-
Sheena Roberts wrote a new post, I know it's a pest, but you really should label your quilt photos! (with apologies for so few pretty pictures to look at in this one!) 7 years, 9 months ago
Here’s a picture of a quilt – I think it is pretty awesome. But what do we know about it? Not an awful lot! If we do a “Right Click” and “Save” we MAY find some of the information that gets hidden in the…

-
Sheena Roberts posted a new activity comment 7 years, 11 months ago
Thanks
-
Sheena Roberts posted a new activity comment 7 years, 11 months ago
Thanks.
-
Sheena Roberts posted a new activity comment 7 years, 11 months ago
Thanks for such a considered response – I do appreciate it. It is not possible to cover everytBut hing that we might wish to, so sometimes it the right thing to make a bold statement (eg the Frixion pens) and let people who need to know the why ask that question. With regard to the feed dogs – what a good point! As having the feed dogs up is a…[Read more]
-
Sheena Roberts posted a new activity comment 7 years, 11 months ago
So glad you found it useful.
-
Sheena Roberts posted a new activity comment 7 years, 11 months ago
The spiral is great fun – bit of a challenge when it is small, but gets easier as you travel out!
-
Sheena Roberts posted a new activity comment 7 years, 11 months ago
There are some fantastic books out there these days, aren’t there? Enjoy your explorations!
-
Sheena Roberts posted a new activity comment 7 years, 11 months ago
Absolutely – the walking foot is used with the feed dogs up – i.e. their position for normal sewing. So if you don’t have the facility to drop the feed dogs, or don’t want to cover them, you can create some gorgeous quilting designs. If your machine doesn’t have a walking foot that fits, just use your standard foot, but be sure you baste well to…[Read more]
-
Sheena Roberts posted a new activity comment 7 years, 11 months ago
Glad you found it helpful.
-
Sheena Roberts posted a new activity comment 7 years, 11 months ago
Fab ideas, Vendulka – I really must get more inventive with my quilting!
-
Sheena Roberts posted a new activity comment 7 years, 11 months ago
Thanks for taking the time to comment. I also really appreciate good FMQ, and am in awe of all those wonderful patterns that can be created, but for me it’s always about the spaces in between (cue Leonard Cohen singing about the gaps and that’s where the light gets in!). I am passionate about the creative opportunities that come from playing…[Read more]
-
-
Sheena Roberts wrote a new post, The Cinderella of Quilting – quilting with the feed dogs up 7 years, 11 months ago
In March I had the huge privilege of running a day on free motion quilting. This is one of my special Saturday courses that I run to help quilters develop their skills. Fun is high on the list of content for the day,…

