Craftsy Class: Three Free-Motion Quilting Classes with Leah Day

Leah Day is a Free-Motion Quilting (FMQ) Expert who enjoys teaching and has written and published several books and DVDs on FMQ.   And she  teaches three classes on free-motion quilting through Craftsy! 












"Free-Motion Quilting A Sampler"  




"Free-Motion Fillers Volume 1"  


 

Leah Day: Free Motion Fillers, Vol. 2 has just been released today!


Today, I want to share insights with you on "Free-Motion Fillers Volume 1".    Needless to say, I've enjoyed this class, as well as her Free-Motion Quilting A Sampler class and I'm already looking forward to taking  Leah's just released Volume 2 class.  She is a very talented quilter, who is also an excellent teacher!

What You'll Learn in Free-Motion Fillers Volume 1:

• Tips on making free motion quilting easier
• 50 free motion filler designs
• Troubleshoot common machine-quilting issues
• Create an all-over quilting look on a domestic machine

SewCalGal definitely recommends this class for any quilter that wants to learn/improve your free-motion quilting skills, especially if you are looking for ideas for filler designs.  While Leah teaches this class on a domestic sewing machine, I believe the designs she shares, and many insights, are also appropriate to those quilting on a longarm or midarm machine.

The class "Free-Motion Fillers Volume 1" is broken into sections that are easy to follow, start/stop at any point, and easy to repeat as many times as you wish.  Craftsy classes also have a forum where you can post questions and/or pictures and, like all of the Craftsy teachers, Leah is great about responding to your questions in a timely manner. Plus, you can learn and be inspired by what your fellow students also share in the forum (aka platform).

LESSON 1: MEET LEAH DAY (37:39)


Leah began quilting in 2005, when she was 21, after making up her mind she really needed to learn to quilt.  In 2008, she decided she wanted to win a ribbon at a quilt show, which she won with a whole cloth which she used two FMQ Designs.  

She quickly became bored with using only two designs and began playing with other designs and pushing herself to learn more.  In her quilting journey, she  learned about free-motion quilting through the internet, as well as from books & DVDs by  Karen McTavish and Sharon Schamber.  With practice, and her enthusiasm to learn FMQ, she quickly mastered free-motion quilting and the ability to learn, as well as create new designs easily.

In her effort to share her insights, teach and inspire others, she launched the The Free Motion Quilting Project where she created video tutorials and shared insights on 365 different free motion quilting designs, over three years (2009-2011).  

Leah also shares insights on ways to get started doing FMQ, making this class a great class for a beginner! Highlights of basics include: foot, feeddogs up vs down, starting/stopping/securing stitches tips, needles, thread, gloves, and many other handy tools for FMQ and more!

The class sampler project comes with a free design that you can download.  The design has 5"x8" blocks for you to stitch out the 50 designs covered during this class.  All materials for this course are provided on line for you to download in PDF format include:

• Instructions
• Supply List
• Optional ebook "365 Free Motion Quilting Designs"
• Optional ebook "From Feathers to Flames"
• Optional ebook "From Daisy to Paisley"

Source: Too Much FMQ Fun! via Darns on Craftsy

Examples of designs covered in this lesson: Stippling


LESSON 2: UGLY STITCHES AND SCALE (25:54)


In this lesson, Leah shares insights on what you can expect when you first start quilting.  For many quilters, when they start learning FMQ they frequently feel that their stitching is ugly and they have problems with scale.  Leah does a great job sharing student samples and providing tips on how to get even stitching in a very encouraging and supportive manner.  I really liked her reference to "learning FMQ" when she shared "We don't expect perfect penmanship from a kindergartner and certainly don't expect perfect free-motion quilting from someone learning".

A few examples of  troubleshooting FMQ problems include: eyelashes, stitch issues with thread changes, bobbin thread not being pulled to the top, etc.. She also shares insights on choosing threads, foot pedal tips, sale and more!


Examples of designs covered in this lesson: Paisley, Figure 8 (teardrop), circles, swirls, squares and boxes, tight back and forth lines, brackets and more!

