Free Motion Friday : The Kick Off

I posted several days ago my first (sad) attempt at free motion quilting.  This has been on my to-learn list for a long time, but I just have not had the nudge to get started or an instructor to teach me.  Lucky enough I had a very quick lesson at my guild meeting to give me the basics.  It's now up to me to learn on my own.  Practice, practice, practice.  But some times I am not really great at trying (and failing?) at something new when I can go back to the old tried and true skills.  It's easier if I have other folks to ask questions or to chatter with.

Enter my nudgers....Nicky, Emily, Annabella, Sarah and Natalie.  These ladies are willing to practice with me, so I figured we would open it up for everyone to join in.  We'll call it Free Motion Friday!

The idea is this:

• Each Friday I will post a new FMQ instructional video and an example photo.
• You have a week to go off and practice that particular pattern if you're so inclined. 
• On the next Friday, post photos on your blog (with a link to Free Motion Friday) and come back to Fluffy Sheep Quilting and join in the linky and post a link to your photos of FMQ practice.  You can also see my attempt at that week's project. (Please don't laugh at me....I'm learning too!)
• If you are interested, visit 2-3 sites in that week's linky.  It's all about encouragement, ladies.  Be sure your fellow liny-partiers are getting the support they need and their questions answered.
• Come and go as you please. If you don't like a design, don't join in that week.  You have no obligation.
• There will not be a flickr group.  It's too much for me lately to keep track of all of the groups, comment on posts or in threads, etc.  Just visit what ever blog you'd like and comment as you see fit.

To give credit where credit is due, we'll be using a lot of direction and material from The Free Motion Quilting Project. 



Leah includes TONS of basic information, videos and links to use as you get started on her Start Here page, so check it out.  The video above briefly gives instructions on setting up your machine and quilting space. 

We're going to start at the super basics and learn from there, so how about this for week 1:


And a great instructional video to boot:



To see a full description on Free Motion Quilting waves, you can visit the Free Motion Quilting page here. 

Now, get stitching this week and post your photos on Friday (the 7 October).  Don't forget to come on back for a linky meet up.  Good luck!