I am delighted to have Patsy Thompson as our December FMQ Expert, for the 2012 Free Motion Quilting Challenge. When I personally set out to learn FMQ, it was Kelly Jackson of I Have A Notion (IHAN) that recommended Patsy's DVDs to me. Based on Kelly's recommendation, I purchased one of Patsy's DVDs and was so impressed with how much I learned, I've been actively adding her DVDs and books to my library whenever I can. They are all inspirational, full of tips and easy to follow steps to learn and/or improve your free-motion quilting skills. SewCalGal gives them all a 5 star rating and views they are a "must have" for any quilter interested in FMQ!
From my first exposure to Patsy, I've been amazed with the beauty of Patsy's free-motion quilting. Her DVDs give me a feeling of attending a private class with her and I can watch and learn on my schedule, take breaks and repeat any portion as I wish. While I've watched many of her DVDs from start to finish many times, I still enjoy watching them frequently. And, I continue to take Patsy's DVDs with me when I travel and I continue to learn from them too!
Patsy has provided a personal introduction, as well as an excellent tutorial. Still, I want to share a few more insights with you today about this amazing woman.
Once I was introduced to Patsy's free-motion quilting DVDs and books, I quickly realized what a talented quilter she is. I set my sights on building a library that contained all of her DVDs and books, but I want to clarify these are not items that sit on the shelf and collect dust. They are truly my favorite source of free-motion quilting educational tools and items that I always recommend to anyone interested in learning/improving their free-motion quilting skills.
I'll also confess that I became a stalker of Patsy, eager for her blog posts where she shares tips and inspirational insights, enjoying her newsletter, as well as learning about new products. And somewhere along the way, I like to think developed a deep and sincere admiration and respect for this woman who has a vibrant and generous soul that radiates in all she does in life, including her quilting.
Besides teaching through her DVDs and Books, Patsy has also taught through classes on The Quilt Show. And, Patsy travels to teach a variety of classes. While I feel I have taken her classes, by watching her DVDs, I'm still eager to take a physical class with Patsy. And, I keep an eye out for where she is teaching, as well as work to do what I can to get her to come teach in my area of So. California. You may want to talk to your Quilt Guild Program Coordinator and/or local Quilt Shop to have them schedule a class with Patsy in your area. She teaches a variety of classes for free-motion quilting, trapunto, applique' quilts, couching and threadplay, and more!
If you haven't yet seen her free videos on YouTube, I hope you'll find time to watch them soon. Excellent.
She is also the author of two inspirational free-motion quilting books.
This past year, Patsy also launched a line of beautify machine embroidery designs that work well with the applique' shapes cut with the above dies.
And, Patsy has a great online shop with many other products too.
I hope you see why I'm so delighted to have Patsy as our FMQ Expert this month and that you enjoy the great tutorial she has shared with us too! I love it!
If you would like to learn more about Patsy and her designs, you can find her at:
- Patsy Thompson Designs: http://www.patsythompsondesigns.com/
- Blog: http://www.patsythompsondesigns.com/blog/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Patsy-Thompson-Designs-LTD/139685489440973?fref=ts
December Free-Motion Quilting Tutorial
Borders
by Patsy Thompson
I have been quilting for 35 years and was a hand quilter for
the first 25. I really loved the peace
of mind that came with hand quilting and never had any interest in machine
quilting until I started looking closely at quilts in shows and realized there were
many cool effects that were possible by machine that could not be done by
hand. This made me decide to learn
machine quilting and it was a very difficult and frustrating process for me. Once I got “over the hump,” though, FMQ
became an incredibly fun, exhilarating and relaxing activity for me. (The irony of exhilarating and relaxing in
the same breath is not lost on me, but FMQ really has both effects!) Teaching others to FMQ brings me a lot of joy;
nothing is more thrilling than seeing a student climb over that same “hump” and
jump feet first into the exciting world of FMQ!
Free-Motion Quilting in Borders
Hello quilting friends!
I’m so honored that SewCalGal asked me to be part of the Free Motion
Quilting Challenge. I hope you’ve
enjoyed this incredible free motion quilting journey as much as I have! You’ve
had 11 months of incredible lessons from other teachers and I don’t want to be
repetitious, so I will limit myself to some basic principles of machine
quilting the border areas on your quilts.
This tutorial has 2 parts. Part I
is a summary of basic border principles coupled with some drawing/stitching
exercises to inspire you to play with border design ideas. Part II is a video tutorial that will teach
you how to create one type of feather border that appears very complex and
sophisticated, but is actually one of the simplest feather border designs one
can create. I want you to walk away from
this posting overflowing with excitement and a sense that border design ideas
are limitless! I’ve got a lot I want to
share, so let’s get to it!
