"Free Motion Madness" Taught by Diane Loomis

If you have never heard of Diane Loomis, I can't recommend finding out about her work enough...and, click to look at her stuff up close. You will be amazed. In her showpiece quilts, some of the free motion designs are pea-sized circles. And they are all perfect circles. I mean OMG!!

Diane Loomis tracing a stencil with fabric marker to demonstrate
doing so without a pounce/chalk option. She explained that we could
use all or only a part of the design. Sorry about the bad lighting Diane!

Diane taught a class at Wayside Sewing. Day 1, we arrived on a Friday night at 6 pm and worked until 10 pm. The bulk of the time was spent on "learning" the basics. The class participants ranged from total novices to old pros. I fell somewhere in the middle skill-wise. Much of the beginning material she covered was pretty standard quilting stuff. But, the details are what set her quilting apart from the typical. She uses wool batting (to keep it poofy), silk 100 weight thread, size 70 sharp needle, and silk-sateen fabric. 

Cathy from the class showing how we
learned to free-motion grid line. Look
ma, no walking foot!

These changes in materials mean that you need to spend a lot of time getting the tension just right and the technique just right. Using only a size 70 needle means you have to really time your hands and material perfectly during free motion or 'plink'...broken needle. I broke 2 before I got in a good timing. The real meat of the class was on Day 2, running from 10 am to 3 pm. In that time, we had to finish our practice piece from Day 1 (or as much as we wanted) and get our 'official' one sandwiched. But, before you sandwich the quilt, you have to mark the top. I just learned this. See, I've never marked a quilt top. I had not idea you could use a stencil and then free motion it. 


So, on my 'official' piece, I choose copper silk sateen with a star that swirled into flowers. The outer area would be a grid.  I used the pouncing method to transfer the designs. Then, pin-basted with teeny, tiny #1 brass pins. I mean tiny.  This was and is my most hated task in quilting. I don't like those little pins. I don't think that you could use the Quiltack either, as the pointy-inserty thingy is probably too large in diameter and the fabric would never recover with the silk blend. 


The real kicker is that this is whole cloth. No piecing. No patterns. No nothing. The entire design is based on what you sew and the difference in density (aka poofiness) between the stitched elements. So, Loomis intensively sews every element. Her method involves sewing over all the marked elements, then echo stitching around each of those. Then, intensively free motion in the unmarked field to get the main design to really pop. She uses a variety of free motion designs within the field to keep the design fresh. Many demos and attempts later, most of the class had a start on the project piece. 


I really enjoyed the class and Loomis as the teacher. I'm not sure that I'll ever complete more than the project piece, but absolutely see how I can apply the method and techniques at a smaller scale. I also loved having like-minded folks in the room asking smart questions that I never thought of. Loomis' teaching presently is focused on the New England area, so look for a class by her if you get the chance.


2/2/12 UPDATE. Added photos from the class.