4 Best Free Motion Quilting Tools – Make Quilting Easy!
Today I’m sharing my thoughts on the four best free motion quilting tools. I use these tools every time I quilt on my home sewing machine, and with every quilt I create. These are the essential tools that I honestly can’t quilt without.
I’ll also share a few new tools as it’s now 2023 and in more than 12 years, a few of my favorite tools are no longer produced. Thankfully the quilting industry is full of enterprising entrepreneurs and we have lots of creative and effective tools to help make quilting easier!
Jump ahead to find the tool you’d like to learn about first:
- Best Free Motion Quilting Tools
- Get a Grip on Your Quilt – Best Quilting Gloves
- Make the Quilt Easier to Move – Free Motion Glider
- Quilting Thread that Doesn’t Drive You Crazy – Isacord Thread
- Keep Your Bobbin Spinning Smoothly – Bobbin Washers
- More Helpful Machine Quilting Tools
- Quilt Dragging You Down? Try a Quilt Suspension System
- The Best Quilting Tools Are the Ones That Work For You
Best Free Motion Quilting Tools
Just to make it extra convenient for you, here’s the top three quilting tools I recommend and use daily for free motion quilting:
Get a Grip on Your Quilt – Best Quilting Gloves
I think my absolute favorite quilting tool, dating back to my very first quilting class are my Machingers Quilting Gloves. These gloves in particular are lightweight nylon with rubber tips that gently grip your quilt.
If you’ve seen even one of the hundreds of quilting videos on this project, you will have noticed that every single one was stitched out wearing gloves. I occasionally receive questions about this like, “Is something wrong with your hands? Why are you wearing gloves?!”
Trust me, it’s not because I have a strange skin fungus. It’s because the gloves really work to help me grip the quilt and move it around precisely. The easier you can move the quilt, the more control you have of it, the better your stitches will look.
In the photo above, I’m quilting the Checkerboard Tiles block from the Friendship Quilt Along, which featured super sized quilt blocks we finished quilt-as-you-go style. I find wearing quilting gloves help me better control my quilt with all forms of machine quilting: walking foot quilting, ruler quilting, and free motion quilting.
I also find that wearing the gloves drastically reduces the amount of strain my hands and shoulders take when quilting bigger quilts. Without them, I would find myself gripping my hands into a fist around the quilt to move it around, which starts hurting pretty quickly.
With the gloves on, I can keep my hands flat while moving the quilt and be able to keep quilting much longer because I’ve reduced the strain on my body.
Make the Quilt Easier to Move – Free Motion Glider
The original slippery tool I used isn’t no longer manufactured, but now we have a new and better quilting tool – the Free Motion Glider! This is a Teflon sheet that goes over your machine bed and reduces the friction between your quilt and the surface of your machine and table. It makes your quilt easier to move around and create beautiful designs with less strain on your body.
One side of the Free Motion Glider is grippy and will stick to your machine bed without being an actual sticker. You can peel it off and move it all you won’t and it doesn’t leave any sticky residue. The slick side of the glider is positioned face up, and you’ll want to line up the hole in the center with the hole in your machine.
There are actually three ways I like to position my Free Motion Glider on my home sewing machine for quilt piecing and different types of machine quilting. Sometimes you need the feed dogs exposed and sometimes you don’t. Here’s a quick video on how I use this quilting tool:
The Free Motion Glider is an awesome tool, but it is delicate. If you’re not used to using it, it’s easy to accidentally stitch through it (which is awful), so I do advise taping down the corners with masking tape the first couple times you use it until you get used to the feel of it under your quilt.
Quilting Thread that Doesn’t Drive You Crazy – Isacord Thread
The third best free motion quilting tool is my favorite thread – Isacord polyester embroidery thread. This thread is perfect for machine quilting because it’s:
- Thin – This is a 40 weight thread that looks great when quilted on a large or small scale. You can travel stitch over your lines of quilting without the design looking like a child’s crayon drawing.
- Strong – When I first began free motion quilting, I couldn’t travel stitch at all because every time my line of quilting overlapped, my thread would break. It was caused by using thread that was too thick and too weak for the job. Isacord can travel, over and over and over, and stands up beautifully to the test of time!