Part I
As you begin Part I, please print at least one copy of the
Border Design Worksheet pdf and have a sharp pencil with an eraser available.
If there is
any part of you that is groaning and thinking “But I can’t draw,” banish the
thought! Really… banish that
thought! I can’t draw very well, either
(you’ll soon see evidence of that), but doodling is key to developing your free
motion work, so buck up and get used to it!
The border zones of quilts are special areas in that these
act as frames for whatever is inside them.
You have the ability to accentuate the “power” of the frame by quilting
some type of interesting design inside the border zone. Sometimes, you will have multiple border areas
on a given quilt. When border zones are
directly next to one another, know that you will get extra bang from your buck
by stitching very different designs on adjacent border zones as this will
create a more complex appearing frame.
You won’t be able to appreciate it until all the borders on a given
quilt have been stitched, but the visual impact of how different border designs
interact with one another creates a secondary design that will add a new level
of richness to your quilt. As an
example, in the photo below:
we see a feathered wreath surrounded by feathers in the center
block, and a simple feather/swirl border design in the narrow border that
surrounds the main block. If we expand
our view as shown in this photo,
we now have some interesting frame lines created by the 8
freeform feathers that surround that narrow border. We are already beginning to appreciate the
visual interplay created by the interaction of all these flowing lines. If we expand our view even further as in
this photo,
we can really appreciate that the whole is greater than the
sum of its parts. Think about it…this is
really a very basic (maybe even humdrum) Amish quilt, but the secondary design
created by these lovely flowing curvaceous lines has added a depth and richness
to this quilt. The take-home message
here is that your free motion quilting can really make your quilts far more interesting! This current example used feather designs,
but we’ll now move to different types of border designs, and you’ll see that
this same principle will hold true here as well.
Let’s begin by creating a very simple border design. On your worksheet, you’ll notice there are 6
empty border spaces ranging from ½ inches wide to 1 ½ inches wide. I’m going to fill one of the ½ inch wide
borders with a basic design I’ll call worms:
click here to download pdf1 {optional download, as you may want to just download the first worksheet, which is blank and 5A & 5b}
This design is created by merely stitching an undulating line
back and forth between the edges of the border, curving the line as you reach
either extreme. Know that this design
looks better if the worms are on the skinnier side. The 4 corners of your border will generally
need to be treated somewhat differently than the primary border design, but
don’t let that challenge throw you. Your
goal here will often be to merely come up with some design you can angle along
the miter line, and I have merely thrown in a seashell motif in this example.
click here to download pdf2 {optional download, as you may want to just download the first worksheet, which is blank and 5A & 5b}
In our 2nd example, the design is actually created in 2 runs of stitching. The first run is done exactly as in the first example, except that I stitched my worms as fatter worms. In the second run of stitching, a second round of worms were stitched, but in the opposite orientation, and this is how these ovals are formed. Take care to keep your ovals tightly snugged up against one another or you won’t like the way this design turns out! I filled my corner zone with pebbling, and I hope this gives you a sense of how easy it is to add some unexpected punch to your borders. Sometimes, throwing a background fill design into a corner can really jazz things up! And one more tip…these last 2 designs are both good examples of the fact that oftentimes, your design will be more striking if you deliberately don’t carry your stitching line all the way to touch the threads that have been stitched in the ditch. This move will make your border design stand out more distinctively.
In our 2nd example, the design is actually created in 2 runs of stitching. The first run is done exactly as in the first example, except that I stitched my worms as fatter worms. In the second run of stitching, a second round of worms were stitched, but in the opposite orientation, and this is how these ovals are formed. Take care to keep your ovals tightly snugged up against one another or you won’t like the way this design turns out! I filled my corner zone with pebbling, and I hope this gives you a sense of how easy it is to add some unexpected punch to your borders. Sometimes, throwing a background fill design into a corner can really jazz things up! And one more tip…these last 2 designs are both good examples of the fact that oftentimes, your design will be more striking if you deliberately don’t carry your stitching line all the way to touch the threads that have been stitched in the ditch. This move will make your border design stand out more distinctively.
click here to download pdf3 {optional download, as you may want to just download the first worksheet, which is blank and 5A & 5b}
In our next example, I’m again going to use a background fill design as a border design. Here, I’ve stitched a line of swirls inside the border zone, and notice that I’ve cleared the corner by stitching a swirl inside it. Sometimes this will work out and other times, it won’t and you’ll just need to be flexible. Remember from the preceding example, you can get very creative with what you use to fill that corner space. That’s part of the reason to play with border design ideas on paper-there are no stitches to be ripped out when a design idea doesn’t work out well! We’ve only gone through 3 border designs so far, but can you already see how these designs interplay with one another in a way that makes them all look even better? Pretty cool stuff!
