Free Motion Quilting - June - I'm not the last one this time :)

I had so much fun with this one.  Started with a square, sewed some random lines and then started filling all the sections.  No rulers, just free motion and seriously I was so very surprised at the checker board squares and how they turned out.  I will definitely do that again.  What fun!!  Oh and I used silk thread for the first time.  Man was that nice.  I also have two layers of some type of  left over poly batting.  Bottom  line in the bobbin.   The quilting was tiny, I put the dime in there so you could see the scale.  

Kaleidoscope quilt done

Oh I had fun with this one.  Well it started out fun, then it went to "uh oh what did I start" and then back to "well maybe it will look ok" to taking it off the frame and hey, I like it! What a crazy roller coaster ride, do you have quilts like that?  And because I knew it was for me I used every scrap on the back. I really wish I would have had a solid color backing.  Ahhhh next, live and learn :)

I knew this was going to be one I kept so there was no pressure, and I could do what I wanted.  I used two layers of batting, 70/30 blend Quilters Dream and Poly Down Quilters Dream.  I used two strands of bottom line in the top and bottom line in the bobbin.  

May Free Motion Quilting Challenge - just barely :)

I got this done and posted before I left for work this morning.  Not sure why but I really had to make myself do this one.  I did the double regular stipple on the twisters in a grey thread so you can't see it very well.  I used the same color thread on the border with the square stipple, I really liked that one better.  And the best, it's still May :)

April FMQ Challenge with SewCalGal and Don Linn

Alright I gave this a try.   I used a pattern from Custome Curves by Karen McTavish.  It was a bit beyond my skill level, but hey we have to push ourselves from time to time huh?  I used the embroidery hoop from my machine, it's nice and big.    I could only find a teal permanent marker so that's what I had to use, it came up a little light, but I could see it well enough.   Need to get a black one.

Then I traced on the material.  It is really light, but I can see when I'm quilting.  The next time I try this techinque I'll make the lines a bit darker.

And quilted .  Hmm a flash really makes a difference and there is alot of thread on there.  I need more practice following lines.  I did have fun with the fillers though.  I saw on Joan's blog one of her practice pieces had a McTavishing filler with pebbles mixed in, loved it so tried it myself.  Yep, I'll try this technique again and when I'm doing a dense background I'll echo the entire pattern first.  And I'll practice following the line, so hard sometimes :)

More Feathers

This quilt was suppose to be a Christmas present last year, oops, they got a bottle of wine instead.  This year will be a different story.  Finally got it done and quilted.  Now how's that I have a start on my Christmas sewing :)

FMQ Challenge 2012 - Feb Feathers

I did two sets of feathers.  One on my DSM and one on Long Arm.  I'm fairly comfortable doing feathers on my DSM but have only been at the long arm for a couple of months now.  I choose a new pattern that I had not sewn on either machine.  Used the same fabric and the same thread.  What do you think, can you tell which was done on the DSM and which was done on the long arm?

Labyrinth Quilt

This is a wedding quilt for my nephew and his new wife.  It took me a long time to figure out how to quilt this one, I really wanted it to be special for them.  More detailed pictures on my blog http://suedaurio.blogspot.com/2012/02/labyrinth-quilt-is-done-and-ready-to.html  Now to work on my feathers, hope to have those finished by tomorrow.

Baltimore Album Finished

Ok so the main reason I joined the challenge was to get good enough with the FMQ skills to quilt my Baltimore Album by myself on my little ol' DMS.  And guess what I finally finished.  After over 3 years, it's done, woohooo!  Now time to move on to something  a bit easier for while!

Finally got the nerve to start quilting the Baltimore Album Quilt

This quilt was sandwiched for 2 weeks before I finally put a stitch in it.  I knew I wanted twirly feathers around the outside as fill and some sort of McTavishing on the inner applique (really loosely interpreted for me!).    And I finally sent the husband out on a 40 mile bike ride, it was just me and the quilt.  It had to happen!  I drew a few veins and the rest is history, it is started.  Oh my why are those first few stitches so hard?  Why is it so hard to commit to a design (maybe cuz you don't know what the design is???) and start sewing.  Once the first stitches are in, well you're committed.  I don't take quilting out, I just live with whatever got started.  Lucky for me, I'm fairly pleased with what got started.  I have 4 blocks done, here's the first.  

