Free Motion On The Long Arm

Now that I’ve completed the certification training at Quilted Joy on the APQS long arm machines, I could rent time on the machines to finish projects. One of the first quilts tops I ever made was on the cover of Quilts & Crafts Simpy Moderne Magazine Issue No. 5 called For Lori’s Beautiful Eyes by Stephanie Prescott.

Quilts & Crafts Simply Moderne Issue No. 5.

This quilt starts with large 18″ quilt blocks that are cut into 5 different shapes, it’s very graphic and colorful and was quite fun to make. I made the quilt top last summer and have been waiting to learn how to finish it properly; I’ve even toyed with the idea of paying someone to finish it for me, but I really wanted to learn the long arm myself.

Here are a few close up pics of the blocks. I used this fabric I found at my local quilt shop from MODA that had cool fonts and graphics on them, the colors were very bright and cheery and I liked to look at them. I’ve noticed that I’m drawn to fabrics that have printed words on them or some type of font, maybe it’s the creative writer in me.

Here is the finished quilt top from last summer.

So, this quilt top sat on my shelf for months, until I finally figured out how to get my hands on a long arm so I could finish it. I’ve tried to do free motion on my sewing machine, but the frustration of dealing with the missed stitches, uneven length stitches, and broken thread was enough to make me take it out on my husband. Poor husband, it’s not his fault I couldn’t get my machine to work correctly.

I found out about the certification course from my first meeting with the local Modern Quilt Guild; it was a eureka moment for sure. Once I completed my certification, they recommended that you schedule time on the machines as soon as possible, so you can retain what you learned. This is sage advice, as I was all thumbs putting my backing on the zipper system that the APQS machines use. Liz, the instructor was very helpful on my second go around, but once I got everything set up, it was smooth sailing.

Loaded up on the long arm and ready to start stitching.

Keeping my hands relaxed on the bars of the machine.

Close up detailing of some fan work in the corners.

I was trying anything and every kind of shape I could think of. On the circle pattern, I was circling the colored circles, on the mugs, I was outlining the mugs, I was doing swirls, loops, and squares, pretty much anything goes. I wanted to get comfortable with the machine and what I could do with it.

I used a white backing on this quilt, but in hindsight, I think a dark grey would’ve been better. Picking the batting, backing and thread colors is something I hope to get better at doing. From everything I’ve read in quilting books and magazines, practice really does make better.

Once I remove the quilt from the machine and bought it back home, now the process of cutting the excess fabric off and sewing the binding on, begins. The binding I chose to finish the quilt with is the same green fabric with the fonts in the print.