You have may have heard me say that free motion quilting is a lot like playing a musical instrument because it involves using your brain and your muscles at the same time. Just as you can’t learn the piano by just reading a book or watching a video, you have to actually practice your free motion quilting to develop the “muscle memory” that you use when working on your project. Quilting is like making music. You learn the basics (scales) and practice the piece (motif) then one day the rhythm takes over and you are making music on your project.
I am sure that the need to practice is no surprise to you and I am guessing that you may not be looking forward to it especially if you have taken piano lessons in the past (like I have). Practice does not have to consist of the drudgery of constantly repeating the same motions over and over until you thoroughly hate the skill that you are trying to develop. Let’s face it, you are interested in results not repetition. That is why it is not only important to practice but to practice in the right way. When I teach free motion quilting in The Quilter’s Way, I use a step-by-step process that ensures that you get the most “bang for your practice buck” while building confidence and achieving quick results. My process is based on a few important principles:
Build Muscle Memory
How many times have you seen a technique in a book or watched it in a video thinking “how hard can it be?” only to end up completely frustrated when it turned out to be much more difficult in “real life”? There is a lesson in that experience that I “rediscover” more often than I would like to admit. The lesson is that everything is easy until you have to apply it. Without actually “doing the task”, you will not have properly learned it no matter how carefully you studied the book or watched the video. This principle is especially important in free motion quilting where muscle memory is such a big part of the technique. This is why I include practice exercises at key points in my training to make sure that the student has the opportunity to apply what they have been taught and makes sure it is locked into both their brain and their muscles. I also like to include a project of the appropriate level so that the student can apply what they have learned in an actual project that they can be proud of.
Build Confidence
Building confidence is an important part of learning a new technique. It can be extremely demoralizing if you are asked to attempt something that you are not ready for. Repeated failure while trying to learn will make the process so onerous that most people will give up well before they have made any progress. This is why it’s important to practice the right thing at the right time. Small and frequent opportunities to apply what has been learned successfully builds a student’s confidence and generates a momentum that will help the student committed to mastering the technique. When teaching free motion quilting, I use a number of strategies to build a student’s confidence by:
Teaching them how to properly set up their sewing machine
Choosing the appropriate low risk project and exercises to practice on
Providing some “quick wins”
Allowing them to work at their own pace
Use Practice Time Wisely
No matter how well an exercise or practice session is designed there can be a tendency to avoid completing them because of “lack of time”.
The hard fact is that without practice there will be no improvement.
Although “lack of time” is often an excuse rather than a fact, the shorter the practice sessions, the more likely the student will take advantage of them. I like to say that if you can spare 15 minutes a day, you have enough time to practice your free motion quilting and improve your skill level. I encourage students to have their sewing machine already set up and some quilt sandwiches available so that they can do some practicing in small chunks of time without wasting that opportunity with having to set up their sewing machine. Multiple short practice sessions are a good way to learn and are often more practical when people have busy lives.
Remember “Practice Makes Progress”. When learning free motion quilting it’s important to focus on progress rather trying to attain perfection.
Download a worksheet so that you can start practicing your loops
Download the free Get Out of the Ditch! guide to learn how to start free motion quilting by clicking here.
If you have struggled (or not attempted) free motion quilting you should check out my course “First Steps Into Free Motion Quilting” by clicking here.
If you already know how to free motion quilt then you may be interested in “3 Ways to Improve Your Free Motion Quilting” by clicking here.
P.S. Do you strive to improve your quilting skills? Do you want to have fun doing it? Do you want to meet other quilters in a supportive, safe environment? If you answered “yes” to these questions, you need to join The Quilter’s Way. The Quilter’s Way is the only quilting membership site that includes both training and an active, supportive online community. Don’t wait another day! Join now.