My Great Quilting Expedition

I didn't get around to posting last week, but I kept busy...despite gashing my middle finger with a rotary cutter.  I won't be doing that again, any time soon.  I ended up going to the hospital as it was still bleeding heavily 9 hours later.  Alginate dressings are magic and it is lucky I don't use that finger very often.  Week 12 FMQ Challenge On Thursday last week, I made a table topper at Kathy's Patch with the help of Jo.  For some reason, I struggled to work out how to position my triangles.  I bought a 60 degree triangle ruler a few weeks ago, so it was a bonus to be able to find a use for it!  Even better, I bought a reel of variegated King Tut a couple of years ago, and the topper colours were perfect for it.  I found quilting it on the shop Janome tricky as the foot bounces, whereas my Bernina foot doesn't.  I also had a bandage on my finger, so my FMQ wasn't as good as usual...or at least, that's my excuse! I also made a ...

I've had one of those weeks!  Nothing has gone quite as I'd hoped. Week 11 of my FMQ Challenge This was an unmitigated disaster. In the past, I have used a thick cotton batting to back the work and this has been sufficient to stabilise the stitching.  This time, I used a wool batting.  The result is awful.  The work distorted badly and really pulled in at the edges, where the background had been stippled, leaving lines  radiating out from the hare that the stippling cannot hide.  I am teaching myself, so learning from my own mistakes.  I'm just glad this was a practice piece and it will serve as a reminder of what NOT to do! New Project - Phebe by Di Ford I've been looking at the pattern for this quilt for a long time, and now Mountmellick is finished, I'm missing it.  I have made a start preparing the appliques for the centre medallion, using wash away applique paper.  I am struggling with some of the tiny pieces, and will have to ...

I finally got around to photographing my finished Mountmellick quilt this morning.  It has been sitting folded up, waiting to be hung.  I see it already has some fold marks on it, so that will teach me not to hang it straight away! Week 10 of my FMQ challenge This week, I have made a finished piece, rather than an unbound practice piece.  The cockerel was drawn and coloured using Derwent Intense pencils.  I added two layers of wool batting just behind the bird and then thread-painted using a combination of Isacord and rayon threads.  I cut away the excess batting around the bird, then made the quilt sandwich using polyester batting. I echo quilted around the bird to make the trapunto stand out.  I know the quilting behind the small chicken print and the feather print would not show up very well, so used the feather border to FMQ free form feathers following the pattern on the fabric.  Having far too much fun!

It has been a very productive week.  This week I have managed to finish the first block of the Quiltmania mystery quilt. I tried out some thread painting with mixed results. The first piece is of Monty, my Maltese. The second piece is my granddaughter, Willow and less successful.  I will have another try at this in the future...trying to avoid the contour lines.  I think they are a distraction.  Live and learn! It is now week 9 of my FMQ challenge.  My,  but time flies!I created a FMQ practice piece using plum coloured cotton, silver and gold metallic thread, turquoise and blue thread.  I wanted to try out Isacord's metallic threads and bought two spools from Stocks in Leeds. The thread was strong and has a good lustre, so I'm happy.  I hadn't tried feathers for a few weeks and I've always wanted to try hyperquilting.  I printed a block from EQ7 to give me the basic star shape.  I then made some changes to it.  This w...

This week, I wanted to try something different.  I love the mariner's compass, and have paper pieced a few, so wondered what it would look like in FMQ.  I agonised a bit over whether to have all the quilting in one or more colours and whether or not to paint the compass.  In the end, I went for 'less is more' and added a little colour in the compass using Isacord in turquoise, yellow and red. As usual, my accuracy has let me down.  I drew the cable badly - in particular, the top part sinks in the middle and the chalk markings were not as crisp as they could have been, making my quilting a bit uneven. On the upside, I felt confident enough to FMQ a wavy design between the arms of the compass and a different wave design around the compass.  I was really happy with my little pebbles. If only I could discipline myself into ensuring that my drawn design is perfect before I start to quilt, the result will be much better.  I think my problem is that I am alw...

This week I decided to practice little pebbles.  I also thought I'd try out the Derwent Inktense pencils I bought a couple of weeks ago. I tried two different methods of using them. Method 1 FMQ the piece first, then colour in the drawing.  I wet the colour to set it using water. Advantage : easy to do and the quilting thread takes on the colour of the pencils Disadvantage : the colour bled - pretty badly, in places.  It even bled through the wadding and backing cotton in a couple of places.  I didn't think the colours looked as strong in the finished piece.  My guess is that some of the colour seeped into the batting, diluting the colour on the surface. Method 2 I ironed a piece of freezer paper to the white cotton top fabric, then drew and coloured with the pencils.  I then applied textile medium with a very fine brush to the drawing.  I removed the freezer paper, and once dry, I sandwiched the top, wadding and back together and FMQ'd ...

2015 is the year I have challenged myself to improve my free motion quilting. This is: Week 6 This week, I wanted to try a couple of different backgrounds.  I have long wanted to try pebbles, and I felt that this was the right time to try.  I also wanted to try scribbling, as I have been getting a bit bored with  stippling.  I used Kaffe Fassett shot cotton in purple for the front and lavender for the back, with cotton batting.  Threads used were Superior metallic gold, silver, and Isacord taupe, and King Tut lavender in the bobbin.  I used a 90/14 topstitch needle. Criticism - my feathers have definitely improved.  I really like the effect that scribbling gives.  It gives the opportunity to add another colour to a wholecloth piece.  I like the pebbles, but found all the movement reauired when quilting, hard on my hands - note to self, maybe a lighter touch would help.  The most annoying thing about this piece is that I didn'...