- Affordable – I like thread I can buy multiple spools without breaking the bank. I also like getting enough thread on the spool to be able to quilt a big chunk of my quilt. Isacord comes in 1000 meter spools, which I consider the perfect size.
I’ve written a lot more about Isacord Thread and about picking your quilting needles because these are such important tools for enjoying free motion quilting. Enjoying means being able to quilt more than an hour without breaking thread three times – and yes, your needle and thread choice has a lot to do with that! Just in case you’re wondering about using polyester threads on a cotton quilt fabric, Click Here to read more.
Keep Your Bobbin Spinning Smoothly – Bobbin Washers
When I originally wrote this post in 2011, I used Little Genie Magic Bobbin Washers in every machine all the time. These little Teflon discs go in your bobbin case and fill up the extra space between your bobbin and bobbin case. This helps your bobbin thread feed as smoothly as your top thread.
Over the past few years, home sewing machines have changed a lot. Most come with bobbin case springs serve the same purpose as bobbin washers. I also found my new Eversewn Sewing Machines didn’t need bobbin washers – they didn’t stitch any better with them in.
So this is a tool that is extra helpful for sewing machines made before 2015 or so. If you have a metal bobbin case and it doesn’t have a spring, maybe pop in a bobbin washer and see if your thread feeds a bit better.
For my longarm quilting machines (my, things have changed!) I will use Mega Genie Magic Bobbin Washers, but only if the built-in spring in the bobbin case falls out. Getting the spring back in the bobbin case is almost impossible, so I only use these if the spring falls out.
More Helpful Machine Quilting Tools
Here’s a few more machine quilting tools, plus a kit of my three favorites – Machingers Quilting Gloves, Free Motion Glider, and Isacord Thread:
Quilt Dragging You Down? Try a Quilt Suspension System
I have one more bonus machine quilting tool that can be really helpful when quilting on a home machine or sit down longarm in a quilting table. The main issue with this style of quilting is the weight of the quilt dragging against you, making it difficult to make large movements with your hands.
To solve this issue, hang up your quilt! I originally began suspending my quilts from the ceiling using a DIY quilt suspension system that worked great. But most quilters didn’t really like the idea of attaching hooks or bars to their ceiling nearly as much as I did!
Thankfully more industrious companies have picked up this idea and we now have a clamping Quilt Suspension System which attaches to your sewing table or extension table and gives you the same effect – a lifted quilt and less drag.
This quilt suspension system can work for our newer forms of quilting too – quilting with your embroidery machine, ruler quilting, etc. It’s so exciting to be updating these older posts and realize just how much the craft of quilting has changed in 12 years!
The Best Quilting Tools Are the Ones That Work For You
While I can’t say my choices for the best free motion quilting tools will work for everyone (some people hate to wear gloves for example), these are the ones I like the most. Please try a variety of tools and materials to see what works for you and don’t give up. Free motion quilting is hard to master because it’s such a different quilting skill.
As James likes to say “Try it, you’ll like it, it’s GOOD!“
Let’s Go Quilt,
Leah Day
There are a couple blogs that I check daily and yours is one of them. Thanks so much for posting. You are right these are three of the best tools.
Thanks so much.
Dorothy
Hi.
You have helped so many new quilters out there, and just want to say thanks. I'm going to feature you on my blog and give you a good shout out!
The quilting world is right again.
That is the cutest little boy. I love your tutorials and blogs. You are an excellent writer. I just finished my first free motion quilt. I learned to free motion from your tutorials. It is not perfect by any means. I got the supreme slider from you and the genie bobbin washers. I am assuming that I will know when I need to change the washer.
These three tools are just indispensable. I've been free motion quilting some large scale blocks out of unconventional materials. They have super thick batting and the backs are hemp Tencil which have been hand-stenciled. You simply will not believe what a difference the Machingers make until you try them. They are super comfortable and light weight and they make sewing so much easier and more stress free.
The Supreme Sliders are also amazing. I bought two by mistake (!) but it turned out to be a blessing as I simply used a second Slider to the left of the one I stitch through. I don't just use them for quilting–I also use them whenever I'm sewing any material which is likely to "balk".
