Free Motion Sewing

I have a basic Janome and am wanting to do some free motion sewing on quilts and totes.  I've read a little in my manual and online as to how to do it, but wanted to post a topic in the forum to get more information.  If you have any tips to share, I would greatly appreciate it.
Things in particular I'm wondering about are:
1.  What type of foot do you use on your sewing machine?
2.  Is there a particular partiitch length that works the best?
3.  Does speed really matter?
4.  Any tension adjustments?
5.  How about needles?  Should I use a topstitching one with thicker thread or will the usual work?
6.  Anything else?

Thank you!

This is such a valuable skill to have! I sew on a Bernina, but have also done it on my old Brother. Yes, you do need a special foot...it should say free motion, but a darning foot will work too. NO stich length, drop the feed dogs compleatly...you will be making the lenght as you move the material. Practice on scraps to loosen up, always have music to get a flow. Think about loopy or puzzle peices and try not to go too fast. Good luck!

Thank you Mrs Poppins!  Does "NO stitch length" mean that I set the stitch length to zero?  Or is it that it doesn't matter?

I've had excellent results with the following on my 10-year-old Janome:
1.  Darning Foot
2.  Lower Feed Dogs
3.  Stitch Length Set to Zero (because you control the stitch length by the speed with which you move the fabric around.)
4.  Slightly Higher Tension (I go up 1.5 steps)
5.  Quilting Needle
6.  Pull fabric toward me as I'm working (the opposite direction the feed dogs would normally pull it)
7.  Wind, like, 50 bobbins in advance because you'll go through them really quickly!

It's a slow process, but the results are awesome.
Good luck! 

I didn't answer your question about speed! 

I've found that it's easy to get "out of control" if I go too fast, but that going too slow makes it difficult to create nice curves (not to mention taking for-e-ver).  I think the most important thing is maintaining an even speed.  It can be slow or it can be fast.  It just needs to be constant, so all your stitching looks the same. 

Hey thanks Elizabeth!  I'm going to give it a go today... and will post more tips if I come up with any. 

I had a quilt teacher tell me once that there is no getting around it. You will need about 20 hours of good solid practice time before you will be happy with your results. I don't like to go too fast or too slow. Just go medium speed and try and stay with curves for now. Meandering or stippling is a great way to practice this. Make lots of "cheater" quilts to give as baby quilts for starters. You can get lovely preprinted panels @ JoAnns to do this with and if you mess up, it won't be your quilt top that you have slaved over. You can also donate these baby quilts to a good cause and be doing a good thing too!! One last word of advise, loosen up while you free motion. If you are nervous, your stitches will show it. Having a glass of wine may help! Have fun!!

I think that consistent speed is the most important thing. And you have to factor the speed that the machine is going as well as the speed with which you move your fabric.

If you have speed control on your machine, set it to the slowest possible speed. Then press all the way down on your gas pedal and you should get a nice medium or slow-medium speed. I like 10-12 stitches per inch. Too big of stitches will look goofy and can cause tension ugliness on the back.

Also -- make sure you have some stabilizer of some sort! On a quilt, the batting works as the stabilizer. On a tote, you might consider using thin batting, thick interfacing, or even just a layer of canvas or flannel behind the layer you want to quilt.

Consider getting quilting gloves (I love Machingers). They have grippy finger tips that make it way easier to guide the fabric. This is fantastic when you are quilting something large that wants to fall off your sewing machine table!