  Move slowly so the stitches are very tiny and could not be easily removed!  Then gradually increase speed of both hands and machine to increase stitch size and follow the line up to the top.   End any line of stitching this way as well.  For heavier threads, tying off thread and burying ends works better.

Quilt up the spine, away from yourself, pulling gently, and control the quilt with your fingers and firm, gentle pressure.

Look ahead of the needle.

Try to get a nice, medium speed on the machine, combined with slow and even hand speed.  Don’t jerk your hands, don’t press down hard on the quilt.  There should be no drag on the quilt if it is positioned correctly and bunched up around your working area as needed.  If you feel resistance as you try and move the quilt (like a fish on the line), stop, needle down, and readjust so it moves freely.  Try and quilt to the top of the line without stopping.

TIP:  If you need to stop, use the “needle down” to lock the quilt in place, and when you begin quilting, raise the needle out of the quilt and begin in that position to avoid a zig-zag stitch where you stop/start.  Start slowly and then resume speed.  This will become automatic after you do it a few times.

At the top of the marked line, quilt a gentle curved tip like a cotton swab shape, to the right, and then, without turning the quilt, quilt back down the spine towards yourself by echoing the line of quilting you’ve already done.  Try for a scant ¼” echo.  (see photo, above)

You will find this is harder than it looks!  Most quilters tend to slow hands way down while doing this second line of quilting on the spine, and stitches then get very small indeed.  If your hands need to go slower to do any kind of quilting or a task like this, slow down the speed of the machine too.  It’s ok to quilt at a slower speed for more difficult tasks.

Tip:  Hands go slower, machine goes slower.  Work with your hands leading and let the machine speed follow and adjust to your hand speed.  It’s stressful and difficult keeping up with a speeding machine.   Learn to use the foot control to stay in pace with your controlled and even hand movement.  If your hands go fast to get a straight line or a big curve (like the spine here), increase the machine speed to keep up. Great stitches will result.

FINALLY:  Bottom tip of spine  As you approach your starting point, continue past it to create a “quill-shaped” end to the spine, ending stitching at the beginning point.  Stop here, needle down, take a breath and relax before you begin the feathers.  The spine is complete.

Look at your work.  See if stitches on both lines are similar in size.  There will ALWAYS be stitch length variation and it really shows at this point.  It will look much better when the feathers are quilted too.

Is the tension OK?  Are you happy?  Should you watch for better hand control and stitch length as you proceed from this point?  Make mental notes for next time; but don’t take out stitches.

Some things to remember:

·         Look ahead of the needle, not at the marked line.

·         When you echo the line back to the bottom, look at the space between the two lines of quilting and try and keep that even.  Don’t look at the side of the foot, or the needle, or each stitch as it is being made.  Look at the negative space instead.

·         Try to keep consistent speed, hand movement, and stitch length.  If stitches aren’t all even, don’t worry, they WILL get better with repetition.  Don’t worry too much about stitches and how consistent they are at this point.  They will improve the more you quilt.  It doesn’t all happen at once.

Quilting the Feathers

We will quilt the left side of the spine first, because the needle is there, no need to cut the thread or start in a new spot.  Always try and plan things so cutting thread is minimized; it saves time, and looks neater.  Quilt all feathers on the left side, but DO NOT go around the tip of the spine at the top.  STOP at the TOP. 

Now, let’s begin the feathers!

The feather shape is a teardrop, actually “half a heart shape.”  The template in the photo shows you the basic shape you will quilt, in various sizes.  Practice drawing this shape so it is smooth and easy.

The feather shape has a half-circle on the top originally obtained by tracing the top half of coins directly on quilts in the frame, and connecting those half-circles with “tails” to the quilted spine. 

Visualize that half circle to keep feather shapes beautiful, plump and rounded, and to prevent them becoming tongue depressors.  You can always draw or trace a few to help you master quilting the rounded tops of the feathers.

Your feather shape will be unique to you.  Don’t worry if it doesn’t look exactly like mine or your friend’s or feathers in stencils.  As long as they are consistent, that is ok.  Some are thinner and longer, some short and fat.  Quilt the first feather to the left of the spine, below.

Quilt out to the left, make a half circle, and a gentle curve, a small “hill,” back down to the spine, almost to the point where you began.  See photo, above.  Draw this first shape if you need to, or trace a template if that will help.  Sometimes one drawn one to get you started is all you need.


One tendency is to quilt the rounded top of the feather, then quilt a totally straight line, a beeline, back to the spine.  Avoid this!  Quilt a nice gentle lift, a curve, back to the spine.  No Straight Lines.


Quilt the second feather, above the first one, shown in photo below.

Each feather will be separated from the one above it by a narrow echo, about 1/8”.  This allows you to do a continuous line of quilting with no backtracking in the feather.  This little space also helps separate the feathers and gives interest and added dimension to the design.  By finishing the feather plume with the same spaced echo around the outer edge, a wonderful complete look is achieved, and it doesn’t look beginner-y or simplistic.

