So you’ve decided you’re going to try it out. 

This whole free motion quilting thing. 

And if you’re here it means you don’t want to go in unprepared. You’re determined to get this as right as possible the first time. 

And why not? With all of the free information out there on the internet, why make all the same mistakes everyone else is already writing about? 

Having a few tricks up your sleeve before you start will help ensure your first (or next) free motion quilting adventure ends up a positive one that you are proud to show off. 

Today I’ve got 5 of my favorite ways to hack better free motion quilting by transferring quilting designs onto your quilt top before you ever start stitching.

Is free motion quilting difficult?

Free motion quilting has a bad reputation for being “difficult” for a couple different reasons:

There is a small element of drawing that makes quilters believe they need to be artists to be good a free motion quilting.

Free motion quilting often feels like you are drawing on a quilt. Most people believe that drawing = art which isn’t necessarily the case. 

In this case there is no color, no shadowing, and nothing realistic you are trying to recreate. 

The drawing aspect of free motion quilting is equivalent to being able to draw a stick figure. If you can draw a stick figure, or write your name, you can free motion quilt. 

The misconception usually arises when you watch a video of a professional on a longarm. They’ve been quilting for a long time, so they are very familiar with the motion of the quilting designs they use.

But also, on a long arm, you can see where you are in the context of the rest of the quilting and the quilt itself and when you are very comfortable with the design, you don’t have to mark as much because you can see exactly where you are at all times. 

Free motion quilting often feels difficult quilters believe they have to be able to create this design the same way on a domestic sewing machine where they often can’t see beyond a 4 inch square. 

This means they are flying blind and guessing where the design needs to sit on the quilt. Sure you can get a good starting point no problem, but when you can’t see beyond the 4 inches immediately surrounding your sewing needle, you’ll almost always end up quilting designs that are not symmetric and end up tilted or wonky in some way.

No matter your skill level, when you are quilting on a domestic machine, your best bet is to mark out as much as possible and transfer quilting designs before ever starting.

Why guess when you can know ahead of time that your lines will be straight and your designs symmetric and even. 

Then all you have to do is stitch it. 

Using tools to tell you where to go without having to guess is a simple change that immediately changes the quality of your machine quilting. 

Free motion quilting can feel tedious when you are on a domestic machine because of the bulk of the fabric. 

More quilt = more fabric.

And if you are working on a standard sewing machine, your throat size is roughly 4×5 inches wide and long. 

When you are trying to get to the center of a king size quilt and half of it needs to be inside the throat, you’re going to quickly run out of space to actually move the quilt to make the design. The quality of the quilting is much harder to maintain simply because it’s a lot of fabric to force through a small opening. 

Is it impossible? Of course not with the right amount of perseverance, but it’s a factor you should be aware of before going in. I personally don’t even have the attention span to piece a quilt that large let alone try to machine quilt one.

I know that any larger than a throw size quilt and I start to get frustrated with the quilting. It takes too long and I have to work much harder to achieve the same machine quilting looks. So instead, I don’t. I stick to the project size I know I can enjoyably make and complete without getting too frustrated with tedium.

Many times frustration with free motion quilting is related to the size of the project just as much as it is the actual stitching.

When working on a home machine, knowing your personal limitations and preferences will help you choose which projects you really want to take on.

That way you don’t end up with half finished projects because you can’t stomach the thought of wrestling it any more. 

Work up to larger size quilts so you can understand what you preferences and limitations are without growing your WIP any larger than necessary.

What about stitch length?

Here’s my personal thought on stitch length (without a stitch regulator) when it comes to free motion quilting:

People will notice a wonky shape or line before they ever notice irregularities in your stitch length. 

Consistent stitch length will come with time and practice, if you have your designs marked out nicely and you can follow the line with your sewing machine reliably, then you’ll already be making huge strides toward better quality free motion quilting. 

Over time when you are comfortable following a marked design, you’ll naturally learn how to navigate those designs in a “slow and steady wins the race” style that will help you achieve a more consistent stitch length.

I don’t personally pay a huge amount of attention to my stitch length. As long as I’m in the ballpark of a 3-4 stitch length, I’m happy. 

If I have sections with significantly smaller stitch lengths I find that it’s not worth my time to rip out. I know that I’ll likely have a hard time finding it again once the quilt is finished, and if I have to actively look for it, chances are no one else will ever notice it. 

A little over or a little under will hardly be noticeable in the grand scheme of the entire quilt. 

The bulk of your time is better spent marking out your designs, not stressing over stitch length. 

It’s more important to nail the basics first.

So how do we get these perfect designs without two decades of practice? 

5 Ways to Transfer Quilting Designs to Your Quilt

Mark your designs using an air soluble pen

The most simple: mark it out yourself! 

When you transfer quilting designs that are simpler, straight lines especially, sometimes the easiest option is to grab your hera marker and a quilting ruler and mark them out by hand!

