Ten new quilting friends, a delightful studio assistant, and I put on the gloves... dropped the feed dogs... and spent a long weekend free-motion quilting at John C. Campbell Folk School in Brasstown, NC. As they say at the Folk School, "It was magical!"
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| "Intro to Free-motion Quilting" students, Donna Sue (left), Delores, and Adrienne in the Quilting Studio at John C. Campbell Folk School. |
A weekend class at the Folk School—as was my "Intro to Free-motion Quilting" workshop last weekend—starts immediately after dinner on Friday. We covered a lot of topics that first evening—quilting terminology, machine set-up, the purpose of the single-hole throat plate, threads, thread tension, basting, and several helpful quilting tools.
Drawing aerobics and the sketchbook
Saturday morning started with what I refer to as "drawing aerobics." If you can draw it, you can stitch it!
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| Working in the sketchbook. |
Students practiced several continuous line designs in their sketchbooks before putting the needle and thread to the fabric.
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| Drawing background fills. |
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| Continuous line drawings in the sketchbook. |
Making informed choices... before quilting
Something to remember... (I tell my students) ...is that the "quilting stage" comes nearly at the end of the process. With that said, making decisions about and performing the steps prior to quilting—thread and batting choices, needles, basting—must be executed with intention and attention so when it's time for the quilting, you're set up for success.
One discussion related to this was about the fiber content of quilt battings that are on the market these days—cotton, poly, cotton/poly, bamboo, wool, silk, and various fiber blends. Quilted samples of different battings were passed around. Students could compare the "look and feel" of various battings and gain insight on how to choose a batting that would be appropriate for a quilt.
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| Cotton, poly, bamboo, wool, silk, or a blend? Quilted samples using various battings with different fiber content. |
Putting the pedal to the metal
After drawing continuous line designs as a warm-up, students were ready to put stitches into fabric. Several practice quilt sandwiches were basted, the feed dogs were dropped, and the quilting gloves went on. The sewing machines began humming in the quilting studio.
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| Free-motion quilting in the quilting studio |
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| Free-motion quilting exercises. |
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| Free-motion quilting gloves and a practice quilt sandwich. |
Another FMQ [free-motion quilting] exercise was working with pre-printed panels. This is a placemat panel from Paintbrush Studio Fabrics.
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| Janice practicing her free-motion quilting on a pre-printed placemat. |
Hand-Eye coordination and drawing with a buddy
With free-motion quilting, there are a lot of moving "body parts" that all have to work in unison—hands, eyes, brain, and feet. Here are results of a hand-eye drawing exercise I asked students to do with a buddy. (By the way, this is one of my favorite sketchbook exercises!)
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| Kathy and Susan. |
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| Paige and Sandra. |
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| Adrienne and Donna Sue. |
Copious laughter ensued from this exercise!
Show and Tell, an idea-generator
I bring pieces of my work to most of my quilting workshops as an impetus for discussing thread choices, quilting design ideas and, of course, the story behind each quilt—which often plays into decisions for threads and quilting designs.
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| Patricia (left), Sandra and Paige comparing sketchbook drawings with the final quilting. |
"Believe" is an example of machine trapunto, free-moiton background fills, and free-motion micro-stippling.
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| Example of machine trapunto, free-motion background fills, and stippling designs. |
Inspiration sources
Another source for continuous line designs is from all the fabulous fabrics on the market. Another sketchbook exercise was using inspiration from Art Gallery Fabrics and M&S Textiles Australia fabrics. (The students loved this one!)
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| Students choosing fabrics for quilting design inspiration. |
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| M&S Textiles aboriginal designs. |
Can you see the relationship?
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| Drawings based on fabric prints. |
The light bulb moments
At the end of a workshop, I like to ask students what their take-aways or free-motion awakenings they had in the class. This helps me as an instructor to plan my classes, and also to understand the topics that resonate most with students. The feedback from this workshop was:
- learning about thread tension.
- "go faster and go bigger" even when you think you're big enough.
- it's OK to go over a line more than once.
- "more machine and less hands" (let the machine do the work).
- any motif is possible.
- liked the fabric inspiration drawing exercise.
- discussion on thread—thread weights, fiber content, colors, mixing weights—was very helpful.
- liked the angel hair vs. lasagna analogy (relating to threads).
- when to change the needle.
- liked drawing the designs but also liked looking at quilt samples for ideas.
- the importance of the practice swatch.
- now has insights and sees how others do free-motion to help her think about her own approach.
It was also important to remember ergonomics, taking time to stretch, and take care of our bodies when quilting. Anyone else do the "Fat Quarter Shuffle" dance when quilting? We saw it here first, at the Folk School!
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| Susan demonstrates the "Fat Quarter Shuffle." That's what it's all about! |
Thank you!
I'd like to say "Thank You" to all the students who spent the weekend with me at the Folk School. Your attentiveness, curiosity, questions and open minds made this such an enjoyable weekend. I hope you continue to be inspired by all the possibilities and creativity of free-motion quilting.
To my friend and business associate, Susan, thank you for being a great studio assistant, taking photos, and for your help with a few finicky sewing machines. You made my role as an instructor easy. I'm happy I could introduce the Folk School to you and hope you'll join me again.
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| View from the Farm House, the dorm where I stayed. |
"The Folk School changes you"
I have two quilting classes scheduled at the John C. Campbell Folk School in 2025, Intro to Free-motion Quilting and Intro to Improvisational Quilts. Sign up, bring your sewing machine, a sense of adventure, and an open mind and enjoy a wonderful experience at this beautiful, picturesque, and nature-filled campus in Brasstown, North Carolina.
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| John C. Campbell Folk School sign near Keith House and the dining hall. |