In our next example, I’m again going to use a background fill design as a border design. Here, I’ve stitched a line of swirls inside the border zone, and notice that I’ve cleared the corner by stitching a swirl inside it. Sometimes this will work out and other times, it won’t and you’ll just need to be flexible. Remember from the preceding example, you can get very creative with what you use to fill that corner space. That’s part of the reason to play with border design ideas on paper-there are no stitches to be ripped out when a design idea doesn’t work out well! We’ve only gone through 3 border designs so far, but can you already see how these designs interplay with one another in a way that makes them all look even better? Pretty cool stuff!
click here to download pdf4 {optional download, as you may want to just download the first worksheet, which is blank and 5A & 5b}
Ok, this next design looks very complicated, but you can do this! The secret to creating complex-appearing designs is to break them down into manageable parts. To start, mark small tick marks all along the lower edge of the border at ½ inch increments. You’ll create this design by starting to stitch a seashell (that’s my term for a teardrop with one or more smaller teardrops inside it) with the tip of each seashell hitting the tick mark. In between each seashell, you’ll stitch a tiny loop and then travel to the next tick mark to begin the next seashell. In the corner, I’ve stitched a small splay with a skinny teardrop at the tip, but you could stitch all kinds of things here. Notice, though, that it’s kind of nice to have some variety in what designs are stitched in the corners, especially when you have multiple borders adjacent to one another. Before you leave this design, take a moment to analyze it. Do you see how easy it might be to alter it just a bit to create a different border design? For example, what would happen if we converted the curve at the top of the seashells to points? This kind of thinking will enable you to keep generating new quilting design ideas.
Now that you’ve proven to yourself that you can create a
complex border design (I’m applauding for you but you can’t hear it!), I’m
going to throw in a real ringer! For
this next border we’re going to stitch the basic feather wave border shown
above. This feather border is different
than most feather borders you see and it’s all because of the way the spine
guideline is drawn. For most feather
borders, the spine guideline (or the curve of the feather), is oriented such
that there is space on both sides of the spine to stitch plumes. This is not the case for feather wave
borders. In these borders, the spine is
stitched such that there is room for plumes on only one side of the spine or
curve of the feather. This is what
creates the very dramatic ebb and flow of feather wave borders. So, the first step in creating this type of
border is to draw a spine guideline that literally curves from one extreme of
the border edge to the opposite border edge, as shown below:
(I created this guideline by bending a flexible curve ruler
and then tracing alongside it. You’ll
learn more about how to use flexible curve rulers in the video that
follows.) When working on your quilt,
you’d next go and stitch this entire spine line as it meandered across all four
sides of the quilt. Once done, you’d
stitch your plumes, deliberately carrying your stitching line so that each
plume tip actually touched the edges of the border. This is a feather wave border in its purest
form, but know that there are many variations of this type of border design!
If you stand back and look at these border designs as a
group, can you see that the feather wave border and the swirl border have a property
the other designs do not? Those 2
designs leave you with a sense of movement while the other border designs are
static. Coupling static designs and
flowing designs closely together has a very dramatic impact.
I was going to show you one more design until I realized this
has already become way too long of a post, and you haven’t even gotten to the
video yet! So, that last border zone is
for you to try out some design idea of your own. My challenge to you is:
- Using a pencil and a blank worksheet, allow yourself the freedom to play with border design ideas. Drawing designs in pencil will help you learn the roadmap to stitch them in thread, so this is not wasted time. Avoid falling into the trap of feeling you can’t do this because you can’t draw. Trust me, the only way anyone learns to draw is by doing it repeatedly!
- Create a 20-24 inch square quilt sandwich and trace a 4 inch square in the center. (Tip: Use a solid fabric or a gently mottled fabric so you'll be able to easily see your stitching.). Trace a few ½ inch, ¾ inch, 1 inch and 1 ½ inch border zones. Stitch all these traced lines such that true border zones have been created. Don’t feel pressured to fill them all right away, but take your time with this exercise. Try stitching out some designs that we’ve discussed here and stitch some of your own. You’ll be amazed how much fun you’ll have doing this!
