Getting started with the free motion quilting has been hard. Its been a mental thing for me and not something I just wanted to do. Embracing the learning process for it has been harder with this than other aspects of quilting. So it was of no surprise to me that I found a million other projects to work on instead of tackling my quilt.

I hadn’t been in the sewing room for days and it was starting to become evident in my attitude. I needed the quiet and creative process to level me out. On Tuesday, I finally decided to jump in feet first.

I felt really good as I started, thinking that the process of becoming better would be fairly quick.  It didn’t take long before I realized that I had a few issues that made my task a little bit more challenging.

My 10 initial thoughts of free motion quilting:

1. It takes a lot of practice and just when you think you finally got the hang of it, you’ll need more practice.
2. Using your table extension for your machine is super important.
3. Having a sewing counter that is deep enough to use said table is important.
4. Quilting must be done in short intervals to help preserve your recent chiropractic adjustment.
5. It can be super rewarding when you get the design you were aiming for.
6. Using rubber tipped gloves (or other gadget to help maneuver the fabric) is a necessity.
7. The seam ripper ought not to be too far away. It will get used.
8. Free motion quilting requires your shoulders more than initially thought.
9. Only small projects will be done this way from here on out.
10. I’m incredibly thankful that my mom has a long arm quilting machine.

2 days in, I had made good progress. I had to alter just how much I had originally planned on doing.  I did not want the process to continue as I was becoming resentful of the project.

I finally finished the free motion quilting and gave myself permission to give grace.  It isn’t pretty in some areas.  Puckers exist.  More quilting really should be added.  Stitch length isn’t great, nor is tension.  But its one of those projects that I’ll be okay with using as a park blanket for the nights we are at the ball field.

I can now say that I’ve done it but it certainly isn’t something of which I want to do a tremendous amount.