The Featured Writer of September: Kim Mastromartino
Kim shares her love of free motion quilting and how she has developed a cost effective way to practice!
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I love the look of free motion quilting! When I first started quilting I always wondered how someone could think about how the lines go together to create such beautiful patterns. They all looked so complex to me. I also wondered how anyone could draw like that with a sewing machine.
So I set off to learn how to free motion quilt and how to learn patterns. I became interested in Zentangle and became a Certified Zentangle Teacher. This experience changed everything in how I approached line design as well as my free motion quilting. I no longer felt stressed, was able to relax my shoulders and experienced a whole new way to be creative with lines.
Zentangle Inspired Art has become the basis of all my free motion quilting and I have discovered it can help others as well! If you are interested, take a look at some freebies and workshops here: https://kim-mastromartino-s-school.teachable.com/?preview=logged_out
I still found it difficult to learn the pattern and control my hands and feet all at the same time. It was a little like ice skating for the very first time-trying to go forward while remaining vertical all at the same time. Not to mention the amount of material and batting I was using and then discarding into a pile as my “practice” pieces. In Zentangle there is a saying…Anything is Possible, one stroke at a time…
I thought there must be a better way to practice free motion quilting. I looked in all the quilt shops and online. I found thousands of quilt tools- but nothing to support free motion quilting practice.
So I took the saying…anything is possible one stroke at a time…and created a quilting tool to support free motion quilting practice- the Line Designer. Now, with the Line Designer, I can practice and relax at the same time. No need to get it right the first time. No more wasting valuable fabric. I just write on and wipe off. You can see how it works here: https://youtu.be/jjC4dhZGfi0
The Line Designer is currently included in the Free Motion Quilting Fall Course that opens September 20. https://kim-mastromartino-s-school.teachable.com/p/mini-modern-quilts-pattern
Learn more about Zentangle and Free Motion Quilting or contact me here… www.schooloflinedesign.com
Free Motion does take practice, but there are ways to ensure better success when you go to the sewing machine. I have found my 3 steps process works wonders:
Get the Pattern in your head - use a whiteboard
Get the Pattern in your arms - use the Line Designer
Get the Pattern in your feet - go to the machine with a practice piece first to get the right speed
Create with Joy,
Kim Mastromartino
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