Free Motion Quilting Tip: Smooth Surface

I'm having a little trouble getting into my quilty groove after my trip. Lots of laundry, playing with the kids, getting my sewing space set back up, and it's already time to start back to school shopping. In the midst of setting my machine back up for free motion quilting, I realized I ought to share this tip I've been using.

It's no secret that I love my Supreme Slider for giving me a smooth surface for my quilting. But since I use a machine with a drop-in bobbin, peeling the teflon-coated mat back up to change a bobbin was a small irritating hassle.

So I cut a hole around the bobbin cover area. That was great, but sometimes my basting pins would hang up along that cut edge. Plus, sometimes when doing dense tiny stitching, I could feel that cut edge interfering with the sliding of the quilt. Such a tiny little difference, but there it is.

So I started putting a piece of my beloved but ugly painter's tape over the cut out. It smoothes out the cut edges and the tape is easy enough to remove and replace when changing a bobbin. Plus the tape secures the slider to the bed of the machine there and keeps things flat around the needle area.

I came across this wall hanging the other day- it's the first finished piece I ever used rulers on, back in 2012. 

Hope this tip is helpful and I really hope I can get some decent quilting done today!