Day 14 for Cheryl

When I started this challenge I was not sure if I could do all 14 days in a row. I am happy to say that a personal goal of doing it, with a little of a challenge to rearrange sewing things. The piecing was little to almost none with the machine set up with FMQ.  Wanting a separate machine to just FMQ is more wanted than ever. Day 14 was a busy day but I did manage to squeeze in a 30 minute timeframe of FMQ to do another sample block. This one was inspired by a Joan and Joanne’s samples of feathers and fill stitches. It’s not as good as I would like it to be, but it will do for a sample piece for now.

Thanks for a wonderful challenge Joanne and Wendy. When and if you have another one, I will be happy to join in, this was a fun time.

Cheryl M.

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!!

Raewyn - days 10 and 11

I found an already basted quilt top in my cupboard so for Days10 and 11 I have been working on this. It's a simple jelly roll design with 6 'blocks' which suits me well.
I decided to 'stencil' in the centre of the blocks ---

Day 10  - oops need more practise following lines!

---and have stippled in a strip around each block.


Its really interesting quilting a a big quilt compared to the little sandwiches; all that weight and bulk threw me for a bit (I have walking foot quilted before but I had forgotten about it!) but I am getting the hang of it and am enjoying not having to turn the whole quilt around for the corners!!
I am using a variegated thread which I decided was good for such a multi-coloured quilt.





It's been really neat looking at all the quilting everyone has done, and seeing the Day 14 results.
Have a great weekend everyone, I hope you manage to squeeze some quality quilting time in!
Raewyn

Days 13 & 14 - Janet

unfortunately, life has intervened, and I was unable to get any quilting time in my last two days of the challenge :(
Still, I am very pleased with what I was able to accomplish and will continue to try and get some time in on most days.  It has definitely helped me understand the type of quilting that I prefer to do - freeform, texture rather than strictly following a plan, so this is a good thing!
I have seen so much wonderful quilting so far, and anticipate seeing a lot more in the coming week!

Day 11, 12, and 13 little at a time!

All most there for me. I have had some internet problems for the last couple of days, so I was not able to post results. Everything is back to normal now.

I am still working on my daughters  graduation quilt. It is about 1/3 of the way done. It is slow going with the pebbling and echoing around the letters and words. I have to go slower than I normally do otherwise I will break a needle if  I hit the seam areas the wrong way. That was last Wednesday, day 11 for me.
On Thursday (day12) and today (day 13) I decided to take a break from the quilt and work on some class samples. I had no samples of what FMQ looks like with 100 wt. silk and 50 wt. cotton next to each other.

The smaller picture is the same as the top left corner block area. all four sections of the picture on the right was done with 100 wt. YLI silk on top, embroidery bobbin thread in the bobbin. The batting was 80/20 Fairfield sewn with a 70 Microtel needle. These were a dream to quilt and some of the areas you can see are done on the dense side, and they are very soft to the touch with no stiffness in the fabric and batting.

This last picture shows 100 wt. silk on the left and 50 wt. cotton Gutermann on the right. Though you really can not see much difference in the picture, you can see in real. The 50 wt. thread lays more on the top of the fabric, where the 100 wt. silk melts into the fabric and almost become part of the fabric.
One more day for me and that will make 14 days. Though I tell my students all the time that you have to practice daily to see the results, I am always amazed by the improvements that I make when I quilt on a daily basis. I just wish I had the time to quilt more. But a little thing like work gets in the way. LOL

Day 12

I practiced this pantograph because I think it has more quilting than the one I did yesterday. The curves look smoother...to me..LOL!!

Ruth's day 14

Yesterday was day 14 for me and I didn't get to the quilting until kind of late, so I didn't post it yesterday.  This morning, I did some more quilting early and finished the border of my quilt!  Woo Hoo!  I am a lot more confident and feel that if I can see good examples of how to quilt designs, I should be able to do them.  I don't plan to do real fancy quilting, because at this stage, I still need a lot more experience.

