Free Motion Quilting Samples

A few weekends ago, my friend Leslie invited me to a sewing group meeting at her work. It was the first time I'd ever gotten together to sew with others, so it was an interesting experience. It was at a preschool, so I set up my machine on a tiny table, and sat in a tiny chair. I did get a bit of work done though! This quilt (which is the BOM quilt) is supposed to be finished by April, so I have a bit of work to do.

This photo is my attempt at pebbles. Circles were a bit more challenging then I anticipated, but I think I got the hang of it by the end. I liked the way the bigger pebbles puffed up.

My friend Leslie told me that she really liked the quilting pattern that looked like coral, which I couldn't visualize. She drew it out for me, and it turns out she was talking about an allover meander. This was a hard design for me, but I suppose with practice it would be easier. I kept trying to make sharp curves.

I got this design from the freemotion quilting blog, and I love the flower look.


It shows up better on the back.

I signed up to do the next year's BOM, mainly because I like to have an excuse to go to the fabric store once a month and talk to other quilters. I also really like the design of next year's quilt. I probably won't do the quilt as you go method again, because I don't like having to stop at the edges of each block. I'd rather quilt the whole thing in one go.

I Love Free Motion Quilting

It's not like I forgot I liked free motion quilting, I just forgot how much I enjoyed it. It's mentally taxing, but not overly so. It doesn't involve a lot of steps. It's just a matter of sitting and sewing, which is nice, nice, nice.

I've been using the setting blocks of my BOM club to practice free motion quilting patterns, and I quite like this one.

The only issue is that it takes quite a bit more time. Last night I whizzed through six blocks using stitch in the ditch, and tonight this one block was it. I also use a whole lot more thread. I just blow through bobbins when I'm doing stuff like this. I have been using a more expensive thread topside, and it's been easier to use. There isn't such a huge build up of lint with it, even though it is %100 cotton like the cheap-o stuff I was using before.

I think all the little shapes look like mussel shells. They're fun to make too.

BOM Club

It's been almost a year since I started my block of the month club, and while I've kept up with the blocks, I haven't really kept up with quilting them as I've gone. I'm in the midst of setting up one quilt and finishing another, so I thought I'd take the evening to catch up.

I've been using these blocks to practice free motion quilting, and with these in particular blocks I've been practicing stitching in the ditch.

My success varies with how much I'm paying attention, how I pressed the back of the block and the direction of the wind. Har, har.

I'm having more success with getting a consistent stitch length, so I'll take my victories where I can get them. I'm hoping with time it will become easier.

Cut Glass Dish Block

The most recent block we had for my Block of the Month class at Cool Cottons was the one pictured above, called (I think) Cut Glass Dish. My piecing skills are still a little shaky for triangles, but I think the magic of using sizing has helped considerably.

I think the points are looking pretty good, but there is always room for improvement. I wish I had used sizing when I made all the sashing, but short of a time machine, there's not much I'm willing to do about it. I'll get two more blocks in class, and I'm up to date on all the blocks, but I have a lot of quilting to go. We're doing the quilt as you go method, which I like, but I've been sort of consumed with my quilt pattern project, so I haven't really been quilting the pieces. The BOM quilt is supposed to be done in March, so I should be getting a move on.

An idea that came up in the BOM club was to cut 2 inch squares and sew them together as starters and enders to the sewing process, which eliminates the birds nest you can get when starting out on the machine. I decided to do this, and have created these blocks so far. Again, sizing is doing wonders for my seam matching. I can't wait until I have a bunch of them.

Fantasy Hour

I'd like to think I'm a pretty modest person. I don't brag much to my friends, or talk about how awesome I am (at least, I think I don't!).

I'll admit here though, that I have a pretty active fantasy life. Whenever I start something new, I like to imagine scenarios where I am adored and admired for the new thing I'm trying. For example, when I started design school, I would imagine scenarios where I was an award winning designer, featured in design magazines, and begged by my design school to come back and talk about what a wonderful designer I was to students who were once just like me.

Now, here's the thing. I'm not a great graphic designer, I'm not bad at it, but I'm not great. I know that now, but at the time it was fun to think about fame and fortune. I'm very much okay with the fact that I'm not some world famous designer. I realize that most of my fantasy life is just that, a fun fantasy.

Do I fantasize about becoming a famous quilting personality? One with seven million blog followers, and my own line of fabric? Oh heck yeah. Will it ever happen? Probably not. All that being said, one fantasy I don't think is outside the realm of possibility to design a quilt, and have the pattern published. I've cruised quite a few blogs where people have published patters, so it seems sort of accessible.

All of that was a very big lead up to the fact that I've been working on a pattern all weekend, but I won't be posting pictures of it, because I'd like to submit it publication, and I don't think I can if I do it here first. I'm going to see if I can write six patterns in the next three months, at two weeks for every pattern. We'll see if I can stick to it.

In other news I washed Broadway Boogie Woogie Pt. 2 yesterday, and am pretty pleased with how it looks washed. The quilting crinkled up nicely. It is tremendously satisfying to finish a project.

I'm also still working on my BOM class quilt. I've caught up on all the blocks, and just have to add sashing to three more. I haven't been using sizing until now, and it's making a big difference in how well my seams match up. I'm not 100% there yet with seam matching, and having the final size come out right, but I'm getting closer.

This block is called Four Corners. I like it a lot. On of my favorite thing about patchwork quilts is the way the positive and negative space interact to create more complex shapes.

Finished, finished finished!

Broadway Boogie Woogie Pt. 2 is done! It even has a sleeve! The binding is sort of crap, but the front looks alright. It's not for show, so I decided not to torture myself by trying to make the binding perfect. I'll take photos tomorrow.

For someone who doesn't have much of a stash, I did get a decent amount of fabric for my applique project from the leftovers from the back of my block of the month class quilt. I love a good rainbow.