First quilting project of 2013

First new project of the year - a baby boy quilt! This quilt is for our nephew and his wife. (I'm sure they don't read this blog - at least I hope not!)

I purchased some fabric for baby quilts when the Backyard Quilt Shop in Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin, was going out of business late last year.

I pulled out the baby boy fabrics - all flannels.

Then I added a little more from my stash and changed things a bit.

After piecing the middle 25 squares, it was time to decide on the inner border. That plain blue on the left was just blah. The yellow on the left was too soft.

I love my new design wall!

I finally decided on a green cotton for the inner border.

The quilting slowed me down - I just didn't know what to do. After searching thru my books from Leah Day and searching her website, I decided on Echo Shell for the 25 inner squares. 

Last year I followed the 2012 FMQ Challenge. The December expert was Patsy Thompson who did a tutorial on borders. I found it interesting but I didn't have time to try it in December. Now it was time to revisit that tutorial and try it.

The inside, green border is done with a back and forth wiggled about 1/2 inch apart with the corners done in a teardrop. The outside border was done with a walking foot. I drew lines about 1 1/2 inches apart.  

The back is that plain blue that I rejected for the front.

I really like the effect of the different quilting motifs in each border.

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!

2012 FMQ Challenge - November

Sarah Vedeler is our November FMQ expert at the 2012 Free Motion Quilting Challenge over at Insights from SewCalGal. You can read about Sarah and see some of her beautiful designs and work here.

When I read that we were going to be doing spirals, I didn't know if I should say "Oh yeah!" or "Oh no!". I seem to have lots of trouble with spirals but I'd like to be able to do them.

Well, Sarah gave us sheets to trace - very similar to the way my grandkids learn to write their letters. I know this is a good way to learn but I've never done it with spirals. I have now!

After all of the tracing, it was time to draw our own. So draw I did! The larger the spirals, the harder for me to draw - Sometimes, I think too much about what I'm doing!

Then it was time to sew. Instead of the fat quarter sandwiches that Sarah suggested, I used squares for my motif sampler quilt. I marked squares and began sewing.

A closer view - no where near perfect but at least you can tell they are spirals!

Here are some spirals I tried last January for a Quilt Along with Quokka Quilts.

I might be biased but I think I really am improving!

I have more sheets to trace and practice drawing spirals. It's an activity that I will continue doing - I really do want to improve more!

2012 Free Motion Quilting Challenge - October

The October Free Motion Quilting Challenge over at Insights from SewCalGal featured Teri Lucas as the expert of the month. Teri teaches free motion quilting.

This month we had to practice a number of things on paper for one design and then quilt it. Well, I practiced a number of times on paper and decided that maybe I would pass - this just wasn't a block I would use. But for some reason, I sat down at my machine yesterday and decided to try quilting it. I am really glad that I did! Not only did I see remarkable improvement in some parts of my quilting wow - the practice is starting to pay off!, I tried different threads with great success! I probably won't use this block but it was great to try it!

We had to write our name, echo around it making it interesting. I needed a grid and clam shells and more. Each motif gets its own thread. Notice the gold feathers. 

I'm glad I did the exercise and tried the different threads - I'd only used Isacord and Aurifil for quilting. This exercise has opened up a world of opportunity!

2012 Free Motion Quilting Challenge - Bonus Tutorial

One of the bonus tutorials at the 2012 Quilt Challenge is by Susan Brubaker Knapp - "Free-motion Quilting Challenge: Finding fabulous motifs in your environment". I have often found inspiration for my quilts in the world around me but I have never looked for ways to quilt my quilts so this was new and fun!

After taking a closeup photo with a digital camera, I printed the picture, traced an outline onto tracing paper and transferred that to fabric. Then I free motion quilted those lines. I didn't use any filler motifs like tiny pebbles or stippling this time but I could have.

I recently had my private retreat and I was thinking about this challenge. So I grabbed my camera and looked around the motel room. The very first thing I noticed was a photo on the wall including this:

Using the macro setting, I took the following photo.

I printed this out as a 5X7 picture and transferred it to the fabric. This is the resulting quilted piece.

This is an enlargement of the edge of a mirror.

And this is the resulting quilted piece.

I really enjoyed this exercise and am anxious to try some other designs - the bark on various trees, different leaves, grasses, the upholstery design on a chair,... The list is endless!

2012 Free Motion Quilting Challenge for September

The September Free Motion Quilting Challenge over at Insights from SewCalGal featured Paula Reid as the expert of the month. Paula has made some gorgeous quilts and has been featured on some quilting shows. 

