first month of free motion quilting challenge drawing to a close

It's almost February which means a new free motion tutorial will be posted by sewcalgal sometime midweek.  I have practiced on my leaves but not everyday as I said I would (some things never change).  I have done a good bit of free motion quilting though so I can't be too upset with myself. 

This is my most recent practice with leaves. I also practiced free motion straight lines by sewing around the edges of my practice square and the most important thing I learned about that is to look in front of the presser foot an inch or two and not at the needle.  My leaves are getting better but I've got a ways to go.  I've got a wall hanging that I plan to use for practicing these leaves when I quilt the border.  

I had a Christmas gift to finish and I did practice freemotion quilting on it along with some straight line quilting using my walking foot.  The squares on this quilt have straight lines done on the diagonal using my walking foot.  I changed the direction of the diagonal in each square.  The sashings were done using my free motion foot and doing horizontal lines and vertical lines in alternating groups.  I learned this from a Patsy Thompson's DVD "Fast and Furious."  Because this quilt was made up of music themed fabrics, I did a musical note in each of the corner blocks in the sashing.  Then in the border, I did more musical notes connected by a meandering line.  I did draw the notes with chalk to help me not have to do a lot of "unsewing." Here are a couple of pictures of the quilt. I am most proud of the fact that I did not break thread in the sashings until I got to the other end. I had very few threads to hide and that was a big step forward for me.
 

revanmped nighties. . .

I made nightgowns for my TX girls.  Used the pillowcase dress design.  Didn't consider how confining the width of a pillowcase might be if the nightie was ankle length and the girl was 7 or 9 years old.  So, they came back home with me.  The plan was to get a llittle more fabric and add some fullness to the skirt.  Well, believe it or not, Joannes was out of both flannels I had used to make those nighties.  Sooooo, I went to plan B.  Got interlock knit, and used a different pattern -- but not that different.  Anyway, the two older girls got a nightgown and a flannel pillowcase(from the original nightie).  For the youngest, the skirt was plenty full but since I could cut off the bodice part and use a pattern to cut  new bodice that would fit better, I did revamp that gown too.   Sounds way more confusing than it was.
 Charlotte got a flannel nightie

 Molly Beth and Suzannah got  a nightie and a flannel pillowcase.

I got to cross off another To Do project Woo Hoo!!

because

Because some of these are too hilarious. . .  because I think Ryan Gosling is cute . . . and . . .  because it's an Internet meme (yes, I had to look it up ) . . . . I'm linking to these sites so you can have a good laugh too.

From Patchwork Duck Designs:

From Quilt Dad:

And from the Original -- Handmade by Ryan Gosling:

can you hear the fat lady singing?

well, she did and the music quilt was officially done... completed ... fini and was presented to its' rightful owner today .... at his work ..... when we picked him up for lunch.  Now on to other projects.

the music quilt --

it's almost completely quilted.  The squares and sashings are completed.  Just the borders and then then the binding and I can return it to its rightful owner.  He's glad too :)

I used black thread and quilted the squares on the diagonal.  I changed the direction of the diagonal in each square.  The overall effect looks good.

I did alternating groups of vertical and horizontal lines going down each sashing and then did a musical note in each of the red blocks and that way was able to finish an entire row/column of sashing with no extra stops and starts.  For the most part, I drew the notes and then free motioned on top of them.

My best attempt at a free motion note without drawing it first.  I only did a couple this way but this one turned out quite well.

Yes,, you do see quite a few dog hairs and lots of lint on the  quilt.  It was on the guest bed so long that the dog started napping on it.  I chased him off quite a few times.  Hopefully when I wash it most of that will be   gone.

fmq progress

My second practice attempt was not as good as my first.  I've picked something each day to  specifically work on.  It helps.  One day I  concentrated on changing the direction of the leaves.  Another day it was thinking just about which way to curve so I didn't get boxed in.  It has helped me.  My leaves are getting better for the most part.  I do have to stop every couple of leaves and think about where to go next but those stops should eventually get further apart.
Tuesday's Practice

 Wednesday

Still need to work on spacing between leaves and my curves.  I think I'm okay on the shapes.

the first expert to contribute to the FMQ Challenge was Frances Moore.  She provided a great video tutorial for creating a leaf motif.  After watching the video, I jumped right in and tried it out on a quilt sandwich.  Here are my first efforts.  I think I will get the hang of this fairly easily.  I just need to be consistent with my speed and learn to change the direction of the leaves without getting panicky.  All in all not a bad first effort.

My hope is to put in at least 15 minutes a day on just this design and see how much I can improve over the rest of the month.  

 SewCalGal had a great idea for 2012.  I'm looking forward to what comes next.

belated happy new year

Barely a week into the New Year and I'm already behind.  I really want to focus on my FMQ (free motion quilting) this year and have signed up for the Free Motion Quilting Challenge. 

I've also signed up for my first ever BOM.  I see them all the time but this quilt really caught my eye.  It is  a sampler quilt using the pattern from a book by Jodi Barrows. It is based on the Square Within a Square technique so I've signed up for a class to learn about that.  We will meet on the 28th to receive the materials for our first two blocks and the class is Feb. 4th so I won't have to put of my blocks for very long.

I just think it is a beautiful quilt.  If mine is anywhere close to this I think I will love it.

To help me gain a little more "piecing" expertise, I've signed up for a class called Piecing Accuracy at a local quilt shop.  I know I will get a lot of good tips and pointers from this class. 

On top of all these things I've put on my list, I have one quilt ready to quilt that has to be finished as it was a Christmas present and another quilt that needs to be made over the next six to eight weeks. These are just the things at the top of my to do list for 2012.  The whole list is probably as long as I am tall and getting longer.  So, I'd better get busy don't you think.