Freehand Quilting

Materials:

quilt "sandwich" made of two pieces of plain fabric with a thin batting between them, mounted in a hoop or frame
sewing kit including quilting thread, quilting needles, scissors, thimble

Steps:

1. When making echo lines, keep lines about 1/2 inch apart, about the width of your thumb

2. For leaves, quilt from top down by using both ends of thread (like hearts lying on their sides). First, quilt the bumpy side and bottom while leaving a long tail sticking out where started. Go back and thread that end and quilt the long side down to that point (figure A).

3. Show clamshells - mark two opposite points on a thread spool, then scratch around as you go. Use marks on spool to line up each time. Scratches will only last for quilting; they'll completely disappear (figure B).

Broken Plaid Design

1. Use your quilting needle to scratch a four-inch diagonal line near the middle of the fabric. Quilt that line.

2. Quilt another line parallel to the first one, one needle-length away--about one inch (figure C). Notice that you have the first line for a guide, so you do not need to mark this second line at all.

3. Quilt a new line 1/4 inch from the second line and parallel to it. In other words, double this second line. With the guidleline 1/4 inch away, you can easily keep this line straight and parallel.

4. Quilt a new line that's one needle-length away from the last line (figure D).

5. Repeat steps 2 and 3 to get another double line. Continue quilting single and double lines as much as you wish (figure E).

6. Repeat the whole process in the opposite diagonal direction, crossing the first batch of lines to form a plaid design.

Tips:

• Move slowly in order to keep the alignment.
• Remember, the idea of this exercise is to produce something that looks as if it were done by hand instead of machine.
• Accept inevitable slight variations in the design (figure F).