2012 Free Motion Quilting Challenge Wrap Up

I took the pledge at the 2012 Free Motion Quilting Challenge to complete 12 FMQ tutorials this year.

I've posted 11 month and 1 bonus. Now I need a wrap-up post for the year. If you click on the name of the month, you will get to the original post. And way at the bottom of this post, you'll see what I learned!

1. January  Frances Moore gave us a tutorial on quilting leaves. I was brand new at free-motion quilting and it really showed!

2. February  Diane Gaudynski had us quilt feathers. It is still hard to believe how much these actually looked like feathers!

3. March  Ann Fahl encouraged us to develop our own style. I thought stippling with loops would be good.

4. April  Don Linn, Mr. Quilt, showed us how to transfer quilt markings with a method I'd never seen!

5. May  Leah Day had us practice two foundation designs. The first is called Double Stippling. 

The second design is  Railroad Tracks, a variation of Double Stippling.

6. June  Cindy Needham had us quilt a curly line and then filled the spaces with quilting. 

7. July  Angela Walters had us quilt Tiles with our choice of the filler design.

8. August  Wendy Sheppard gave us a "simple but fun quilting motif" called Jester's Hat. I found it hard!

9. September Paula Reid had us quilt a beautiful feather design. 

10. Bonus Tutorial Susan Brubaker Knapp had us finding quilt motif designs in our environment.

11. October  Teri Lucas had us trying different motifs and different threads.

12. November Sarah Vedeler had us practice drawing spirals and also suggested practicing FMQ 15 minutes every day.

What I learned:

2012 was my year to learn free-motion quilting. I began my journey in January, not knowing how things would progress. I followed the 2012 Free Motion Quilting Challenge, the Quilt As You Go Free Motion Quilting Quilt A Long with Quokka Quilts, and Leah Day's Free Motion Quilt Project.

When the 2012 Free Motion Quilting Challenge began, I thought I was in way over my head! But I had signed up so I decided to just try. I learned to relax and to practice, practice, practice. I began with samples and finally decided in March to use my limited skills on real quilts. I still do sample pieces, but in July, I decided to make blocks to use in a quilt-as-you-go quilt. 

When I quilted feathers in February that looked like feathers, I was overjoyed! And I loved finding a way to transfer patterns to dark fabric. The Jester's Hats were very hard for me - I think I should have drawn more of them like I later did with the spirals. I find quilt ideas in my environment constantly but it had never occurred to me to look around for quilting motif ideas.

I tried different threads, different battings, and different ways of moving my quilts while quilting. I learned that I can achieve different effects by making some changes.

I learned to free-motion quilt and I learned that this is an on-going journey - there will always be more to learn and ways to improve. It has become part of my life!

Thanks SewCalGal!