- If you have a quilt with a border zone that needs to be filled, stitch the centered feather border design that’s taught in the following video. This is another example of a complex appearing design that is surprisingly easy to stitch once you break it down into its parts.
If you’ve enjoyed this tutorial, I
hope you’ll stop by my blog to see what I’m up to and also stop by my web
site. There are free downloadable line
drawings for free motion quilting designs, free video tutorials, an online
store for quilting supplies, and all kinds of inspiration! You can find me at:
Now go watch the video and while you’re at it, have a wonderful holiday season!
For those using a MAC or want to watch this video directly from YouTube vs embedded in this post, here is the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKlMTl4XwSY
Thank you Patsy for providing us with the above tutorial!
And, Patsy has generously offered a special discount to participants in the 2012 FMQ Challenge on any PTD product in her online store (e.g. PTD books, PTD DVDs, PTD patterns, and PTD fabric cutting dies), exluding bundles, through December 31st and receive a 15% discount. Use the discount code: FMQchallenge (code is case sensitive).
DECEMBER CHALLENGE OVERVIEW
While this challenge is focused on learning and/or improving our free-motion quilting skills, you also have the opportunity to win prizes. 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
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).Remember only one link (entry) per person that has taken the pledge to learn and/or improve their Free Motion Quilting Skills, on a home sewing machine, in 2012.
2) Upload your photos for this month's challenge to Flickr, batch organize, send your photos 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 your photos have successfully been loaded to the "2012 FMQ Challenge" group, click on your best photo in that group, ideally one that shows the stencil and how you quilted using that stencil. Copy the URL link to your particular photo entry. Add that link to the linky tool above, to officially enter this show.
For those that may need help to link up the link to their tutorial project, to the linky for this challenge, Dana (Stormy Days) has also written an excellent tutorial for using linkies, so please take time to read her tutorial if you are not familiar with linkys or have any questions about linkys, in general. Please read the rules above, before you enter by way of adding a link below. And, Only add one link after you have practiced the tutorial to master the design. No rush, you have all month to practice and enter. Please follow the rules on this tutorial post, before you add a link.
Participants of SewCalGal's 2012 FMQ Challenge can link here, during December, to enter to win a monthly! There will be six lucky winners this month. One will receive the monthly prize bundle. And, thanks to Patsy, five winners will receive a copy of her DVD "4th Volume of Free Motion Fun With Feathers". This DVD is a 2-volume set that covers all kinds of feather border and feather frame designs. The retail price of this DVD set is $44.95 Winners of this wonderful DVD set will need to pay for shipping, regardless if the winner is a US or International resident.
To officially be entered in the 2012 FMQ Challenge please take time to fill out the Pledge Form" .
There are two "optional" groups that you may also want to join to network with others participating in this challenge:
If you have not yet completed the previous tutorials, here are the links:
"Bonus" tutorials will be released, this summer, that will also be options for those needing to complete 12 FMQ tutorials anytime in 2012 to be eligible to enter to win a Grand Prize.
There are two "optional" groups that you may also want to join to network with others participating in this challenge:
Those on Facebook, may also want to join the 2012 Free Motion Quilting group.
There is also a free forum hosted by AQS that has been setup for participants in this challenge. Simply visit My Quilt Place, create an account or log in, click on groups and join the group "Free Motion Quilting on a Domestic Sewing Machine".
- The January tutorial, by Frances Moore,
- The February tutorial, by Diane Gaudynski ,
- The March tutorial, by Ann Fahl was only available during the month of March. To clarify, this tutorial will be removed shortly, in keeping with the condition by this FMQ Expert.
- The April tutorial, by Don Linn
- The May tutorial, by Leah Day
- The June tutorial, by Cindy Needham
- The July tutorial, by Angela Walters
- The August tutorial, by Wendy Sheppard
- The September tutorial, by Paula Reid
- The October tutorial, by Teri Lucas
- The November tutorial, by Sarah Vedeler
"Bonus" tutorials will be released, this summer, that will also be options for those needing to complete 12 FMQ tutorials anytime in 2012 to be eligible to enter to win a Grand Prize.
- Bonus Tutorial #1, by Linda Moran.
- Bonus Tutorial #2, by Susuan Brubaker Knapp
- Bonus Tutorial #3, by Diane Loomis
- Bonus Tutorial #4, by Teri Lucas (to be released in December).
