Sunday, September 6, 2015

DIY: make a Free Motion Quilting Practice "Machine"

So, here is the FMQ practice machine. It's made up of a 1" diameter PVC pipe about 24 inches long, two right angles that go down to the feet and then two end caps. I didn't use any glue and got the wrong size end caps so I ended up taping them on instead of pushing them over the ends of the T-connectors. There is a very short piece of PVC between the right angle and the T-connector. Measure how tall you want your device and cut the size according to that height.

The pen holder is two hose clamps and a hose connector. Put the larger hose clamp around the horizontal pipe, and the smaller should be inside the larger as in the picture below. The hose connector then gets clamped inside the smaller hose clamp and you push the marker inside. I used a rubber band around the marker so I could get it inside but it would still be snug. Because the rubber band snugs the marker, but doesn't make it immobile I can adjust it up or down to just meet the surface I'm writing on. I tried a piece of paper, but it's not smooth enough. I had an extra 3-ring binder hanging around and the front of it with the extra plastic where you can slip in a piece of paper for the cover is perfect. I could print up designs and put them in there to practice on.

Here is a close-up of the pen holder in the center of the bar.
The hose clamps cost about $1.50 each and the gray connector was about $.70.
Below are pictures of the parts I used, except for the PVC pipe. The diameter you get determines the size of everything else. Hope this was clear. If it wasn't and you have questions, just comment and I'll try to answer them.

Enjoy.


Hose clamps: choose sizes that will fit around
your horizontal pipe and the hose connector for the pen.

Hose connector. Make sure the interior
 is large enough for you marker.



Here is what the 90 degree piece looks like. It's used
to connect the long horizontal  bar to the legs.
End cap for the base. This makes'
the foot of the device a bit longer so more stable (I think.)
T-connector for the base

10 comments:

Allie-oops Designs said...

You are just too darn clever, girl....

Anonymous said...

I will try it thanks so much for sharing!!!

Sylvia said...

I've been looking for some type of practice device for sit-down quilting. Thanks for this example! Looks like something I can try to make as well.

Anonymous said...

Very smart! Great practice board. Thanks!

Angie in SoCal said...

This is an excellent idea! Thanks, Mary.

Anonymous said...

this is awesome. You could sell these. What did you use to wrap your paper on. Is it a piece of board.

Jami said...

How do you keep it from moving? Any type of weight or anything? Im not understanding how its not moving any.

Marta62 said...

Wow this is great! Thanks for sharing it with us!😊

QuiltinGammie said...

Can't wait to try this!! Much better than using up material and thread to practice!

juanacarola said...

He estado buscando algo parecido para aprender a acolchar, gracias por compartir, es una estupenda idea

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