When you hit the spine, stitch on it one or two stitches up the spine, then begin the echo.  Sometimes a simple V shape is all you need at the spine to get to the next feather.

Tip:  All the feathers can be quilted at one medium speed.  You may need to increase speed as the feathers get larger as speed helps smoothness.

Begin at the bottom and build the feathers up to the top, like stacking up blocks, one on top of the next.  This works so well in a home machine because you can see the line of stitching in front of the foot and space that narrow echo between each feather.  After mastering this, you will be able to quilt freehand feathers in any direction at all, and pick the direction that works best for you.

TIP:  Don’t “lazy susan” or rotate the quilt.  Keep north facing north, etc., and don’t give in to the temptation to turn it so to quilt towards yourself, as when sewing, or when quilting with a walking foot.  In FMQ, you quilt to the west without turning the quilt, to the north, to the east, etc.  It frees you up to do all sorts of designs within very large quilts where turning them is impossible or not practical.

Quilt more feathers, various sizes, building them up the spine until you make smaller ones towards the tip, see photo.  If feathers start distorting or looking weird, stop, see what you are doing wrong, correct it and proceed. 

Try and quilt two feathers, stop, take a break, look at them and see what you might be doing wrong.  When you are learning, sometimes only two feathers are possible before they begin to become uneven.  Don’t worry, simply stop, and then quilt two more until you get to the top of the spine.

!!!!!!Do NOT quilt past the top to the other side.  Stop at the top of the spine.  STOP!!!!!!

Instead of going to the other side of the spine, quilt  back down to the bottom with an echo of the tops of the feathers.

Use the same space as between each feather, a scant 1/8”.  You will be quilting towards yourself.   You can see in the photo below how much easier it is to echo around the feathers in this direction.

Quilt around the bottom of the spine, see photo below, over to the right side, where you will begin the RIGHT SIDE of the feather.  Stop here, needle down, and take a break.

Observation:  From teaching many years, I’ve noted that most quilters have an easier time with one side of the feather.  The “second” side is usually harder, as you are quilting the same shape, but mirror imaged.  Take a break, think how you will quilt the second side (here the right side) or draw some on paper first to get the hang of it.  It doesn’t matter which side is quilted first.  Try beginning on the other side first for a change.

Next:  Quilt a feather to the right of the spine, first the bottom of the feather, then the rounded top, and finally the gentle curve back to the spine, almost to the point where you began the feather, below.  The echo above this feather will form the bottom of the next feather, and so on.

Second feather:  Stitch up the spine a few stitches and echo this first feather, scant 1/8”, then form rounded top of second feather, quilt back to the spine.

Continue like this to the top of the spine.  Stop.  Echo back down the outer edge of feathers, around the curved tops, back to the starting point.  Make a crisp “V” between each one, and stop here if you need to for any necessary readjusting, or take a quick breath.  Free motion quilting may include as many stops and breaks as you need!

When you get to the spine, lock in your stitches by slowing hands and making about 7 very small stitches next to each other; cut threads as close to quilt as possible, top and back.

The complete plume, below.

On a diagonal in the 8” square, this plume looks fine.  If you want to stop at this point, that’s ok.  I decided there was way too much space left around my plume in the square, so added the tendril on the right and feathered it, and some more plumes to the left.

Simply start anywhere you want on the main plume, lock in stitches, quilt a spine (it’s best to sketch it in first) and then feather it.  I added the one on the top left, then one under that to balance out the main plume and fill the space.  I could have made one plume and branched the spine too.  Each added plume was one unit of quilting, and threads were then cut.

In Conclusion

I hope you are able to quilt a feather plume and enjoy the process.  It is within most quilters’ abilities and can become so relaxing and easy after correct shapes are repeated many times, becoming part of muscle memory.  Thinking about each one will become automatic, and you will have freedom to create some of the flowing, fancy, splendid designs we are seeing in quilts today. 

The spine determines the shape of the feather design.  You can feather anything, a straight line, an appliquéd vine, a drawing of a truck.  Use the lines as the spines and feather away!  A circle creates a feathered wreath, and so on.  Feathers are indeed endless, and as fascinating to quilt as they are to see in quilts.

If you have odd spaces and little pools of puff between feathers, it means you did not echo properly but wandered on the echo part of the quilting.  You must hug that feather, make it look like you have a twin needle in the machine so that small pathway or corridor between each feather is even and smooth.

Try to avoid quilting feathers that resemble water towers, strange broccoli stalks, rigid tongue depressors, or any unusual or deformed veggies. 

Unfortunately what will catch the eye in this design are the mistakes in echoing.  A good rule to remember is echo up the top of the previous feather BEFORE starting to think about the feather you are now forming. 

Yes, you can even stop the machine and think about how big the feather should be or how fat/thin.  You can give yourself a guideline mark so you know how far out each feather should go. 

Longer feathers are more difficult to quilt.  Big feathers especially to a curved spine,  are more difficult.  Smaller ones are easier.