And, don't forget you can find Patsy at:
Blog: http://www.patsythompsondesigns.com/blog/Patsy Thompson Designs: http://www.patsythompsondesigns.com/
I'm also interested in hearing what you might like to see Patsy create in the future. Would you like to see a DVD for sale with more insights on doing FMQ on borders or wholecloth quilts, a DVD on machine applique beyond the blanket stitch?, more PTD fabric dies, more PTD patterns, more PTD machine embroidery designs? Feel free to leave a comment or email SewCalGal. Maybe if their are enough of us interested in a common product, the talented Patsy will create it.
20 comments:
Excelente tutorial. Gracias a Patsy y a SewCalGal. Estoy impaciente por empezar. Me gustaría profundizar en el diseño de Wholecloth. Gracias de nuevo.
What a fantastic finale to our year-long challenge! This tutorial will keep us busy for far more than one month, what with all the possibilities it presents! Thank you Patsy for sharing your expertise and beautiful design work with us! In keeping with SewCalGal's request, I'd love to see more inspiration for applique stitching in both DVD and book form. I'm a book person myself, since it's easily portable for reference at my machine, etc. And, as always my heartfelt thanks to SewCalGal for persevering through the year to bring all these tutorials to us! This has been an outstanding learning experience in every way!
I am a great fan of Patsy Thompson's FMQ. I first stumbled up her videos on YouTube trying to learn free motion quilting. Your work is amazing, Patsy! I am so inspired after watching your video for December tutorial. May be I should try a mini quilting with all your features if only time permits.
Thanks again SewCalGal and Patsy for sharing this wonderful tutorial.
Patsy, thanks so much for this great presentation. The explanation and ideas are excellent. I have watched many of your youtube videos, and hope to get V4 collection. I'm so inspired! I do have a border I need to quilt, and now I'm thinking! Thanks. SewCal Gal, thanks again for all your hard work in this. This was an outstanding project, and very helpful. I'm so grateful that you did this, and challenged us all. Thank you, from the bottom of my feathers! lol
Patsy, I have to thank you from the bottom of my heart. Because of you, I became an art quilter and finally gave up stippling as a way of "Just getting the layers together" Now, I create on my quilts with a lot more confidence.
Phyl
I am so excited for this challenge. I have a few of Patsy's DVDs and love them! This month will really be a stretch for me, but I want to do it. Thank you to Patsy and to you for arranging this!
I can't wait to begin!! I'd love to see a DVD on whole cloth quilting from planning to completion. Thank you for a fantastic year. This challenge has truly been a blessing!
WOW and douible WOW, thank you SewCalGal for setting us up with Patsy for our Grand Finale. What a wonderful year of inspirations this has been for me, and to have this fantastic one for the final, I am overwhelmed. I have saved all of it will print it out for my own use tomorrow and read until it sinks in my head. WOW. Thank you thank you.
I've met Patsy and seen her amazing quilts, being lucky enough to live near her. She is as sweet, patient and encouraging as she seems on this video! We are very lucky to have this tutorial....
Wow! There is a lot of fantastic information packed into this month's tutorial! It is a little intimidating, but I know it will be fun!
I've never seen those bendable rulers before, where do you get them?
I am thrilled that Patsy is our instructor this month, I love her work and have watched her videos repeatedly. Thanks for an excellent tutorial, a fantastic end to a really great year!
Patsy is so amazing...I have two of her DVD's, I really need to get them out and watch them. Thanks for this awesome challenge.
My image didn't turn out right. Sorry, I don't know what happened. But, check out my blog everyone and see what I did. Great Challenge.
I so enjoyed these borders challenge. Thank you Patsy, for a wonderful tutorial.
And thanks to SewCalGal for giving me a place where I could learn about free motion from the pros and improve my skills. The past year has been a wonderful experience for me.
Sue in Belton TX
http://stitchingwithsue.blogspot.com
http://picasaweb.google.com/txsueh
Thank you for the opportunity to challenge the whole year. Greetings from Hungary. I wish you good luck!
Thank you for the opportunity to challenge the whole year. Greetings from Hungary. I wish you good luck!
Wonderful tutorial! I especially liked learning how to use the flexible ruler to plan out the borders evenly...thanks so much!
I finished December. Great tute! Thanks.
Thank you!! I have enjoyed this month's tutorial and challenge as well. I'd love more fmq-ing insights from Patsy in the future - although she seems like a talented lady who can turn her hand to many things!
Thank you taking the time to put all this information together--Patsy! Hey quilters--if you have an opportunity to take a class from Patsy in person, take it. My mom and I had a wonderful time taking her class. Her quilts even look more beautiful in person.
Post a Comment