I’ve just returned from an invigorating weekend teaching Intro to Free-Motion Quilting at John C. Campbell Folk School, and I’m still riding the wave of creativity and camaraderie that filled those three days.
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| Students gather for a quilt turning show and tell in Intro to Free-motion Quilting class at John C. Campbell Folk School early May. |
I had an eager group—eight students plus my wonderful studio assistant—which made for an intimate, focused, and interactive learning environment.
At the Folk School, we meet students where they are. Prior quilting experiences in this group ranged from walking foot quilting, straight line quilting, some free-motion experimentation, and a self-taught student who had been learning from books and online quilting resources. Everyone in the group, however, brought curiosity, openness, and a willingness to experiment—exactly what free-motion quilting calls for!
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| Free-motion quilting students in the spacious quilting studio, Louise Pitman Fiber Arts building. A basted quilt from the demonstration is in the foreground. |
We dove right in on Friday evening with a presentation about quilting goals, terminology, basting tools, and then a demonstration on quilt basting. By the end of the evening, students had several quilt sandwiches ready to go for the next day’s hands-on practice.
Drawing in the sketchbooks
Alongside the free-motion machine work, we spent time with our sketchbooks doing drawing exercises—what I like to call “brain aerobics.” These exercises help train the brain, eyes, and hands to work together more fluidly.
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| Pat intently concentrates on drawing in the sketchbook. |
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| Christine (left) and Shannon with their contour drawings. |
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| Pam practicing free-motions quilting motifs in the sketchbook. |
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| Nancy (left) and Pam showing their contour drawings. |
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| Roz is drawing inspiration from fabric collections. |
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| Kathe finds inspiration for quilting motifs from a fabric collection. |
It was exciting to see students loosen up, have fun, and discover their free-motion potential. The transition from the morning’s work to the quilting motifs they generated at the end of the day showed confidence and their command of new patterns and quilting possibilities.
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| Helen is wearing quilting gloves to help with moving the quilt sandwich. |
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| Kathe practices the sketchbook drawings with the sewing machine. |
Covering quilt-making concepts and topics
Throughout the weekend, we covered a wide range of foundational topics: battings, thread weights and thread fiber contents, needle selection, several classic quilting motifs, and even the often-overlooked but the important and meaningful detail of including quilt labels.
A published author among us
My studio assistant, Kim Deneault, is also a published author! She shared the story of her quilting book, Raggedy Reverse Appliqué, with the free-motion students and showed several project samples.
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| Kim (left) talking to Pat about quilting projects. |
Oh, you can definitely combine this reverse appliqué technique with free-motion quilting. Check out Kim’s book.
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| Raggedy Reverse Appliqué book by Kim Deneault with projects. |
Show and Tell: a quilt turning
During my free-motion workshops, I share examples of my work which always sparks great discussion about design approaches, thread choices, and quilting techniques.
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| Show and Tell of my quilts. |
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| “Alone Together” improv quilt from a 2020 Guild Challenge. |
One of the quilts, Paris Rendezvous, was a panel quilt that incorporated a soft circuit. LED lights turned on and blinked when a battery was inserted and the circuit was connected.
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| Talking about e-textiles and soft circuits in Paris Rendezvous, a machine quilted panel quilt. |
As an instructor, it’s always a pleasure to open that window into my process and see how it resonates with the students.
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| Group discussion about thread choices, micro-fills, and decorative machine stitches. |
A full May Day Saturday agenda
In early May in the foothills of the Appalachia mountains, the Folk School attendees were greeted with cool mornings, mid-morning sunshine, and those unforgettable Carolina blue skies. As if the classroom experience of learning free-motion quilting wasn’t a full enough schedule, the Folk School offered another layer of magic—the May Day celebration and an English Country Dance weekend.
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| The May Day parade started in the Festival Barn, just outside the quilting studio. |
The participants of the May Day parade assembled in the Festival Barn which is next to the quilting studio. We had a front row seat from our studio windows: large puppets, dancers, banners, and music.
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| The beginning of the May Day parade at the Festival Barn. |
The weekend was jam-packed with a May Day parade, a May pole dance, and demonstrations by the dancing troupes. Lively, dancing and musical activities were held on Saturday in which students, instructors, and folk school staff were able to take part. It was a beautiful reminder of seasonal traditions and community spirit.
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| Evening dance performances at the Spring Dance weekend. |
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| Morris dancers in the Community Room, Keith House. |
Wrap up and group discussion
One of my favorite parts of the workshop is the rich dialogue that develops and comes out during our final workshop discussion. I like to know what information students found most helpful and anything they were surprised to learn.
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| Group discussion and recap of the workshop. |
The discussion entailed these highlights:
- There was so much information, “I wish had taken more notes... on everything.”
- All the little tips: bringing up the bobbin thread at the end: when to change the needle; pull thread out of the machine at the bottom (at the needle); work bigger!
- loved the practice quilt sandwiches; didn’t have the pressure to work on a ‘real’ quilt top. I have extra quilt sandwiches to continue practicing at home.
- learned the continuous line process, how to link different motifs.
- learning about different threads and thread weights. “I’ve never sewn with 60 wt.”
- freedom to move in any direction.
- realized the value of the sketchbook.
- “if you can draw it, you can quilt it.”
- lots of inspiration from seeing [the instructor’s] quilts and samples.
- I must remind myself to “let it go!” There are no boundaries.
- some students found ideas for quilting the quilt tops they have waiting for to be quilted—an Irish Chain, a Quilts of Valor quilt tops, a collage quilt.
I’m always thrilled when students grasp the value of drawing in and using the sketchbook. I have several and bring a few to these classes with the corresponding quilts. There are so many advantages to working out designs on paper first!
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| An example of the relationship between the sketch and the final quilt. |
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| Group discussion: practice sandwiches with template markings. |
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| Class participants received Certificates for completing the workshop. Then, I share the “secret” for successful free-motion quilting. |
Thank you!
My free-motion quilting weekend was, in every sense, a full and fulfilling weekend—learning, making, connecting, and celebrating. I’m thankful to each student for spending their time with me at the Folk School and bringing their enthusiasm and curiosity to the workshop.
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| Intro to Free-motion Quilting, May 1-3 2026. John C. Campbell Folk School. |
Thank you to Kim, our studio assistant, for bringing her quilt-making insight and another aspect [Raggedy Reverse Appliqué] to the workshop, for taking the myriad of photos, and helping everything run smoothly.
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| Me with my studio assistant, Kim (right). |
Incidentally, Sunday, May 3, the last day of the workshop, was National Textiles Day, which is especially fitting. Spending the day discussing fabrics, thread, and free-motion quilting techniques felt both meaningful and perfectly (although mostly serendipitously) timed.
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| Fiber Arts building and quilting studio at John C. Campbell Folk School. |
Experiences like this are why teaching at the Folk School is so rewarding. There’s something special and magical about gathering in a place dedicated to craft, and being surrounded by people eager to learn and create. It was evident that the rich traditions of quilt-making will continue to live an active and healthy existence.
Let’s continue to keep those needles moving and creativity flowing!
