Tag: beginner free motion quilting

2025 Free Motion Quilting (FMQ) Series · Quilt As Desired · Tips and Tricks · Tutorials · villa rosa designs

Beginner Free Motion Quilting (FMQ) Lesson 5: Going Beyond Loops Part 1

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Hello Quilty Friends!

Happy Thursday to you!

I am thrilled to tell you that we’ve had a little bit warmer temperatures for a couple days in row here in NW PA. I’m talking above 32 degrees! Actually it’s been in the 40’s, which feels so balmy compared to last week’s temperatures in the single digits and teens. Whew! But I don’t think winter is over yet for us, though, as the beginning of March is looking cold again. Spring can’t get here soon enough!

PSST! While we’re waiting for Spring to arrive, it is a great time to work on our Free Motion Quilting (FMQ) skills, don’t you think? So far we’ve talked about tools, equipment, and resources; doodling, making loops, and using cursive writing as a quilting design.

This week for Lesson 5, we are venturing beyond the Loopy design.

If you missed any of the earlier lessons, you can find them below:

Lesson 1: All the Background Information

Lesson 2: Let’s Doodle!

Lesson 3: Practice, Practice, Practice

Lesson 4: The Write Way to Doodle!

Let’s get started!

Going Beyond Loops

You might be wondering what exactly I mean by “going beyond loops”. Talk a deep breath — there is no need to panic. I promise we are not jumping right into Feathers. Relax, Feathers are ahead of you sometime in the future, but today is not the day. Instead, we are going to add some fun elements to our quilting to change up our basic Loopy FMQ design.

#1 Snowflakes with Loops

This design is absolutely one of my favorites, hands down! It is quite flexible and looks great on a lot of different quilts. Depending on the theme of the quilt, it can look like a snowflake, a star, fireworks, a starburst, or even a cool funky flower. Wow! That’s a lot of options for a single element, isn’t it?

Here is an example of the Snowflake and Loop design on a Christmas/winter place mat I created years and years ago for a magazine pattern.

Please note this place mat design was featured in Quilter’s World magazine some years ago and is a copyrighted design.

Grab your dry erase markers and let’s practice drawing Snowflakes or whatever you would like to call them on our white boards. You can decide how many spokes/rays you want your Snowflakes to have. You can even vary the number in your design to add more interest.

Next let’s add Loops to the Snowflakes and practice drawing our new Loopy variation design. Ready, set, go!Do you see how I surrounded each of the Snowflakes with my Loops? I like to use the Snowflakes as an accent, not the primary design. The primary design, of course, is the Loops. Additionally, I like to give my Loops lots of space to breathe.

Go ahead and practice drawing this design a couple times. Experiment with the Snowflakes (do you want 6 or 8 or more spokes/rays?).

Next, we’re going to FMQ this design on a practice square on our sewing machines. Are you ready? Take a deep breath and just do it.

To get you started, here’s a little video I made for you, showing how I create my Snowflake and Loop variation.

Here is a little example of quilting the Snowflake and Loop design.

Now it’s your turn to practice this design. Enjoy playing with it! Just imagine all the different kinds of quilts you can use it on!

#2 Kindergarten Star with Loops

Do you remember when you first learned how to make a five-pointed star? Probably around kindergarten, I should think. Can you remember how to make it now?

Here’s a little tutorial to jog your memory. Keep in mind that I am left-handed so you might draw your star differently than I do. Remember, you do you.

Kindergarten stars aren’t too much different from the Snowflake element above. And once you get comfortable making a five point star again (believe me, it will take some practice for some of you to remaster this shape), the design will flow more easily. Go ahead and draw some Five Pointed Stars on your white board. Make as many as you can fit onto the board. Make them all different sizes, too.

Now let’s practice drawing Kindergarten Stars combined with our FMQ Loop design. Feel free to do this several times until it feels more natural to you.

I bet by now (that is if you’ve been practicing) you are probably finding alternating the direction of the loops to be easier than when you first started several weeks ago. Go you!

Keep practicing on your white board until you can draw the five point stars without thinking about each line. Then I want you to practice making those stars upside down and sideways or else your design will come out very linear with stars lined up going the same direction.

