I was first introduced to free motion embroidery in the Late 50s as part of a compulsary subject module at Art School. It was the lesser of all the evil sewing modules. I loathed sewing or anything associated with it. Luckily I was fortunate to have as my first instructor, one of the Singer Ladies from the machine embroidery Art and lace Singer studios.
The methods they used are those still in use today, tho the standards achieved by the Singer Ladies have never been matched even by computerised embroidery machines.
I have noticed a lot of letters discusing stippling on quilts, it's a very small step sideways to produce free motion embroidery if you can do an even stipple stitch. The technique whilest similar is differen.Quilt stippling doesnt require hooping if the piece is supported and wadding is present. However the sprung clear plastic foot is required. For free motion embroidery no foot is required but can be used as a safety measure. To do Art free motion work ( we called it needle drawing ) you need a good grip hoop. A wooden embroidery hoop even when tape bound doesnt hold the fabric tautly enough. In America, you ladies can buy a cork lined sprung metal hoop, perfect for this work, you are so lucky Here in England they're no longer produced. A 7" hoop is large enough to start with and should be a circular hoop not a rectangle..

http://www.createforless.com/s...earchHistory=9%2C4757
metal sprung embroidery hoops

They grip the fabric beautifully and can keep it taut indefinately, the cork stops metal damaging fabric. A close second is a plastic hoop, preferrably the sprung inner metal ones, or the high ridged ones with a thumb adjusting screw.

http://www.vikingloom.co.uk/ac...oops.html&CatalogBody
plastic hoops

http://www.jdr-be.com/embroidery-hoops.htm
A British link and an American link for the hoops.

I've sourced some sites with hints and tips to save my typing finger.

http://www.coatsandclark.com/C...broidery/Howtos/Free-
Motion+Embroidery+Basics.htm

http://www.coatsandclark.com/C...achine+Embroidery.htm

http://cahe.nmsu.edu/pubs/_c/C-213.html

A maestro at work using a commercial free motion embroidery machine.
http://www.taunton.com/Threads/pages/tvt032.asp

Basic first steps, lower the feed dogs, if your machine doesnt have that function, set stitch length to zero.
Remove foot,
Select straight or run stitch
Insert a new needle
Thread the machine, to begin with same weight top and bobbin but different colours, say black and red..
an old pillow case or cotton bed sheet that's worn in the centre torn into manageable sizes. 12" squares are good to begin on.
Hoop the fabric tautly, should be drum tight.
( if at first you are wary of needle attach the sprung embroidery foot or darning foot, it protects stray fingers and the needle from striking the frame )
Raise presser foot arm, place hoop on machine
Lower presser arm, this engages top tension
Turn the needle wheel to lower needle and catch bobbin thread, draw bobbin thread to top. lay bobbin thread and top thread behind needle and hold in one hand, use other and to hold hoop. Make 3 or 4 stitches to lock threads and release ends.
Use both hands on hoop and press foot pedal, use the foot pedal not the machines start stop button, you need to control the stitch speed variances. Now stitch medium speed for two or three inches guiding the frame. Your hands are now the feed dogs. Stop and cut ends, raise presser foot and remove hoop, examine the stitches. Stitch length will be determined by how much you moved the hoop forward or back and how quickly. look at the stitches are they evenly locked top and bottom. If the top stitches look pulled the top tension is too tight, if the stitch looks loopy, top tension is too loose. if it looks lumpy or resembles tiny knots it's top tension too loose agan. Are there any bobbin coloured loops on top, top tension is too tight or bobbin tension too loose
Now the back, can you see any top thread loops, top tension loose or bobbin tension too tight This is where most free motion work stops as the machine owner hates changing bobbin tensions, it's a good idea to obtain a second bobbin case for free motion work, as normal sewing tensions wont be correct for free motion work. Just continue making small adjustments to bobbin and top tensions untill both top and underside stitchess lock correctly with no loops or lumps or knots forming. Now make a coffee to release all the frustration you felt because the loops kept changing places.
Ok coffee breaks over, Hoop another piece of fabric, make certain the bobbin thread is drawn to the top and the presser foot is lowered, if you dont use a prung foot, which I dont, it's too easy to forget it and the result is nasty. Big birds nests trapped under the throat plate. I use a straight stitc throat plate on my old machine, it gives a better result to all non zizzag stitches. Free motion embroidery is 90% straight stitch. Now using both hands to guide the hoop, stitch quickly ,guide slowly Make your movements as smooth as possible, quick jerky movements produce uneven stitches, (a technique that's used to create effects delberately, later as you become more profficient.) practise making straight lines, loops in figure of eights, circles overlapping, stippling (cornelli fill) picots, writing..
That's enough for now my finger is tired. I'll add more in a few days.
maggie c

You're so kind with all you do to spend time with such detail explaining things.