-
Thank you for writing about walking foot quilting! I love this technique as I’m not really a flowery or swirly sort of quilter,or one who has to have every square mm of a quilt decorated. It isn’t that I can’t appreciate that sort of quilting but it isn’t for me.
-
Thanks for taking the time to comment. I also really appreciate good FMQ, and am in awe of all those wonderful patterns that can be created, but for me it’s always about the spaces in between (cue Leonard Cohen singing about the gaps and that’s where the light gets in!). I am passionate about the creative opportunities that come from playing about with the walking foot.
-
-
I have a Singer Heavy Duty and it doesn’t have a facility of dropping the dogs – so this has been very interesting., thanks
-
Glad you found it helpful.
-
-
Can you use a walking foot and dogs??
-
Absolutely – the walking foot is used with the feed dogs up – i.e. their position for normal sewing. So if you don’t have the facility to drop the feed dogs, or don’t want to cover them, you can create some gorgeous quilting designs. If your machine doesn’t have a walking foot that fits, just use your standard foot, but be sure you baste well to get the best result possible.
-
Thank you Sheena – I do have a walking foot – must use it more often x
-
-
-
Excellent article, I’ve got a couple of really good books on walking foot quilting and there’s some beautiful examples definitely something I’m planning to explore more
-
There are some fantastic books out there these days, aren’t there? Enjoy your explorations!
-
-
Very useful info. Never thought of doing the spiral shape with my walking foot.
-
The spiral is great fun – bit of a challenge when it is small, but gets easier as you travel out!
-
-
Very interesting, and useful. Just my kind of thing!
-
So glad you found it useful.
-
-
It’s amazing what you can do with the walking foot. Nice blog
-
Thanks.
-
-
Great advice Sheena!
-
Thanks
-
-
Nice inspiring blog. I know why not to use those pens. But beginners might not. Also you didn’t make it clear if you had feed dogs up with walking foot or down. Might be me reading it wrong. But overall this was a great blog and my inspire others to stop worrying about quilting there own quilts.
-
Thanks for such a considered response – I do appreciate it. It is not possible to cover everytBut hing that we might wish to, so sometimes it the right thing to make a bold statement (eg the Frixion pens) and let people who need to know the why ask that question. With regard to the feed dogs – what a good point! As having the feed dogs up is a general thing for most sewing it didn’t occur to me to be specific! As the machine’s feed dogs work in tandem with the walking foot it is essential that they are up and engaging – otherwise you won’t get the benefit. It’s like crocodile jaws holding onto your sandwich from the top and the bottom, moving it along and then letting go in order to grab again a smidge further on. Hope that helps.
-
Thank you. The reason I asked about the feed dogs is I use them both up and down depending on the fabric and type of project. Your blog was an enjoyable read thank you.
-
-
-
Walking foot not a running foot is a really good comment. Ask me how I know………
-
Also, walking foot quilting is less daunting than free motion quilting. Good blog.
-
-
Thank you very much for sharing this blog I found it very helpful and informative, as I have a table runner to be quilted and have been at a loss as how to do it. I have had advice from members of the group though. Can I ask why not use Frixion pens?
-
Thanks for taking the time to comment and I hope this helps you to come up with some different ways of quilting
Frixion pens are not designed for fabric use. They are only tested by the manufacturer on paper. They utilise two chemicals – one which is the “ink” and one the “eraser” – except it isn’t an eraser, it is a second chemical activated by heat that renders the first chemical relatively transparent. When cold, the original chemical can show through again. You can never actually get the ink out. Sometimes it works and you don’t see it again, but not always. And do you want to be like the person who sent her quilt to a show only to find that the lines showed through and spoilt her beautiful work!
There are people who are happy with them, but I absolutely do not suggest that they are used on the top of the quilt.
Sheena
-
Thank you Sheena, I understand why now. Good job I bought some chalks!
-
-
-
-
Sheena Roberts posted a new activity comment 8 years ago
Thank you – it’s an old one, but a much loved one.
-
Sheena Roberts wrote a new post, The Story of a Workshop Leader – Part 2 8 years ago
I didn’t realise that there was going to be a Part 2 to this, but there you go – sometimes these things creep up on you. As I have said before, I am such an amazingly fortunate person to be earning my liv…

-
Sheena Roberts posted a new activity comment 8 years, 1 month ago
I did a search for it and in the UK Quilt Direct has it for £19, Amazon has it cheaper. I didn’t bother searching further than that.
-
Sheena Roberts posted a new activity comment 8 years, 1 month ago
It really did work well – the difference in the before and after photos is stunning!
-
Sheena Roberts posted a new activity comment 8 years, 1 month ago
I think I would view it as money sell spent as it would prolong the life of the mat. It really made a huge difference to my much loved, old and abused mat!
-
Sheena Roberts posted a new activity comment 8 years, 1 month ago
Hi Ingrid – yes, I really did!! No point trying it out on something that didn’t need the work! Thank you for your nice comment. Much appreciated.
-
Sheena Roberts wrote a new post, Colonial Mat Smoother – distributed by EQS 8 years, 1 month ago
Such excitement – a little parcel dropped through the letter box a few days ago. I couldn’t recall ordering anything so, like a child on Christmas Day, the envelope was soon removed.
Out fell the Colonial Mat Smo…

-
Lucky you Sheena to get such a useful product to review 😉 Nice blog and looks like you really put this item through its paces x
-
Hi Ingrid – yes, I really did!! No point trying it out on something that didn’t need the work! Thank you for your nice comment. Much appreciated.
-
-
Thank you. Interesting review. Good to know it works.
-
It really did work well – the difference in the before and after photos is stunning!
-
-
Great item but very expensive which is disappointing.
-
I think I would view it as money sell spent as it would prolong the life of the mat. It really made a huge difference to my much loved, old and abused mat!
-
-
do you know the retail price of this item please?
-
I did a search for it and in the UK Quilt Direct has it for £19, Amazon has it cheaper. I didn’t bother searching further than that.
-
thank you
-
-
-
- Load More
7 years, 9 months ago
Having just posted a photo of one of my quilts on the Mini Squilt Swap page – and read your very interesting post above…..I went back into my post and ‘named’ my quilt. Success – I am sure I won’t be the only one to heed your warning..Thank you.
7 years, 9 months ago
So glad you found it interesting – I was a little worried that I had got on my high horse!! But I am passionate about the importance of the lineage of art (in all its forms) Thank you for taking the time to respond. I appreciate it.