This design looks amazing on patriotic quilts and on children’s quilts, too. What other kinds of quilts would look great with Kindergarten Stars and Loops?

Next up, we’re going to try quilting this design with our machines. Before we do, though, here’s a quick little video showing how I FMQ Kindergarten Stars and Loops.

Let’s make five point Kindergarten Stars!

Okay, now it’s your time to practice quilting Kindergarten Stars paired with Loops! This is fun, isn’t it?

#3 Hearts and Loops

Hearts will be our last design for today. So, how are you at making hearts? I have discovered that I can rarely make both sides of a heart exactly the same, so in my quilting (drawing and cutting, too), I intentionally make the sides of my hearts different. It lends a quirky funky look to my Hearts and Loops design, and that works just fine for me. LOL!

I have found that there are 2 basic ways to quilt hearts. Maybe you’ll come up with a different one and if you do, I hope you with share.

Anyway, the first way starts at the top center point and curves down and stops briefly at the bottom point before swooping back up and around to the center point once again. Remember, I’m a lefty so I usually move counterclockwise. Do what is comfortable for you.

The second way is one continuous line which might make it easier for you to FMQ hearts. It starts at the bottom point then curves up and around to the center point where you pause briefly before doing the second top bump and then swooping back down to the bottom point. This heart reminds me more of a heart shaped balloon – you’ll see this more when I quilt it.

So go ahead and practice your stars on your white board. Which style do you like better?

Now that I’ve mentioned both styles, I’m going to show and use the second style Heart design. I find that it can flow better with the loops than the first Heart style.

Now it’s your turn to practice drawing the Heart and Loop design on your white board. Repeat as many times as you want, experimenting with your Hearts.

Notice how I crossed the bottoms of the hearts in the design.

Let’s head back to our sewing machines and try FMQ Hearts and Loops. Here’s a quick video of how I do FMQ my Hearts and Loops.

Check out this cute little Hearts and Loops design!

Well, that’s it for me today. I hope you keep practicing your Loops and adding these fun elements to change up your designs. Next week I’ll have a few more Loop design variations to share with you. So stay tuned!

Take care!

Until then –

Sew. Laugh. FMQ. Repeat.

Always,

Tricia @ VRD

2025 Free Motion Quilting (FMQ) Series · Tips and Tricks · Tutorials · villa rosa designs

NEW February VRD Rose Card Quilt Patterns AND Beginner Free Motion Quilting (FMQ) Lesson 3: Practice, Practice Practice!

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Hello Quilty Friends!

Happy Thursday to you!

I hope all of you are weathering the winter so far. Here in NW Pennsylvania, Mother Nature is laughing at us this year and is giving us a good old-fashioned Pennsylvania winter with lots of ice and snow. We haven’t had this much snow or cold temperatures for something like 5 years. I guess Mother Nature wanted to remind us what Pennsylvania winters are really like. Sigh…..It’s been a long long winter and I am so looking forward to spring.

We have a lot to cover today, including NEW patterns and we’re going to continue with our Beginners Free Motion Quilting Series. Thank you for your patience while we celebrated Pat’s new fabric collection, Bedazzled!, here on the blog for the last couple weeks with 2 new quilt tutorials.

If you missed the tutorials, you can find them here:

Baby Zip Tease

2M Junior

Let’s jump right in. Of course, I’ll be wearing my winter boots, coat, mittens, hat, and a scarf. LOL!

New February Rose Card Quilt Patterns

Get the 5 pattern print collection HERE

What a great group of quilts, right? Barnum is Jelly Roll friendly. Miranda and Southern Peach are fat quarter friendly. Espresso features a horizontal panel, which is super because it’s hard to find horizontal panel quilt patterns. Facetime uses panel squares or a focal fabric.

We’ve got kits, too! (PSST! A new quilt project is a great way to beat the winter blues.)

Espresso in Coffee Chalk (the fabrics in the pattern cover quilt)

Barnum in Dandi Duo

Facetime in Noble Menagerie (the fabrics in the pattern cover quilt)

Southern Peach in Tim Holtz Palette Orange (the fabrics in the pattern cover quilt)

Southern Peach in Sweater Weather

Miranda in Tim Holtz Palette Red (the fabrics in the pattern cover quilt)

Here’s February’s new table runner pattern, Love Books. I have to admit I’ve been doing a lot of reading lately, so why not a table runner to reflect my bookish nerdiness?

