This photo is not good – few years ago I didn’t make any photo shoots for social media I cropped the photo to cover the mess on the table hahaha

A bag that I sewed a few years ago for the swap with friends who sew patchwork is not too complicated. The swap concerned a shopping bag, so the main issue was the size: D Why am I showing such an old thing? Well, because I hear from time to time that quilting is difficult. People don’t start free motion quilting because they are just convinced that they can’t do it and will just spoil a carefully sewn item with imperfect quilting or, after unsuccessful attempts, they get discouraged. The quilting you see on this bag is the stitch that the machine has: D A is a great option if you want to do the job yourself from start to finish. I also quilted the heart with a simple straight stitch foot. The whole thing looks very nice and I think that decorative stitches in the machine are often underestimated by people sewing patchwork.

Every bag I sew with a pocket or two  for a phone, wallet and a ribbon with a key hook.

And of course, from the momentum, I sewed 3 more panels of 2 1/2 inch strips.

This is another great idea for practicing free motion quilting. Do you remember when we painted patterns in kindergarten or elementary school? Now I don’t know how it is, but when I was a child I used to paint in the first grade of elementary school. Such homework for first graders in my time. As you can see in the pictures below, I quilted with one pattern, but who forbids decorating each strip differently? It’s all about training your hands. And since I’m one of those people who don’t like to waste even practicing sandwiches – they can be used to sew a bag on shopping or other useful items such as baskets-containers or zipper pouches. Thus, there will be two birds with one stone,right?   (the blue one went somewhere in the world – I don’t remember where and to whom …)

 2 1/2 strips panels

 And below you can see how I used the same „pattern” when I quilted a piece of fabric in a zigzag pattern. I quilted on the longarm where you are sitting, which is the same technique as using a home machine. Longarm Handi Quilter Capri – 18 inchesWEBSIDE HERE

I hope that this post will be useful for you and will become an inspiration and overcome the reluctance or fear of quilting in free motion quilting. Good luck and I keep my fingers crossed for your progress! Remember – practice makes perfect! (Meanwhile, I’m going to the machine to finish what I started 4 years ago …because the swap was in April 2018: D: D Stay warm and thank you very much for visiting my blog. It will be nice if you leave a comment. – Margaret