I used to recommend using a quilting guide bar when doing straight lines to help keep your lines perfectly spaced from each other, but I started to find that the minute that one line starts to bend, they all do it. 

And you’ll be at the end of the quilt before you realize it. 

Taking a half hour to mark out the lines before quilting them will help keep you spaced consistently while also keeping your lines independent of each other. If one bends slightly it won’t be noticeable, if they all bend, you’ll notice it much more easily. 

Transfer quilting designs using freezer paper templates

If you like creating your own designs, or found something on the internet you want to recreate or resize, freezer paper templates are a super easy DIY option. 

While you can use this method to create a custom design all your own, this method can also be used to transfer quilting designs you printed off the computer. 

For a printed design, use a light box or hold the paper up to a window, trace the design onto the freezer paper. 

Next step is to grab your seam ripper or stiletto and using the pointed end, poke holes in the paper perforating the line of the design as you go. The holes should be far enough apart that you aren’t punching out small sections if the line overlaps. 

Once you’ve gotten the template made, you can lay it down on the quilt and gently brush over it with your pounce pad. 

The chalk of the pounce pad will be left on the quilt where the holes of the design are leaving you a dotted chalk line to follow with your machine! 

It’s best to only transfer a small amount at a time if you are using a pounce pad as the chalk can wipe off fairly easily when you are pushing it through the machine. 

Foundation paper piecing paper 

Foundation paper piecing is a great technique to use for complicated quilt block piecing that is fantastic for high consistency.

If you’ve never seen foundation paper piecing before, you can check out my tutorial here.

For the machine quilter though, the same paper you use for foundation paper piecing can be used for machine quilting as well if you don’t want to go through the time and effort of punching out all those little holes in the freezer paper. 

Foundation paper piecing paper is specialty paper that is thinner than typical computer paper. Think more along the lines of newspaper paper. 

It’s designed specifically for your sewing machine to punch right through without damaging the machine, all while perforating the paper for you so you can just rip it away from the stitches later. 

And to top it off, it fits in a standard printer. 

If you have a design you created on the computer you can print it out on the foundation paper, position it on your quilt, secure it using safety pins, and just sew over the top of the paper, no hole punching needed. 

When you’re done just gently bend the paper at the stitches to break apart the perforation and toss away!

The downside to this method is that the templates are one time use only, but the paper does come in larger reams so you have plenty of pages to be able to print off what you need to get the job done. 

I wasn’t able to find this type of paper in the craft stores around me, so if you’re looking for it, you can find paper piecing paper pretty easily on Amazon. 

Transfer quilting designs using pre-made quilting paper

These are a rather fun alternative that I came across recently. Quilting papers with the designs already printed on them. 

There are companies out there that sell pads of paper with the quilting designs already printed on them! 

Most of the ones I’ve found are specific to pantographs instead of custom quilting designs, but I’ve been on a pantograph kick lately and these are so convenient I had to include them. 

You can skip the step of printing them out yourself, just shop for the design you like, secure the paper to the quilt using safety pins, and stitch on top of them just like the foundation paper piecing paper. 

These are super convenient as they allow you skip a step but then you are potentially limited by the designs that you can find. 

Many of these companies have hundreds of different designs to choose from though so the options are certainly wide enough that if you can’t find exactly what you are looking for, you are basically guaranteed to find a close alternative. 

The options range from basic and geometric pantographs to very niche themed pantographs like pencils, snowflakes, or even words. 

If you like to browse through options like I do, you’ll find yourself spending hours looking at all the different designs there are out there. 

Quilting Stencils

The last option that I have for you is likely the most reliable option on the list. 

Traditional quilting stencils.

Traditional stencils have one major upside that the rest of the options lack.

You can’t see through paper making lining up your design a more annoying process than it should be.

Whether you are trying to line a feather up just right in the center of your sashing, or you are trying to evenly space your pantograph rows, when you can’t see the previous line of stitching, there will always be a small element of guessing. 

The last thing you want is for your feather to be tilted on one side or your pantograph rows closer than you intended. 

Quilting stencils are premade plastic stencils that are typically see-through so you can perfectly line up your quilting design with the seams and previously quilted lines of your quilt quickly and easily. 

They also have one of the wider ranges of marking tools that they are compatible with. Use a pounce pad or an air soluble pen to mark out the design, whatever you have on hand or prefer more. 

Quilting stencils are one of our specialties where we focus on pantographs that you can stitch on your home sewing machine. No computerized quilting machine or even a long arm required. 

Interested in trying one out? You can grab one for FREE by signing up here!

Either way, no matter which way you decide to mark out your designs, if you want professional looking quilting as a beginner using your basic home sewing machine, marking ahead of time is  the secret that no one is telling you. 

Try one of these techniques out on your next quilt and let me know how it goes!