FMQ Friday – Learning How to Quilt

It’s Friday and time to cheer for whatever we’ve quilted this week! I’ve taken a break from Duchess Reigns and I’ve been helping Josh learn how to quilt. Here’s his very first try:

It’s so interesting watching Josh quilt and talking to him about the experience. In some ways he said this was easier than he thought, but in other ways it’s quite difficult. Josh has never even touched a sewing machine before, unless you count carrying it for me into workshops, so he doesn’t have the familiarity many quilters have going into it from garment sewing or piecing on a machine.

Even still, I did want to point out that even though these stitches aren’t perfect, it can absolutely go on a real quilt! No, the stitches aren’t consistent, and the design is pretty wiggly, but who cares? The purpose of the quilting stitches, at their most basic, is to hold the 3 layers of the quilt together securely.

I’m not seeing any massive stitches here, any long “toe catchers” that would be awkward to get caught in if this was the front or back of a bed quilt. So if you’re just starting out and your stitches are looking something like this, keep quilting! This is only the beginning and it will definitely get better the more you do it.

Now what have you been up to this week? Quilting up a storm I hope!

Simple rules for the FMQ Friday link up:

1. Link up with a post that features something about Free Motion Quilting (FMQ).
2. Somewhere in your post, you must link back here, or you can just post the FMQF button in your sidebar.
3. Comment on at least a few of the other FMQF links. Share your love of free motion quilting and make this weekly link up a fun way to connect. Let’s go quilt,

Leah Day