The Joy of Quilting with Your Long-Arm Machine
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KathyQuilts.com
Drawing with pen and paper
Quilting with the Block Rockit is very similar to drawing.
Sketching and doodling on paper will help develop your
continuous and flowing muscle memory used for creating
designs. The next time your doctor’s office puts you on hold,
you’re waiting in the car for your kids to get out of school, or
you have a free moment at home, practice sketching some
designs you’d like to try quilting.
Quilting Cookbook
Brainstorming and preparing quilting patterns for future use will give
you a good reference tool if you ever don’t know what to quilt. And if
you’re thinking, “don’t worry, I won’t run out of ideas,” just remember, it
can happen to the best of us. Just like those days when dinner time rolls
around and you find yourself eating a bowl of cereal because nothing in
your fridge jumped out at you, there will be times when you may find yourself
staring at your quilt not sure where to get started. So think of this exercise as
creating your personalized “Quilting Cookbook.”
To create your Cookbook, draw a design on individual pieces of paper. As you see
new designs you like (as discussed earlier), you can add them to your Cookbook. Try
to make as many as you can so you’re always ready with fun ideas. This will give you
more variety to choose from when you come upon a project that you just can’t figure
out how to quilt.
Stay Educated
We encourage you to join discussion groups online that not only help you understand
your frame, machine, thread, or tension, but also groups that talk about quilting
designs and ideas. This can be a great resource to learn different perspectives. There
are also many blogs, books, magazines, and classes that can help teach you the art of
beautiful quilting. Always continue to apply and practice as you learn new techniques