Do you have an embroidery sewing machine? Why not embroider the titles of your favorite books or the books you read in 2025 on the runner? You can make this runner as long as you’d like to, just add more fabric.

Get the digital pattern HERE or the print pattern HERE

And here is our very last snack mat, Dear Heart. This makes me a bit sad because it’s been really fun creating a new snack mat for each month for an entire year, but at the same time, I’m excited about a couple new ideas, so stay tuned.

Get the digital pattern HERE or the print pattern HERE

So there you have it — fast and fun new patterns for everyone.

Now let’s get back to our Beginner FMQ series.

Beginner FMQ Series Lesson 3: Practice, Practice, Practice!

Today’s the day! We are finally going to do some actual free motion quilting. Yippee!

First, I’d like to suggest you do a little doodling to warm up before sitting down at your machine. Let’s practice some loops on our white boards. I wouldn’t doodle more than 10-15 minutes, though, this is just a warm up.

Next up, we’re going to put together a practice square.

I usually choose a light tonal or solid colored fat quarter and something from my ugly pile for the back fat quarter. And my usual 80/20 batting.

Next we’re going to go ahead and layer the 2 fat quarters with a piece of batting just like you would layer an actual quilt for machine quilting.

I’m a pinner, so I use curved safety pins, but you use whatever works best for you (pinning, spray basting, etc.). I like to use the size 2 (1.5″) or size 3 (2″) curved safety pins.

Go ahead and get your practice square ready, I’ll wait right here for you.

Did you know that cotton fabric will stick to cotton batting if you press it with your iron? Sometimes, I just press everything really good and I skip the pins.

Okay, now let’s practice!

Here are some important points to remember from the video:

  1. Don’t forget to put your presser foot down before you start quilting
  2. Pull the bottom thread up to the top before securing your stitching by stitching in place a couple of times
  3. Start in the middle of your quilt
  4. Use your hands as a frame around the needle — keep your fingers away from the needle, please
  5. Unless you are planning to pop a not into the batting to secure the stitching, cut the threads tails off so after you’ve secured them so they don’t get all tied up in your stitching
  6. Size your loops/quilting to your project
  7. Alternate your loops to the left and to the right
  8. Curve into and out of your loops for a more organic flow
  9. Don’t crowd your loops, give them room to breathe
  10. Quilt to an edge and then move around the quilt like you would a clock face
  11. Move at a comfortable pace, you are not racing the needle
  12. Aim for consistent regular stitches, not perfection
  13. Go for beauty, not perfection!
  14. Stop with your needle down in the quilt, then reposition your hands
  15. Remove the pins as you go, don’t sew over them

OOPS! I forgot to mention that for your practice squares, make sure to use a contrasting thread so you can see your quilting.

Here is the front and the back of my practice sample:

I’m quite pleased with how it turned out. I wish the thread hadn’t broken, but looking at it in the photo, you really don’t see it. See how the printed fabric on the back (my “ugly”) distracts your eye from the stitching. So, one of my best tips is to use a busy fabric on the back of your quilt to help distract the eye from your quilting, especially if you are still learning.

Do you have any questions right now about FMQ? If so, please post them in the comments section so I can respond.

Your mission, should you accept it, is to make more practice squares and practice. Practice, practice, practice makes better, not perfect. So get to it!

See you next week for our FMQ Lesson 4.

Take care and stay warm.

Sew. Laugh. Practice. Repeat.

Always,

Tricia @ VRD

2025 Free Motion Quilting (FMQ) Series · Tips and Tricks · Tutorials · villa rosa designs

Beginner Free Motion Quilting (FMQ) Lesson 2: Let’s Doodle!

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Hello Quilty Friends!

Happy Thursday to you!

I’m excited to continue on our Beginner Free Motion Quilting adventure! Put your seat belt on and get ready to ride!

I hope you had a chance to read last week’s post, which was a lot of information about things to know before you start. You can find Lesson 1 HERE.

Please note that I’m adding the FMQ series to the right side of the screen under the Blog Topic section so that it’s easy to find each lesson as they get posted.

