Free Motion Challenge

by SewCalGal







I'm not new to Free Motion Quilting but I can certainly use

the practice and to challenge myself to improve and learn

new techniques. That's what this Challenge is all about - it's

not a contest or a class.

There is also a Facebook page where we can chat,

show photos and ask lots of questions.

Every month there will be a FMQ expert teacher to give us

tips and tutorials. This month it's Frances Moore -

You can read her blog Click here

Frances does beautiful work and we thank her for taking time

to help us out!

I haven't done FMQ in quite awhile, so I'm a little out of practice.

Getting my space prepared:

I cut a piece of plastic shelving to put under the
foot control so that it doesn't slide while I'm sewing.

Sometimes I use the extended table and
sometimes not.. But I always use the thread
holder for FMQ - it doesn't let the thread
get tangled and it flows freely.

I wear the quilting gloves - I don't really like
the rubber tips. The gloves help me to move
the fabric more easily.


I always warm up before I FMQ and also
test new threads, needles, tension, etc.

I'm using my old faithful Kenmore sewing machine -
I don't know how old it is....??
But the needle goes up and down and it works!
It also loves to do Free Motion Quilt best!



Most machines have a Presser foot pressure dial -
**** check your manual ****
Example: 3 - is for regular sewing 2- for applique
and free motion
1- sewing chiffon, lace and other fine fabrics


I cut out the front of my darning foot with a wire
cutter so that I could see where I was going a little
bit better. I got this idea from Luann Kessi
May Your Bobbins Always Be Full blog
stop by and see Luann's quilts - they're gorgeous!!



Practice drawing out the leaf design that
Frances showed us on her blog - first -
to get the feel of the motion.



Keeping the stitches even and smooth
is very difficult but with practice will improve.



My first practice piece (in a long time) - not too bad.
I write what thread, needle and whether I used
the feed dogs up or down. In this case
I put the feed dogs up - for some reason the
stitches came out better.

I'm looking forward to more tutorials each month
and to challenge myself to practice a little each day.

Thank you SewCalGal and Frances - Miss January!

Block Swap

Block Swap on Facebook

I joined a group on FB and we're swapping
heart blocks. This is my very first swap!

Here's what I received so far:

Aren't they pretty!

Here's my block that I'm sending out.
Well, one of them anyway.
They are hand applique and I don't think that
I'll make the dead line - 12 of them by January 10th!
All 12 blocks don't have to be the same but they
must have a heart or heart fabric in them - pink or
red fabric is being used.


so

This will be my alternate block.
The center is hand applique and
I went around it with decorative stitches.
I like the way it came out.

So far I have 7 of them completed
Almost there!

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Insights from SewCalGal is having a Free Motion
Challenge on Facebook! You will have to have a
Facebook account to join in on the fun. To learn
more - click below

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Finished Folk Art Quilt

To tell you the truth; I was not a big
fan of Folk Art until I tried Dawn's
BOM - "Folk Art Tribute". I hesitated
at first then thought that I should try
something different. And I'm so happy
that I did.

This took me about one year to finish.
All hand applique and pieced and quilted - whew!

Dawn encouraged us to use only what we had
in our stash. Yes! I could do that - I can't wait
to use what I have so that I can buy more (-:

I wanted to use some printed background fabric
just like Dawn did but I didn't have anything that
would blend well. So I took my white fabric and tea-
dyed it.

I also did this as a quilt-as-you-go - I echo quilted
around the images twice and then hand sewed the
blocks together.


When all of the blocks were sewn together - I then
crossed hatched using Big Stitch stitches. I love this
method and it's not as hard as I thought it would be.
I used crochet cotton yarn and an embroidery needle.


The applique is needle turned and I used two
techniques; back stitching and freezer paper
for the smaller parts, such as the leaves. My
preferred method is the back stitching technique -
I feel like I'm sculpturing the fabric as I go along.
I did however, machine sew the binding - no way
was I going to hand stitch that but the back of the
binding is hand stitched. I enjoyed this project and
the photo of the quilt doesn't do it justice!

Thank you Dawn!

Vicksburg was another BOM that Dawn designed:


I love this quilt! It's waiting patiently to be quilted.

Not only is Dawn a great Quilt Designer but she
is designing a new fabric line for Henry Glass
Fabrics! Good luck Dawn! Please visit her web site
at Linen Closet Quilts


Something I borrowed from one of my Facebook
Friends.



Happy Quilting!

Wordless Wednesday

(Wantagh, Long Island)

Wordless Wednesday

Quilts > what else?

I found this great pattern tutorial over at
Oh Fransson

I fell in love with the pattern and just had

to make one.

This quilt is for sale at my Etsy SHOP(click here)
I hope that you will visit.

Crazy nine patch

Because the name is "Crazy" - I thought that

I would use the left over scraps to make a

"Crazy" border.

It was quilted by a member of my Guild - The

Red Rose Quilters Guild - Kim Loar (long armer)

I just love the clam shell pattern and love the way

that the quilt came together.

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My Wild and Crazy Amish Quilts

One day while going through a

book about Amish Quilts; the thought

came to me "What if" I made traditional

Amish Patterns but used Wild and Crazy -

Bold fabrics???

So, I went through my stash looking for

the Wildest pattern I could find.

Once I found the fabrics; I had to decide

which Amish pattern to use. This is what

I choose:

Wild and Crazy Amish #1

Amish Bars - my version

I love black and white with red! And I really like the

way it came out - even though it may make your eyes cross.

I mitered the corners so that the pattern just flowed.

Wild and Crazy Amish #2

This is the Square in a Square Amish Pattern.

For the center square I used the The Stack and

Whack 4 patch technique.

I think that the colorful printed fabric is

Robert Kaufman's? and also the border?

But the light pink border is Lonni Rossi's -

I just love her fabric!

Again, I mitered the borders so that the pattern

just flowed. I really like the way this one came out!

These are just tops and have not been quilted yet.

Rest assured that I will probably do a Wild and Crazy

kind of quilt design for them.

I am planning to make a series of these.

I just love doing them and they're

so much fun!

Busy as a bee.....

I've been as busy as a bee------




Just took a little vacation time from blogging.

I have been------

Dyeing and over dyeing

Making a quilt for my son-in-law's niece

and

Making slow progress on Dawn's BOM
Folk Art Tribute.
I echo quilted around the applique -
now I think I'm going to do crosshatch
on the rest of it. s-l-ow- but I love it!

By the way, Dawn has a new BOM!

And

of course, I've been riding through this
beautiful countryside taking photos!




Have a great week!