Girls, we don't need to go out and buy those sewing books, we have one right here! Thanks Maggie, we appreciate your time. You are a teacher, aren't you!

AMEN! to Sewforth's comment! Even if I am not using the procedure now....I am coping them and filing in my notebook for future reference. Barb in UP

Once you have started getting a feel for the hoop and stitch speed, stitching quickly moving hoop slowly and smoothly, not as simple at first but rapidly improves, it's time to start looking at stitch effects.
One of the most effective filling stitches is the "Granite Stitch" I believe it's name comes from the slighly uneven effect it seems to have, the stitch is in effect very small tight circles. It is extremely effective for "building" the foliage of trees, and if two or three colours are used to everlay each other, you can reproduce the dappling effect of light and shade that gives form and depth to a picture. Hoop a fresh square of cotton or close weave fabric, you can add a stabiliser behind to add strength to the fabric if you wish, but it isnt a must do. thread up the machine, when you use dark threads on top use a dark bobbin thread, doesnt hhave to be the same colour as the top thread. Draw or trace a picture of a tree, marking the areas of dark shade, medium shade light shade light areas and bright areas. Lift the presser bar, slip yourhoop under the needle and draw up the bobbin thread. Anchor the two threads with 2 or 3 stitches then guiding your hoopsmoothly and slowly, draw around those areas which are in shade, all levels of shade. Now starting with those which are very dark, start guiding the hoop to make small circles, you are scribbling in effect. don't make the shape solid with stitches yet, doing one at a time make the small circles in each area of shade, closer together in the darkest areas and gradually less and less in those areas that are ranging from medium and light shade. Now return to the darkest areas and lay more granite stitches. When you have filled the darkest areas, stop and cut the top thread, dont remove the hoop, thread up a mid tone of the dark thread you used For example you could start with bottle green, move up to Emerald, then bright yellow green and end with a white or lemon.
Using the next green make granite stiches in the medium shade areas being careful to allow the darker colour to mix , on the areas that wouldnt be so shady you lay more densly packed granite stitches. Move up a level of shade and lay a medium cover of granite stitches again allowing the lighter layer of dark green to glimpse through. You're building dappled sunlight, when you feel you have enough of the colour in the light shade areas thread up the bright green and where there would no shade lay a dense area of granite stitches tapering out to allow the two previous shades of green to create the dappled effect.
The light areas are are next and in these lay the granite stitches so areas are arent densly covered as you'll be laying the lemon here to create the dappled effect again. Finally use the white or clear yellow to lay in those areas in full sun. Cut the top and bobbin threads and remove the hoop, use your source for your tree and decide if you need to add more shade, highlights, or simply more definition. Don't be tempted to draw lines around your clumps of foliage, use your granite stitch and the correct shade thread to create areas of contrast between the various layers of leaves. Don't be too critical at this point, your not De Angelo,yet. Squint at the embroidery, do see definate areas of light and shade, if you do leave it be. Putting too much detail often kills what could have been a highly effective colour blending.
Now look at the trunk, and do the same as you did for trees canopy, mark the areas of light and shade, rethread the machine and using the granite stitch, do the trunk, remember light will be filtered down onto the trunk so put some highlights in. Don't be afraid of getting it wrong, now trees dont float in mid air so using the needle guide the hoop and just lay in a few lines to represent the ground, now stop.
You can do complete pictures using the granite stitch, it's an effective stitch for colour blending, shape filling, creating texture.
Vary the sizes and it becomes bubbles in water, the base stitch for picots, cobbles in a road, boulders in a scene.
Have fun, and remember it's your free motion art, you enjoy making it.
I'll look at whipstitch and cording next, but not tonight, my fingers are tired.
maggie c.

Free motion machine quilting requires exercise to ideal, but it's much less time-consuming than making quilts manually on a making quilts shape. formore details visit http://www.digit-embroidery.com/embroidery-digitizing