Free-Motion Thread Play: Develop Your Thread Confidence

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|Sponsored| With just 15 minutes of thread play each day, you’ll develop the confidence to quilt with vibrant, stand-out threads! Stitch out this skill-builder mandala design with Denise Dowdrick, HandiQuilter educator.

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With a mandala design and 15 minutes of thread play a day, you will reach a brand new level of quilting confidence!

A mandala design is an ideal place to start thread play, according to Denise Dowdrick. A HandiQuilter educator, she has a passion for threads and free-motion quilting designs. Her 15-minutes-per-day approach is simple, and yet allows ample space for personal creativity. Mandalas allow you explore the qualities of different threads in various types of free-motion quilting, like feathers or ruler work.

For your mandala, you’ll want high-contrast threads and fabric to ensure you can see the quality of your stitches, and to easily compare the varieties of thread. Denise used solid black fabric and black batting (which eliminates issues with bearding).

Getting Started: Bobbin Thread

You don’t have to match your bobbin and top thread. In fact, this exercise is a great place to understand how different threads work together. Denise matches the color of her bobbin thread to the background fabric to eliminate any issues with tension. Here, she’s using a 40-weight black thread.

To start a mandala design, black fabric and black batting is a solid option because your threads will pop, allowing you to see the stitching clearly. Use a circle template and marking tool to create the basic, circular structure, and then add additional markings as needed.

There are also a few things to keep in mind as far as machine settings. If you’re working on a sewing machine, put your machine into free-motion mode by dropping the feed dogs, and attach a hopping foot (open- or closed-toe) or a darning foot.

In the video, Denise is working on an Amara ST from HandiQuilter and the lift table with Insight technology, which has a few features that help with this kind of free-motion thread play. Because she is at a table, she can orient the quilt sandwich any direction, and this particular table has built-in optical sensors that help with stitch regulation. The quilting machine has 21” of throat space and also has a laser light that allows Denise to bring up her bobbin thread in the precise spot she wishes to start.

Regardless of the machine you’re working on, indulging in thread play with the mandala design will get you comfortable with the different styles of quilting and different threads, we well as the features on your machine that will help you with both! Get all your supplies ready at this stage; fully wind the bobbin, have your gripper tools handy (like free-motion quilting gloves or the HQ Sweet Spots), and ensure you have a fresh needle.

Most importantly, have a plan!

Free- Motion Feathers: Orange Thread

“I LOVE shiny thread,” Denise says. “I don’t wear a lot of jewelry. I get my bling out of my thread and my fabrics.” And the orange thread—a 40-weight tri-lobal polyester from Magnifico—has a lot of bling. Its bright, vibrant warmth is the inspiration for her fiery palette, and it has a light-catching sheen.

Denise begins her mandala not at the center, but along the band where she will include her most eye-popping thread and design. The feathers were going to be the largest element, the defining character of the mandala, setting the tone. After marking some additional guidelines and bringing her bobbin thread to the top, Denise stitches the feathers.

Stitch regulation helps when it comes with the free-flowing shapes and hard pivots involved in feathers, but in truth, a plan helps the most! Know where you’re going, and use this 15-minute-a-day mandala to practice the motion.

Rulerwork: Yellow Thread

The bright yellow thread — a 40-weight tri-lobal polyester from Iris — will provide structure. The light, warm color will stand out from the fabric, and every inch will be visible so rulerwork (which is the best way to achieve smooth lines when free-motion stitching) is the way to go!

“I really like making sure that my needle stops in the down position when I’m working with rulers,” Denise says, “because I want to get nice, sharp points, especially when using high-contrast thread.”

In addition to setting the machine so the needle stops in the down position (whether on a quilting machine or sewing machine), you can also slow the machine’s speed to allow for more control.

Bonus Tip:

Be sure to watch Denise’s serger-style thread-changing tip! With a simple snip, knot, and pull, you can avoid some tedious re-threading!

Switch to a ruler foot; the higher profile will prevent the ruler from slipping underneath the needle. Denise is using the Surefoot from HandiQuilter and the HandiQuilter HQ Curvy 2 ruler. Now, with structure added with the yellow quilting, Denise decided to switch colors to quilt the center and the outer band.

Cones versus Spools: Pink Thread

Whether you’re quilting on a sewing machine or a quilting machine, try out different styles of thread — including those on a cone or a spool, cross-wound or smooth-wound. They feed differently into various machines, and it’s important to understand what your machine prefers.

Most sewing machines have both horizontal and vertical thread pins. Quilting machines most often have a vertical thread pin (suited for cross-wound cones), with a horizontal spool pin (suited for smooth-wound spools) as an add-on accessory.

After adding a few pink arcs using rulerwork, Denise returns her machine to free-motion friendly settings, ensuring the needle stops in the up position and increasing her cruise speed to allow for smooth stitches.

Understanding how fast you like to go and what speed settings work best for your speed is an important lesson from these 15-minute mandala sessions. Using the same thread for both rulerwork and free-motion at various speeds will illustrate the difference for you. Explore different machine settings with different threads and different styles within the mandala.

Micro-Meandering: Black Thread

Meandering is a classic free-motion filler. Micro-sizing a meander will serve to compress the batting’s loft, so your other motifs will literally stand out. Micro-meandering that can be a lot of tension on your thread, so you will want a significantly thinner thread that is very strong.

Denise switches to a black 100-weight polyester thread from Superior Threads. She also recommends using a foot hat gives you the maximum visibility when stitching those tiny designs. (HandiQuilter manufcatures a barely-there Microfoot expressly for micro-fillers.)

“I feel like in manual mode, I can really drop some little stitches in there, and I’ll get a nice, smooth stitch,” says Denise. The finer thread and tighter stitch creates interesting texture, giving the mandala a nice finish.

With 15 minutes a day and a mandala design, you’ll develop a solid understanding of your machine, your tools, and a variety of threads. You’ll be amazed at the confidence you’ll have to take a brighter, more vibrant step forward in your free-motion quilting.

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