Top 5 tools for free motion quilting

Do you want to quilt free-hand design on your home machine? Wonder what tools you need to do free motion quilting? You’re in the right place! In this post, I will share with you the 5 MUST-HAVE essentials tools for free motion quilting.

I love to free-motion quilt, and I have been loving teaching others to free-motion quilt too!

I would say these items have helped me so much and I would not be free motion quilting without them these days!

What do you need to do free motion quilting on a home sewing machine?

First on the list of tools to free motion quilt on your home machine is of course,

the right free-motion quilting foot.

Now, if you don’t own one yet and your machine didn’t come with one originally, this can be a little overwhelming as there are so many choices out there!

Choosing the right one that works best for you is essentially really important.

I talked about free motion quilting foot in detail in this post HERE, but if I were to recommend to you which one to choose as your first free motion quilting foot, I would recommend getting the open toe, plastic or metal, as this will help you see exactly where the needle drops into the fabric as you quilt.

Check out this set of three which has great reviews and is very affordable. Make sure you get the right shank height. If you are using a regular domestic sewing machine, it is usually a low shank. However, older models might use a high shank. If you are not sure what this means, please read about the shank in this post HERE>

Second, on the list, which is my favorite is

Free Motion Quilting Glove

Please try a glove, you would see the difference immediately. Especially if you are having trouble gripping the quilt sandwich or having trouble with jerky movements while free motion quilting.

I would not quilt a large quilt without this. These days, I can do without them for smaller pieces but still it is so much easier when I wear the glove than not.

Hence, I would say this is definitely one of the essential tools for free motion quilting beginners.

The glove doesn’t have to be the one specifically made for free motion quilting. It can be just a pair of regular garden gloves that is pretty like this.

I am currently using a glove that isn’t specifically made for free-motion quilting as my Machinger glove has worn out, but the one I am using now has lots of rubber dots on them that makes it work the same way.

Basically, the glove creates friction between your smooth hand and the quilt. The rubber dots on the glove stick better to the quilt surface making it easier for you to move the quilt around without slipping.

Hence, once the movement is smooth, your quilting stitches will also be so much better and less frustrating.

Third on the list,

the Teflon sheet, Supreme Slider

Opposite to the glove, the slippery smooth Teflon Sheet Supreme Slider is to reduce friction. In order to make a smooth stitching motion, we want the quilt sandwich to be more sticky to our hands, but less sticky to the machine.

By putting a Supreme Slider on our machine, the quilt sandwich now will have less friction and can be moved smoothly as we shift the quilt sandwich around.

Next on the list of tools for free motion quilting is,

The right thread

I started learning about free motion quilting when I was on such a tight budget. I use the cheapest thread I could find and started practicing with that.

Little did I know that the quality of the thread was the reason that my thread keeps breaking every few minutes. I thought it was my bad skills at that time. I continued with the thread until one day, I learned that thread does matter.

You see, as we free-motion quilt, the thread will go through a lot friction with the needle and will be tugged a little as we make turns and shifts to make those beautiful (or not yet so beautiful) designs on our quilt.

Hence, the right thread, a good quality one, will be more durable and make sure your quilting gets done without so much of frustrating breaks due to the thread cutting off.

After trying a few brands, I stick to only two these days: Superior Thread and Aurifil.

Last on the list is

the Bobbin Washer

This tiny thing can help so much for some of us. Especially when your machine seems to have tension issues sometimes. The bobbin washer is a little ring of Teflon sheet that makes the bobbin glide smoothly as we tug the thread around when we do free motion quilting.

It may be tiny, but may just be the right solution and makes your stitches look better overall.

So if you’ve never heard about it, it is about time to check them out.

Read some of the reviews too, many love this tiny little helper.

Free Motion Quilting Course

And as the last bonus essential (well not exactly an item) is a good step-by-step guide. A good guide is a great company to free motion quilting beginners. There are many free resources out there, but if you want quick and the right flow to learn free motion quilting with your regular sewing machine, I would love to recommend you to join our FREE MOTION QUILTING BOOTCAMP.

In Free Motion Quilting Bootcamp, there are free motion quilting videos, printable quilting templates and lots of tips to ensure you will be on your way to great success with free motion quilting. I will also cheer you on and motivate you to keep on working on your skill in those lessons, so come check it out.

Start with a simple quilting design and learn the way to conquer any free motion quilting design in a way that is not overwhelming through an easy step-by-step process.

Don’t forget to join our FREE E-CLASS too! Should you want to try it first before joining Bootcamp, it’s FREE! or you can join both!