Hello my quilting friend! I’m so happy you’re enjoying the Free Motion Quilting Project and would like to learn more about me, Leah Day. I’m a quilter, wife, mother, designer, writer, and entrepreneur. I’ve been sharing quilting videos online for over ten years that have been viewed more than 19 million times.
I created the Free Motion Quilting Project in 2009 with a crazy idea for a personal challenge – to share a new free motion quilting design every day for a year. I did (eventually) reach that goal, but it took almost three years to post 365 quilting designs.
The main reason it took so long is because I was 25 years old and had a bouncy 2-year old to chase after! Life got very busy very quickly and around design #80 I decided I to slow down.
The Evolution of the Free Motion Quilting Project
For the first several years, I shared simple videos featuring new quilting designs. You can still find all of these tutorials linked up neatly for you right here on my website LeahDay.com.
I’ve also changed sewing machines… many, many, many times!
When I began the Free Motion Quilting Project, I was a dedicated, hard core home sewing machine quilter. I also loved quilting for show and competing to win ribbons. But this meant I usually finished one or two quilts a year.
Around 2015, I found I was bored with that style of quilting and I wanted to embrace a new challenge. I was also dealing with some physical issues including neck and shoulder pain and really bad headaches.
I began to research longarm quilting machines and started a conversation with Grace Company in 2016. I first began quilting on a table mounted version of the Qnique and then moved it to a frame the following year. Click Here to check out this setup.
Learning how to quilt on this small 15-inch longarm made a radical difference to my quilting speed. I loved being able to quilt a large quilt top in a day!
Leah Day