Years ago (quite a LOT of years, if I’m honest) I was a teenager on the cusp of a driver’s license and SO excited about it!

In my family, my dad was the driving teacher, and he was also an uber-practical farmer who didn’t want to waste time. So, he figured, the most efficient way was to learn on a stick shift right from the beginning, and then I could drive anything.

Right???

Wellllll, it sounded good. But when the rubber met the road in our Plymouth Volare, it did not work out well at all.

You see, I was 16 years old and had never driven a single motorized vehicle in my life. Not even the riding lawn mower. 

I had 4 older brothers, after all, and they always wanted to do the driving. Little sis never got to the front of that particular line 😂

So when I got behind the wheel there was a LOT to think about.

The actual steering wheel.

Clearly the gas pedal.

And the brake.

And the CLUTCH!!

And the gear shift.

Don’t forget the signal lights…the shoulder checking….

Hopefully by now I have your complete sympathy! I was entirely overwhelmed when I tried to do all these (very essential) things at once.

The result was – I did NONE of them well.

No matter how many driving sessions we had – and there were months of them – I simply could not coordinate all those actions and reactions and decisions. We had more stalls and near misses! Yikes.

My dad, bless his heart, couldn’t really see another way to approach it. I get it, that was how HE learned to drive back in the 40s. There just weren’t so many people on the highways then.

So we kind of petered out on our driving sessions. They got fewer and fewer and time went by. A couple of years went by, and it looked like I might embark on adulthood without any driver’s license at all.

Begin at the Beginning

This story DOES have a happy ending, though.

One of the aforementioned brothers saw the dilemma, and intervened. 

He was able to relate to my frustration, and took a different tack. The family had acquired a full-size van by this time (not the most agile vehicle in the world, but at least an automatic gear shift) and he began at the beginning.

Country roads to figure out the gas and brake and steering.

Small towns to navigate the signal lights and shoulder checking.

Gradually we built up to multiple lanes, and more traffic, and so on.

And even, at last, adding the stick shift back in. Yep, quite proud to say I’m bilingual that way. 

EPILOGUE: After enjoying my learner’s permit for 3 years, my driving test was scheduled in an unfamiliar town, and wouldn’t you know, they routed me around a traffic circle. Wait, what?? That wasn’t part of driving lessons!

Machine Quilting Can Be Overwhelming

Machine quilting can feel exactly the same overwhelming way I felt in that first car.

So many things to think about!

Design and thread choice.

The mechanics of basting or loading.

Tension and stitch quality.

And when you finally get to stitching, you have to consider the speed…keeping it pretty…moving around the quilt top without getting stuck in a corner.

How in the world does one DO all that at once?

My answer is the same as my brother’s – master one bite-size skill at a time. 

Start with basic shapes

…develop more skills

…add more complexity

…and more practice

…and you WILL improve.

My Free Motion Quilting Masterclass takes exactly that approach. Beginning with foundational shapes. Moving on to solid practice methods to increase machine control. And then opening up the world to dozens of creative designs and ideas.

So who’s the FQM for? It’s for the quilter who wants to finish every stitch of their own projects.

It’s for the quilter who wants to learn a broad range of designs, and bring their own personality into their machine quilting.

It’s even for the quilter who’s used a computer-driven quilting system, but wants to learn that elusive “free motion” quilting.

Here’s a super quick recap of the what you’ll find inside the course:

• 25+ freehand designs, geared toward edge-to-edge or all-over quilting, but with tips for using them in custom applications
• all the designs stitched out for you on a longarm (on a frame) AND on a domestic sewing machine
• a clear understanding of the parts that make up a great repeatable freehand design
• the ability to edit/change/scale any design motif, for endless variations
• a roadmap for design decisions, clearing away confusion and overwhelm
• methods for deliberate and systematic practice, to master the shapes that are the foundation of free motion quilting
• a wealth of practical tools and tips for your studio

If you know me at all, you know I’m not making a shiny sales pitch here. I truly want to help you find joy, and fulfillment, and accomplishment in your quilting journey.

If this is the right journey for you, won’t you join me in the Freehand Quilting Masterclass? Join the waitlist here.