A little something to share

I did it, I jumped and did some free form feathers on a full size quilt. I also tried McTavishing (or some loose interpretation of that!). Very excited about the progress. I'm about half way done. I can honestly say that I wouldn't have been able to do this without joining in the FMQ challenge.

Challenge Drawing Winners

Wendy and I drew the names for the prizes.

Wendy will be sending this lovely book to Sue.

I will be sending this fat quarter bundle to Corina.

Congratulations to the winners and thanks to all the participants!! It has been another wonderful challenge! We have enjoyed seeing every ones improvements. If we keep at it, imagine how good we will be next year. Practice, Practice, Practice!

Wendy and I are planning on keeping this blog going. We will be hosting different challenges through out the year - so keep an eye out! We hope that participants will keep posting their free motion quilting work on the blog and to encourage each other.

Thanks again to everyone!!♥

Sue - Day 14 the finale

I finished the snowman quilt!! WooHoo!!!!  Wow I was so glad to finish that one.  I really had to make  myself focus and get that one done, but it's done, washed and packed away.

I quilted mittens on the green border, they aren't perfect.  I was going much too fast, but I'm calling the imperfections "whimsical".  I like that better!

What a great challenge!!  In the last 14 days I got so much practice done, and was so inspired by all the wonderful things people were doing.  I tried things that I wouldn't have otherwise tried and that's always a good thing.  I still have a lot of practice ahead of me, but will do it with much more confidence now.  I got a couple of new books thanks to the links and recommendations that were posted.  I actually have 4 finishes out of the challenge, that is awesome. And a great start on a set of place mats.  Thanks so much for hosting the challenge and the participants for sharing all their wonderful work and tips.  

Sue - Day 13 - Happy Mother's Day to all the Moms out there!!

Oh I am sooooo close to getting the snowman collector done.  One more day and I know I can do it!  Going to quilt a string of mittens in the green border and then just a curvy line in the last red border to finish things up.

Sue - Day 12

Getting closer on the Snowman Collector Quilt.  I quilted straight line snowflakes in all the muti-colored squares around the blocks.  Two more squares done, one with bigger snowflakes like in the block borders and the other smaller snowflakes with twirls in between.  I know I can finish this before the challenge is over!!

Sue - Day 10 and 11

Another snowman block done in the quilt (how does blogger decide which way the picture will go?.) I know I can get this one done before the challenge ends, I just know it.    But every time I start working on the cute little snowmen blocks, my mind wanders to feathers.

This is the first time that I've done a multiple vein  feather.  Next time I'm going to try more than two and see how it works.  I also tried a double echo around the feather for the first time.  I just love those loopy fills that I've seen, so I gave those a try too.   Oh wait, next time I'm going to finish the snowman quilt!!  (I need to keep reminding myself)

sue - Day 9

not much today.  I FMQ around the shape and did some simple little loops.    I just know I can get this one finished.  It's sat for far tooo long.

Sue - Day 8

Another feather and fill experiment.  This time on the spine I did half circles facing the outside of the spine on each side.  I didn't like that so I tried adding something different until it was completely unrecognizable. Some times you just have to leave good enough alone!!  I did try pebbles as the background fill for the feather and was pleasantly surprised.  The last time I tried them it was a terrible mess.   After the spine of the feather got so messed up, I thought "what do I have to lose".  Next time I'm going to try a feather with multiple spines.  

Sue - Day 7

Finished the second baby girl quilt. This time I got up enough nerve to do a large flower pattern in the center of the block.  This quilt is a donation quilt so glad it's done.  I've gotten 3 finishes thanks to this challenge!!

breaking a lot of needles today

I've gone through 5 needles today.  I tried speeding up the machine, slowing down (hmmm maybe need to slow down a little more) but they keep breaking.   Suggestions?

Sue - Day 6

I decided my practice pieces for the rest of the challenge are going to be place mat size.  If I like them I have a cute little place mat, if I don't well no loss.   Today I worked on filling the spine of a feather and the back ground fill of a feather.    I'll try a different back ground fill and a different fill for the spine for the next few days.   This also helps as I'm trying to get better at FMQ with larger designs.

So many beautiful things that everyone is sharing, very inspiring!!