Arts & Crafts

Free-Motion Quilting: Finish a Lap Quilt on Your Home Machine

Meets Saturdays · 10:00 AM - 1:00 PM · on Zoom Fall 2026 · registration open Free to audit

This class runs in the Fall 2026 session. Registration is open now; lessons, materials, and the class discussion board are posted before it begins.

Over six Saturdays you'll take a lap-sized quilt from a stack of fabric to a finished, bound piece you can put on a couch, all on a regular home machine. No longarm required. We start by piecing a simple top, then move into the part most people are nervous about: free-motion quilting, where you drop the feed dogs, put on a darning foot, and steer the fabric yourself. You'll make a pile of practice sandwiches out of ugly scraps before you ever touch your real quilt, so the mistakes happen where they don't matter. We'll work through pin basting, taming your machine's tension, and building up from wobbly stippling to smooth swirls and a feather or two. Free-motion is about moving the fabric at a steady speed instead of chasing the needle, and we spend real time getting that rhythm into your hands. You'll leave with a finished lap quilt, a squared-up binding, and the confidence to start the next one. Finished beats perfect, and I mean that.

What you'll learn

Set up a home machine for free-motion work with a darning foot and dropped feed dogs
Piece, press, and square up a simple block into a lap-sized top
Layer and pin baste a quilt sandwich that won't shift while you work
Free-motion quilt stippling, swirls, loops, and a basic feather at a steady rhythm
Diagnose and fix thread tension, then square up, bind, and finish the quilt

Lessons

Getting Set Up (and Honest About Your Machine)
We look at what your home machine can actually do and get the boring-but-crucial setup right before anyone sews a stitch.
Piecing the Lap Top
We build a simple lap-sized top with blocks that look good without fighting you.
Building the Sandwich
Batting, backing, and the pin basting method I stand behind even though it's the unpopular one.
Free-Motion Fundamentals
The part everyone's nervous about, broken down into steady hands and steady speed instead of magic.
Filler Designs That Actually Fill
Stippling, loops, and a first pass at feathers, with plenty of room to be bad at it first.
Finishing the Quilt
Trimming, binding, and getting this thing off the machine and onto a bed.

Class discussion

The class discussion board opens when the class begins this fall. Auditors and enrolled students ask questions and share work here once the session starts.