And finally, the Bobbin Washers are also a dream and using them means no thread breaks or snags.
I wouldn't be able to work without these tools. I'm very grateful to Leah for recommending them.
Leah, I can't say it often enough, you are the quilt guru.
I love these products, and if it weren't for you and your blog, I would not have known about them. Also, will you be offering preorders for the queen slider? I'm also wondering if the hole is in the middle of the queen, or off center. Do you know yet?
I love my Machingers! I've never heard of the slider or bobbin washers, but I will be sure to look for them. Anything to make quilting easier and (if it's possible) more fun. Thanks for the tips!
Hi Ladies! Here's the answers to many of your questions:
Teresa – Preorders are a great idea! Why didn't I think of that? I'll try to get the button up sometime today.
As for the hole in the Queen Supreme, it's off center, 7" from one side. This means it will fit on machines with a 7" throat or bigger!
Sherry – I've only run through 1 washer in 1 year of heavy sewing! I just noticed that it was getting a little frayed on the edges and a bit thin and the bobbin wasn't gliding as smoothly.
I swapped out the washer for a new one and everything worked perfectly again. I truly think the pack of 12 is a lifetime supply for most quilters.
I think that's everything! Thank you all so much for your very kind comments and thanks!
Leah Day
I used the very first slider when they first came out. There was no sticky side to help adhere it to your machine, so when a friend of mine used my machine, the slider moved (even though it was taped down) and she sewed through it. I talked with the manufacturer at a major quilt show, and they graciously allowed me to send it back and upgrade to the newer version. Thanks for the reviews. I love my machingers.
My FMQ tools just arrived! The Machingers fit perfectly and are so light compared to another brand. I can hardly wait to whip out a Cheater Needle Threader and hide some threads on a quilt desperately needing finishing detail work. My bobbins will be given new life with the Little Genie Teflon Bobbin Washers. And the Supreme Slide will cut down on the drag! Oh, the Isacord thread feels fab. Thank you, thank you for your voice of experience and your grace to share what you have learned.
Just to confirm: if you use the Supreme Slider and don't drop your feed dogs, then they won't show through the hole in the Supreme Slider? I'm sorry if I sound dumb, but doesn't that negate the feed dogs not being dropped or do the feed dogs still have some effect??
Hey Pip – I leave the feed dogs up because I find if I drop them, it changes something in the mechanics INSIDE the machine. I see a change in my tension and stitch quality when they are down, verse perfect stitches when they are up.
The reason we have always heard to drop the feed dogs is because the teeth can catch and try to feed the quilt, thereby making it difficult to create totally free form patterns.
But it's good to know that there is more than one way to do this! You don't have to drop them if you don't want to.
You can leave them up and cover them with a supreme slider, thereby achieving the purpose of dropping them in the first place (no teeth touching and feeding the quilt).
You can use the slider either way, so play with the machine you have and find out which way gives you the best stitch quality and fewest tension issues.
Feel free to email me if this still isn't clear!
Leah
I have a Jamone…finally a person that has a video to help us learn! I will be watching and sharing this blog with others.
http://www.thriftyideastoday.com/
Leah, Thanks for teaching me how to free-motion quilt. When I wanted to learn and I had just missed a local class, I started searching online for instructions. As soon as I found your site, I was inspired to try it. After a few practice squares I was brave enough to try it on a queen-sized quilt. Thanks to your great teaching, tips and tool recommendations, I was able to skip all of the frustration I expected as a beginner and I was very impressed with my first project. I'm now starting my forth queen size quilt and really enjoy FMQ. I continue to read your articles and think your site is still the most helpful and inspiring information I have found on FMQ. Thank you so much for sharing your wisdom.
Now a question about the Supreme Slider. I don't like to lower my feed dogs. But they are wearing thru my Slider and its tearing around the hole. I've reinforced it by cutting a little piece of plastic sheet and taping it to the underside. I was just wondering if you have had this problem and have any better tips.
Amy – Yes, this can happen with the feed dogs up and the slider over them. If you're really bothered by it, you can first cover the feed dogs with an index card taped to your machine with a hole punched in the middle for the needle. Cover that with the slider and it shouldn't come in contact with the feed dogs at all.
Hope that helps!
Leah