Lesson 2 – Let’s Doodle!

All right! In Lesson 2, we’re going to DOODLE! Yep, that’s right! DOODLE!

Whenever I taught a Beginner FMQ class, I started out with doodling on a dry erase board. I actually bought a class set of boards which came with felt erasers and even markers, which was super for a class with 4-12 students.

Any kind of dry erase board works – you don’t have to buy a special classroom set (unless you plan to teach FMQ – LOL!). You can even find dry erase boards and dry erase markers at your local Dollar Tree store. So if you don’t already have one, they are easy to find and relatively inexpensive to purchase.

Just make sure you are using real dry erase markers (not sharpies!) on your board or else you won’t be able to erase it and use it over and over.

You might wonder why I’m starting off with doodling and not just jumping right into FMQ on the sewing machine.

Doodling gives you the opportunity to develop eye hand coordination and to build muscle memory. Believe it or not, but doodling really does help when you are starting out with FMQ. If you’ve practiced the movements on your board, they will come easier and more quickly when you are working with your sewing machine.

Besides, doodling is fun and relaxing. You can do it while watching TV, during the commercials, listening to your favorite audiobook, or even while waiting at the doctor’s office! AND you have the ability to erase your doodling whenever you want to. Yay!

Zigzags

Let’s start out with some fun zigzags. Zigzags will help us to feel comfortable moving across the board and going up and down at the same time. Like hills and valleys. V’s and W’s. Give it a try. Make sure to connect each shape/letter with the next one.

Curves and Waves

Let’s practice some gentle curves and waves on our boards just to get a feeling for the smooth movement. Don’t overthink this, just relax and glide across the board. If desired, you can even practice these motions in the air with your hands and arms. I’ve always been a big proponent of “air writing.”

ABC’s

Now let’s try some cursive writing! Believe it or not, but lowercase cursive letters are great practice for FMQ! Seriously! Make sure you are connecting the letters together. I find that the faster I write the alphabet in cursive, the better it looks. Don’t think about the shape of each letter – you already know it – just write it.

Go ahead and write your name in all lowercase cursive letters. You know you want to! Try some other words, too. Just remember to connect the letters together. Feel free to have some fun like I did with my name when I dotted my i’s and crossed my t.

Okay, now we’re going to focus on the cursive lowercase “E” (e) and the lowercase “L” (l). Just keep connecting them together.

After you are comfortable making e’s and l’s, I want you to try alternating the loops. This may be challenging for some of you, but keep doodling until you feel more comfortable with this. Doodle, doodle, doodle.

We definitely want to alternate the loops, or else we’ll get something like this. Yikes! The idea is to move across the board and fill in the white space, not to make clouds and weird flowers.

Once you’ve got alternating the loops reasonably down, we’re ready to add more movement to this design. This time we’re going to move our loops up, down, and across the board while alternating the loops (yep, all at the same time!) so we can fill up the white space.

Try not to overthink things here. Don’t stress yourself out if things aren’t perfect – we’re not going for perfection here. I find the faster I go, the better it looks. Remember, you can keep erasing it and trying again.

Loops!

Wohoo! Pat yourself on the back! You are making loops!

Loops are one of my favorite and best go-to designs. AND it’s the design I start out with when I teach FMQ! Go you!

I’ve found Loops to be more beginner friendly for most people. Being able to cross over your lines gives you a little more feeling of control. I have found, though, that perhaps 1 in 10 quilters have a hard time mastering loops – mainly the alternating of them – so those folks I encourage to move on to stippling/meandering.

Have you ever taken a beginner FMQ class where the teacher starts you out with stippling/meandering? I bet there are a lot of you who felt really frustrated because you couldn’t master the design and may have even quit trying to master FMQ after that class.

Well, I’m here to tell you that –

YES, YOU CAN MASTER FMQ!

So “let’s start at the very beginning, a very good place to start” (kudos if you can name the movie, the song, and the actress for this quote).

And the very beginning is making loops!

I hope you’ll spend a little time doodling this week because next week for Lesson 3, we are going to start working with our machines and our Loopy design. I’d love to see your doodles in the comments or on our VRD Facebook page.

Until next time –

Sew. Laugh. Doodle. Repeat.

Always,

Tricia @ VRD