Tip:  Adding leaves to the feather is a nice touch, or more tendrils for balance.  After you learn the basic technique, try a branched feather, by drawing a spine like a slingshot shape, see photo below. 

Add pearls or circles inside a widened spine, about 3/8” works well.  Do a triple spine!  Add spirals to feathers, insert tiny feathers next to large ones, vary the scale, add interest. 

The more you quilt feathers the better you will be, and more ideas will come to you.

Thank you to Diane Gaudynski for providing the above tutorial.

I'm sure all of the participants in this challenge will enjoy Diane's excellent tutorial.  I know I will. 

I know some of you have signed up for Diane's workshop scheduled in the Fall 2012, but as I've heard there are still a few spaces, I wanted to let everyone know about this great opportunity to take a class with Diane:

Oct. 18-20, 2012 - National Quilt Museum, Paducah KY: "A New Tradition in Quilting" workshop for intermediate machine quilting basics http://www.quiltmuseum.org/
There is also an excellent quilt exhibit at the National Quilt Musem that has several of Diane's beautiful quilts on exhibit.  This exhibit is titled "Quilt Journeys: Three Quilters" and runs thru  March 13, 2012.        In cooperation with Murray State University's Journey Stories Project, the story of three quilter's journey into quilting. The exhibit tells the story of three quilters. This is not a journey from point A to point B, but rather a spiritual, emotional journey from one's first step into the world created by quilting. Like most journeys, it isn't the destination that is the story, it is the process of getting there that is interesting.
This exhibit follows three quilters, Diane Gaudynski (right, a sample of her "feather stitching), the late Dorris McManis and the late Doreen Speckmann. Each issued themselves a quilt challenge, and this exhibit explores how they responded to that challenge. 




I also highly recommend Diane's book "Quilt Savvy: Gaudynski's Machine Quilting Guidebook"

and her book "Guide to Machine Quilting".

You can also follow Diane at her inspirational blog   “A New Tradition In Quilting”
and on twitter (https://twitter.com/#!/dianegaudynski).

To be eligible to win a monthly prize, simply complete the current months' tutorial in the month it is released and get your entry submitted via the linky tool, at the bottom of this page, no later than February 29th. But do remember this challenge is more about learning and improving your FMQ skills, so don't rush thru the exercise just to enter. Take time to practice and embed this design to your muscle memory, before you enter. To clarify, DO NOT just add a link to your blog, but to your post that shows that you have completed this tutorial. You get one link, so keep practicing until you feel you are finished with this tutorial.

For bloggers, please post your entry on your blog. To clarify, you can include as many photos of this tutorial exercise in your post, but you can only add one link to the linky tool below. You may also want to include insights in your post about your past FMQ experience and thoughts about this tutorial. Totally, optional, but you may also want to let everyone know that you have taken the Pledge and you did this exercise to enter the the challenge this month, where randomly selected winners will win a prize. You may inspire others to want to join this challenge too!  

For non-Bloggers:
1) You will need to have a Flickr account (www.flickr.com).
2) Upload "one" photo to Flickr, batch organize, send to groups, select "2012 FMQ Challenge". While Flickr, limits the amount of text you can share in your description, feel free to share your perspective on this exercise and/or your past FMQ experience, if you wish.
3) After photo has successfully been loaded to the "2012 FMQ Challenge" group, click on your photo in that group and copy the URL link to your particular photo entry. Add that link to the linky tool above, to officially enter this show.
note: While there was a unique group for the January challenge, based on feedback a Flickr group has been created that will hold all your photos for the remaining monthly challenges, so you will not need to rejoin a group on Flickr every month.

Winners will be randomly selected and this post will be updated early February to reflect the winners.

Should anyone wonder why they an X next to their link, it appears to be a new feature of this linky tool and no one else sees it. To clarify, the red X only appears on links that you personally add to this linky tool.

One link per person that has taken the pledge to learn and/or improve their Free Motion Quilting Skills, on a home sewing machine, in 2012.  Dana (Stormy Days) has also written an excellent tutorial for using linkys, so please take time to read her tutorial if you are not familiar with linkys or have any questions about linkys, in general.

note:To officially be entered in the 2012 FMQ Challenge please take time to fill out the "Pledge Form" . Unfortunately, I couldn't figure out an easy way to get the email addresses collected in the Pledge Form to automatically load to my MailChimp mailing list, as originally planned. While I apologies, I do ask, if you want to receive email reminders when new FMQ tutorials are released each month, please also sign up via the special mailing list for this activity.  And, don't forget that the page labeled "2012 Free-Motion Quilting Challenge" is the main page for the FMQ challenge and will be updated throughout the year, to provide a summary of current info and appropriate links. 

Those on Facebook, may also want to join the "2012 Free Motion Quilting" group that was created to allow networking with those participating in this challenge.


If you have not yet completed the January tutorial, by Frances Moore, please remember it is available for you to complete at your leisure.