LESSON 3:  INDEPENDENT DESIGNS (37:51)

Leah goes over a number of independent designs that can be used on the class quilt project, but first starts off sharing oodles of helpful tips for setting up your sewing area and managing a large project.

Examples of designs covered in this lesson: Stippling, Sharp Stippling, Zippling, Alien Fingers, Circuit Board, Loopy Line, Basic Spiral, Blazing Spiral, Angle Spiral, Drunk Spiral, etc..

LESSON 4: STACKING DESIGNS (39:50)

Leah goes over a family of stacking designs.  Tips for stitching large vs small designs, such as a large circle that may be too large to see the entire circle while you are stitching it, tips for echoing and more.

Examples of designs covered in this lesson: Pebbling, Circles, Basic Star, Saw Blades, Cobblestones, Oil Slick, Triangle Mosaic, Modern Weave, Trapped Ripples, Cubing, Missing Piece, etc..

LESSON 5:  PIVOTING DESIGNS (37:35)


The designs in this collection start with a simple shape, followed by a pivot and echo.

Examples of designs covered in this lesson: Paisley, Heart Paisley, Pointy Paisley, Drunk Pointy Paisley, Abstract Leaf, Light Bulb Leaf, Spike Paisley, Lava Paisley, etc..

LESSON 6: ECHOING DESIGNS (29:02)


This lesson focuses on a family of designs that are echoing designs, like throwing a rock into a pond and seeing all the echo ripples.  Leah also talks about quilting your sashing.

Examples of designs covered in this lesson:  Hot Candy, Echo Shell, Trippy Triangles, Brain Coral, Flame Stitch, Ball Bearings, Pebble Ribbles, Echo Shortcut, Triangle Starships. 


LESSON 7:  BRANCHING DESIGNS (38:01)

Leah teaches how to add a shape within another design (e.g. a shape within a spiral) to create beautiful texture in your quilts.  And, she also goes over how to finish your quilt, with great tips on quilting borders.

Examples of designs covered in this lesson:  McTavishing, Lightening Bolts, Swirling Water, Sharp Swirling Water, Universe Spiral, Bloody Saw Blades, Heart Flow, Unloaded Boxes, Open Flow, 

LESSON 8: ALL OVER QUILTING (15:58)



In this lesson, Leah shares insights on how to take a large quilt and apply a design to the overall quilt.  Insights are shared to loading a large quilt into a domestic machine, take a single design to quilt a large quilt, applying a quadrant approach for quilting areas of your quilt.

Examples of designs covered in this lesson:  Swirling Waters 

LESSON 9: SUPPLEMENTAL BASTING LESSON (32:12)

There are a variety of basting methods and Leah shares insights on her approach to basting, while encouraging to use what ever basting approach works best for you.  In this lesson she goes over how to choose you your batting, prepare your quilt top, to secure it to a table and her favorite tools for pin basting.

Can you see why SewCalGal loves taking any/all classes with Leah Day on Craftsy?  And, how her class on Craftsy is an amazing value?  This class is offered at a regular price of $39.99 which is an amazing value.  And, periodically, Craftsy does offer specials. But even at regular price, this class is a great value.  

To clarify, SewCalGal does  view this is a class perfect for a beginner as well as advanced quilters that wants to learn more designs and tips.  

http://www.craftsy.com


If you have taken a class with Leah at Craftsy, please leave a comment and let us know what you thought of it.  And, I'd also like to hear what you'd like to have her teach at Craftsy next.  Personally, I'd like to see her teach a class on how to make her beautiful quilted jacket:


If you are not familiar with Craftsy and are nervous about taking an online class, check out my post about free classes at Craftsy. This is a great opportunity for quilters of all levels and interest and a good way to get some hands on experience with how Craftsy structures their classes.

You can also find Leah at:

http://www.daystyledesigns.com/ Wholesale order info:  http://www.daystyledesigns.com/wholesale.htm  https://www.facebook.com/pages/Leah-Day-Quilting/108034899216421

blog:  http://freemotionquilting.blogspot.com  

Leah Day, P.O Box 386, Earl, NC 28038