Thank you so much for the challenge!  It was just what I needed as I wanted feathers in the border and didn't know how they were going to get there.  (No quilting fairies were appearing).  I will return to this site often to view the examples that are here for ideas in the future.

My Last Three Days...

How quickly time moves along!

This was a practice piece for my FMQing Challenge. I did this on my day 12 (Tuesday). I had watched a FMQ video earlier on Tuesday, so as I was practicing, I think I had a better idea of what I was suppose to be doing!

On Wednesday and Thursday, my day 13 and 14, I was quilting a mother's day gift...So I'll show just part of it! (I'll post a full view on Monday.)

I also did a small practice piece, but the pictures would not turn out...so the stitching didn't show up. (Sorry there's no picture.)

So, I've finished the FMQing Challenge...and have improved!

However, I may continue to challenge myself for the last week of the challenge as well because now I have a new tool... an extention table for my sewing machine! To see what my loving husband made, visit my blog!

I've Completed the Challenge!
Amanda

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)

Joanne's Day 14

Today I finished the feathered table runner.

I just had to finish quilting one end of it.

the back

This piece was really just a way for me to practice my regular feathers (my tutorial).

The table runner is all finished. It is 20½" x 41½".
Today was my last day of the challenge. I managed to finish 4 projects during the challenge (which is a bonus!).
It was wonderful getting so much FMQ done, and seeing every one else's work.

Joanne

Peg’s Challenges–Days 12-14

I decided to try some feathers – used a piece of leftover from another project:

For me, this was a lot harder than it looks – I found that I couldn’t see where I was going, so couldn’t follow the lines of the previous loop.  So – feathers – sometime in the future, when I’ve had lots and lots and lots more practice.

I did finish up the last table mat that was on my original list:

 

Now just binding and it’s ready to use!

This has been a wonderful challenge and a great l3earning experience for the past 2 weeks.  Many, many thanks to Wendy and Joanne for organizing this and giving me a reason for some concentrated practice.

Happy FMQ!              Blessings, Peg

Day #14

This is my Day #14 in the FMQ Challenge - I did it!! I FMQ'd for 14 days straight.  It was an awesome experience.  I accomplished my goal of learning how to make feathers and I started and finished the quilting on a quilt top that I made last year.  I am very satisfied with my progress and I am now confident to continue experimenting with various designs.  I would like to thank Joanne and Wendy for hosting this challenge and also a big thank-you to all the participants for the lovely comments that inspired me to continue.  We all did a great job!I spent some time today working on the border of my wallhanging. I am close to being finished and this project will hang in my sewing room as a reminder of the fun I had the last two weeks and also of how much I learned in two short weeks. 

Days 12, 13, 14 and for the next few weeks

I’ve been working on the feather wreaths for my mother’s quilt.  Nothing exciting.  Here’s a picture of one in process.  I used the red piece as a warmup.  I don’t have any plan for it, so I probably won’t continue with it and will start a different one soon.  Or maybe I’ll just keep fooling around with this one until it’s a mass of backgrounds. 

             

Anyway, I’m done with my Challenge:  14 days of FMQ.  I’ve really become more confident over the past two weeks.  It shows in my stitching.  Not only are my feathers more plump and fuller, but the stitches are more even.  I wonder how it will look after I finish this quilt.

 

-Wendy

Days 6, 7, & 8

I’ve been having so much fun! I find myself rushing home everyday to get to spend more time with my sewing machine. Day 7 I could only spare an hour, but I managed to quilt 5 wreaths and 2 feathers! Wow, I am getting so much faster. I am also doing much better on my backtracking. Quilting the feathers feels more natural too! I can’t believe the progress I’ve made after just 1 week!

Here’s my picture from last night. I left the paper on because I was rushed for time and I just wanted to quilt.

I can’t believe the rate I’m going through bobbins. I think because of all the backtracking I am doing and also because I have the stitch length set so low. I like it that low so I can tear the paper easily.

