FMQ Challenge 2015 - February

I'm not getting much time for quilting these days since our house is all torn up and we are getting new floors. It won't be much longer though or so I keep telling myself! By the end of February, the workmen will be long gone and we should be moved back.

I did get my pillow made for the FMQ Challenge though. I grabbed a few scraps and put this together. 

Leah Day was our expert for February. I was excited because I learned so much following her Free Motion Quilting Project in 2012. 

We had 3 options for quilting the pillow. 

1. Double Stippling which I learned in 2012 
2. Use a design(s) from Leah's Dancing Butterfly Quilt Along 
3. Use a design(s) from Leah's Craftsy class, Free-Motion Quilting A Sampler.

I chose option 3 and decided to use a variety of designs. First I did some Pebbling in the two outside solid strips. I really enjoyed quilting this design.

I thought the Wandering Clover was cute and pretty easy. I used this design on the two inside pieced strips.

Paisley is my favorite - I restrained myself and only used it in the middle solid strip.

I went outside my comfort zone and did Spiral Chain on both outside pieced strips. It was easier than it was the last time I tried it but I still need lots more practice!

The back of the pillow is a simple overlap with both pieces quilted in Wandering Clover.

This was a fun project and I did push myself to learn some new designs while I also enjoyed quilting an old standby.

The 2015 Free Motion Quilting Challenge is being hosted by Darlene at QuiltShopGal. You may want to hop over and check out some great pillows.

FMQ Challenge 2015 - January

The 2015 Free Motion Quilting Challenge is being hosted by Darlene at QuiltShopGal. I participated in the 2012 Challenge but then life sort of got in the way. I am excited to be doing this again! 

We are making pillows this year. For January, we have three choices of free motion quilting designs. Of course we could do all three. I chose to do the feathered heart. I don't have a lot of Valentine decor so I chose to do a red pillow. I couched white cording around the heart after I finished the quilting.

I haven't done a lot of free motion stitching lately and I NEED practice so I used red thread - I didn't want to show off my stitching too much!  

After drawing a heart, I drew a bunch of question marks to use as a stem for my feathers. I practiced on my sketch pad a few times; then I did my stitching. 

This is the first time I have actually done a feathered anything. With inspiration and the tutorial from LuAnn Kessi, it turned out pretty good. I love learning new things!