Paula shared some secrets for quilting large quilts on a domestic sewing machine including her Fluff and Stuff technique and her room arrangement - both of which I already use!  She also said to get straight stitches, use a 0mm throat plate (I don't have one yet) and a Schmetz Denim/Jeans, size 80/12 needle (I just bought some). She then had us quilt a beautiful feather design. 

Now, why did I trace that on paper instead of using Don Linn's method? Getting all the paper off is a pain! Never again! You can see some pieces yet above. Below is the back.

This is the very first thing I sewed/quilted on my new Bernina. I can tell where I began and where I ended - I got better! And I'm getting much better! Just takes a while to get comfortable.

2012 Free Motion Quilting Challenge August Update

This month at the 2012 Free Motion Quilting Challenge, over at Insights by SewCal Gal, Wendy Sheppard is our expert. She does beautiful work!

Wendy gave us a "simple but fun quilting motif" called Jester's Hat. Well, first I tried to draw the design. Then I tried to draw the design by copying the website drawing. Oh, this gave my very left-brain brain fits! I was drawing the design in the air when I woke up, on the shower wall, on my church bulletin... My sketch book has pages devoted to this "simple but fun quilting motif"!

Today, after church, I was ready! I decided to sew on a square that will eventually become part of  a QAYG quilt. I had to stop stitching often to think about where to go next. But it worked! I do like the texture this design gives and with practice (maybe lots of practice) I think I could do a whole quilt!  

Thanks Wendy! Using one's brain is good!


Problems:
All of that thinking! I also had some trouble with my machine speed which you may notice in my stitches - I can't wait to get a machine with a start button so I don't have to rely on my nerve damaged foot!

2012 Free Motion Quilting Challenge July Update

This month at the 2012 Free Motion Quilting Challenge, over at Insights by SewCal Gal, Angela Walters is our expert. She learned to quilt from her husband's grandfather!

This month we are doing Tiles. It is a neat design and should be rather easy to do. The filler design can be anything. 

 I just did a simple loopy design for the filler.

My only problems: 

I began using a cone of thread on a holder. The thread is a heavier Aurifil. I had a number of thread problems until I began using a size 16 needle. 

The foot pedal on my machine was fixed (I didn't even know it was broken!) and now I'm having trouble getting my speed right. The nerve damage in my foot makes the learning curve a bit higher but I'll get there. I'm shopping for a new machine and I think it will have a start/stop button!


I like this design and will most likely use it in the future - I think it will be easy to adjust to different sizes.

Is the middle of June really this week?

It is almost the middle of June - where does the time go? It's been a while since I've posted - my FIL passed away a week ago and his funeral was Saturday. He lost a painful battle with bone cancer. It's been a very sad and busy time here. 

I haven't done much quilting but I attempted Sew Cal Gal's  2012 Free-Motion Quilting Challenge for June with Cindy Needham. We quilted a curly line and then filled the spaces with quilting. It was fun and interesting to try.

I am enjoying the FMQ Challenge and look forward to spending more time with this technique in the coming weeks when I have a little more time.

The Free Motion Quilt Along with Leah Day took a hiatus in May. Although I didn't get to do much quilting, I did try to practice my FMQ every few days. The Quilt Along just started up again and this week we are doing Circuit Board. I began at the top with some basic shapes and attempted to put together a random arrangement at the bottom.

I have learned so much from Leah Day. I really am enjoying Free Motion Quilting!


Coming up this week: our 42nd anniversary, a visit to the pedorthotist, a play that we rescheduled, and a wedding. Life just doesn't slow down...

2012 Free Motion Quilting Challenge May Update

This month the guest expert at the 2012 FMQ Challenge is Leah Day. To learn more, check out Insights from SewCalGal. Leah is the author of The Free Motion Quilting Project. I've been following Leah's Free Motion Quilt Along since January and have learned ALOT! The Quit Along is taking the month of May off so it was really nice to have Leah on the FMQ Challenge this month.


The Challenge this month is to practice two foundation designs. First is Double Stippling. This is accomplished by large scale stippling followed by a smaller scale stippling over the first line. It gives an interesting texture.This is the diagram that Leah posted:

My attempts:

The second design is  Railroad Tracks, a variation of Double Stippling. It is also started with large scale stippling but the smaller scale stippling is boxy. It gives another interesting texture! And this is the diagram that Leah posted:

First the large scale stippling:

 then the boxes,

 and a few more.