Free Motion Quilting Holiday Gift Guide
The holidays are a perfect opportunity to ask for a little help stocking up your free motion quilting notions and classes. Here are my best recommendations about what to request in your stocking, under the tree, and virtually so that you’ll be ready to become an FMQ Rockstar in the new year!
(This post contains affiliate links)
Are you making a list and checking it twice, Rockstar? I’m here to make sure your holiday list is chock full of free motion quilting must haves. Because, let’s face it, the new year is a perfect opportunity to start on a brand new journey of learning FMQ!
And, if you’re reading this in the “real time” of 2020, many of us are heading back into either enforced or self-imposed stay at home as COVID-19 numbers rise. The Free Motion Quilting Academy is coming back in January 2021, and I want to make sure you have alllll the deets to ask for your supplies and tuition money as gifts! How fun is that?
Below, I will include affiliate links to a lot of these products. If you have a local shop where you can buy these items, please shop there to support small and local business!
I’m going to organize my recommendations below by size (Stocking Stuffer, Under the Tree, and Digital Gift). Items marked with an asterisk (*) are must haves for successful free motion quilting.
Stocking Stuffers
(click the item name for the Amazon affiliate link)
For most machines, this is going to be a basic hopping foot that allows you to move the quilt sandwich any direction and control the stitch length by how you move your quilt.
Invest in the good stuff, boo! This super fine, super strong, fabulously sleek high quality cotton that is perfect for both piecing and machine quilting. My favorite color is Dove Gray: 2600.
Keep dirt and oils (and chocolate smears… just me?) from your hands off your quilt and reduce the strain on your hands, elbows, and shoulders by adding a little extra grip with a good pair of quilting gloves.
This little plastic tool is an easy way to make simple marks on a quilt with just a crease. My other favorite marking tools include a chalk pencil or ceramic pencil for dark fabrics and a simple number 2 pencil for light fabrics.
If you’re learning ruler work and invest in just one ruler: get Natalia Bonner’s 4-n-1! It has a straight edge, three different curves, and is a perfect “fit under your hand” size.
A ruler foot is a complete metal circle with 1/4 inch “walls” to rest the ruler against. This foot can also be used for FMQ. This foot should be available through your dealer for most brand name machines, but it can be harder to find a foot for smaller “off the shelf” machines.
The Glide Foot looks like a big clear spoon, and is fabulous if you free motion quilt projects with a lot of seams. It’s designed to slide over the bulk of seams without catching and skipping.
Towa Bobbin Case Tension Gauge
Do you work on an industrial style machine? With a TOWA gauge, you can always make sure your bobbin case tension is just right! (note: they come in L and M style, so make sure you know what kind of bobbin you have)
Under the Tree
Looking for a sturdy straight stitch machine with a large throat space at an affordable price? This Juki is it! I don’t personally own this machine, but I’ve tried it out and have a bunch of friends and students who LOVE it. It’s a perfect “upgrade” machine that won’t break the bank!
Ready for something big, bold, and powerful? I sew on the Juki J150 QVP, and I’m in love! This straight stitch industrial machine is ready for even the biggest, bulkiest quilts! This is an investment machine, but I am so glad I splurged on mine! (read my full review here)
Bright, clear light is crucial for seeing your stitches and maintaining healthy posture. If I had to choose just one light for my workspace, the Slimline would be it!
Piping hot, portable, and cute as a button in four fun colors, the Oliso Mini Project Iron is the perfect addition to your sewing room and future travel bag!
Digital Gifts
Intro to Free Motion Quilting
This mini-course is the perfect starting place to learn FMQ for the first time. Whether you just want to learn some basics or you are aspiring to join the FMQ Academy, I’m going to hold your hand as you navigate you face your FMQ anxiety and experience your first “wins.” Inside this 2.5 hour, on demand workshop you’ll learn: the supplies you need to FMQ, how to prep your practice sandwich and machine, and how to doodle and stitch your first three motifs. This mini course will build your confidence, you can watch it over and over at your leisure, and folks who purchase before January 2021 Academy enrollment will receive a $20 coupon code toward Academy tuition.
Free Motion Quilting Academy*
This is “the big course” to guide you from being a nervous beginner FMQ-er to becoming a confident, intermediate, free motion quilting Rockstar in just 12 weeks! We start at the very beginning— supplies, basting, etc— with bite size lessons that progress over 7 modules. Pro tip: Ask for tuition money for Christmas! Read all the details and get on the waiting list here:
String & Story Quilting Patterns
Looking for your next project? Check out a variety of modern traditional digital quilt patterns (Lanterns of Hope & Dogwood Blossoms are my most popular!)
Make Modern Magazine Subscription
Make Modern is a modern digital quilting magazine written by quilters for quilters. Every other month, enjoy a rich publication of articles, patterns, and my favorite feature: Quilt Like a Rockstar! (spoiler: I write Quilt Like a Rockstar, so I’m totally biased!)
Closing Thoughts
Thank you so much for reading my 2020 Free Motion Quilting Holiday Gift Guide! I hope that these suggestions will help you write your perfect FMQ themed wishlist this season. I’m especially looking forward to having you in my classes— whether your starting with Intro now, waiting for the Free Motion Quilting Academy, or both!