Last night (Day 8) I got home and was so exhausted. I still managed to quilt 3 feather sprays, but that was a struggle!

This is how my quilt clips have lasted! I get tired of rolling it up or rolling it out and just leave them off. What a lazy girl!

Day 14 Mary Ann/ND

Today is the last day of the free motion challenge for me...

Finally, I felt ready to quilt on a baby quilt!

This is my largest project to date.

My FMQ experience

16 days total:

2 in Nov. 2010

14 days

April 22nd - May 5th, 2011

Baby quilt made from six blocks found in a thrift store from 1930's original fabrics.

warm & natural batting

flannel back

90/14 metallic needle

100% polyester Guetterman thread in top and bobbin

tension 4

Baby Lock Quest Plus

Detail of the back of the quilt.

Machine embroidery, FMQ, and tie

Sentiments for little ones

Machine embroidery, Ellageo, Madeira embroidery thread

Machine embroidery and FMQ

Completely free motion - no markings

Thank you for the opportunity to FMQ with you!

Please click HERE

Raewyn - day 7, 8, 9

Days 7 and 8 saw me pulling out the Lilac and Brown threads.

 Still just having fun meandering around, gaining control, experimenting with different speeds and stitch length.
Are others of you using the BSR on the Bernina 440 QE? The instruction booklet says to use a stitch length setting of 2mm, but shorter for the likes of microstippling, whereas everywhere else (ie different machines) say a stitch length of 0... does it matter - what do you do??

Day 7 - Lilac

Day 8 - Brown thread and my first ever 'feather' (freehand)

I decided that I was brave enough to work on an actual project so Day 9 was some simple fmq on this foundation pieced cushion I made a few weeks ago.

My stitches got a bit large - I realised that it was because I was a bit scared and slowed down too much. Anywhere I got confident and sped up, the stitches are not so bad!! For just a cushion though I decided it was passable!

The back - threads match too well; photo doesn't really show the stitching

A heart on his chest and a pattern on his bag.

Another question - what does everyone else do about their ends?? For this project I just pulled them through and and tied them at the back, but I don't fancy doing this all the time. What do you find the most secure way to do the threads at the start and end of the quilting?
I'm not sure what I will be fmq-ing on today as I would really like to start on a crumbs quilt I have but don't have the time to baste it today. So I will hunt through my cupboard and see what I come up with!!
In anticipation of some helpful comments, thank you everyone,
Have fun sewing!!
Raewyn

Day 11

Trying out the pantograph I think I will use on theQuilts for Kids quilt... It may not be heavy enough on the quilting...they wrote they wanted heavy quilting as it will get lots of wear. I got the top pieced...it is a cute monkey print and bright pink. My curves are not very smooth.

Day 14

I have finally done the border holly leaves on my table cloth. I am pleased with the results. I did some free motion in the large squares. I am not sure I like the squiggles. The material did not seem to move as easily as I wanted it to. Practise, practise.

I am really enjoying seeing everyone's practise and finished pieces. I have learned alot from seeing them all.

Wendy21

Colleen - Day 9

Yesterday I quilted all the outside border.
I have a very busy border so the quilting won't show much.

FMC Challenge Day 14 Thursday

We have had a tiring day to Perth and back - a long drive!
It was a real push to get some sewing done...however.....

I have been working on my feather on the black - but was trying to work out fillers...

The photos didnt work well...I will take more tomorrow and post them

So far I have added a deep purple and then a burgundy.

Here I have been playing with other silk threads and different colours The silver one is actually a steel gray, then there is a goldy-brown and the Burgundy.

This is the back of my feather one, showing how I am going. 

 I have used a dark thread for the fillers... I was having trouble seeing small spots of cream thread showing at intervals using the darker silk threads.



I will try some more colours out tomorrow ..I am too tired for more tonight.

This is my Day 14 - the last day for the Challenge, for me.  I made it!!

Again I have loved this time and so special to see how everyone is imrpoving.