Learning By Teaching

Although the days fly by, sometimes there isn't a lot to show at the end of each.  I've been working on stitch samples for an upcoming free motion quilting workshop.  Even though I have taught this class many times before, each one is new and different;  you can't just dial it in. You learn as you go what works and what doesn't...or as Bob Seger sings in Against the Wind, "what to leave in, what to leave out." I have one more filler stitch to settle on...and it may be just an echo. Or a scroll.  Or S lines...

For sure, we will be doing continuous curve quilting;  it's my favourite go-to stitch as it's so versatile. Whether you use it to quickly quilt squares, or as a background pumpkin-seed filler, it's a stitch every free-motion quilter should have in their repertoire. I piece scraps, and dig out orphan blocks, as I've learned that demos done on actual patchwork, not just plain cotton, give a more concrete understanding of the application.

I've decided to do clam shells, even though I usually avoid them in my own work.  (Imagine a gal from Five Islands not being a fan of clam shells! :)

This is my arsenal of feet, amassed over years of quilting, progressing from left to right.  When I started doing free motion on my old Kenmore, there was no foot available.  I used a spring needle (shown on the left). I was delighted to finally find a short-shank foot that fit my machine. Bernina has lots of fabulous feet for their machines. My newest acquisition - the ruler foot - is on the far right. See how thick it is?  That's so it won't slip under the ruler and damage your machine. It's made curved cross-hatching very doable on my domestic machine. I hope to be able to show you some of that soon.

For now, it's back to deciding on that final stitch to fill the last square on my sampler.  What would you choose?