October Free-Motion Quilting Challenge

This month's free-motion quilting challenge by Teri Lucas had us starting with pens and paper instead of needle and thread.  Drawing is not my strong suit - but I have started a quilt design notebook divided into Fillers, Borders and Blocks.  I am trying to test out my designs before I start sewing and I agree with Teri that by drawing a design first you create a muscle memory and it is easier to stitch.

Here is the second of the drawings I made for this challenge (the first was pretty pitiful).

For the actual stitching I used a piece of Robert Kaufman's Radiance that I had been wanting to try out and a variety of threads and needles.

 
For my name the thread was a 40 weight YLI Machine Quilting thread, the echo was done in Guterman 100% cotton in a 50 weight, the cross hatches in a Sulky PolyLite 60 weight, the feather in Superior King Tut, the circles in Sulky Metallic and the nautilus shells, swirls, e's and leaves in YLI silk thread.

I liked the heavier weight thread for the bold statement they made, but it really built up on the feather's spine. Both Sulky threads have beautiful sheen and I did not have any problems with the metallic thread - which sometimes can drive you to drink!  And the silk was a dream.  I want to do more with my silk threads - if only they weren't so darn expensive.

I would like to try Aurifil thread as I have heard lots of good things about it, but have not seen it locally.  I guess I will have to break down and order some.

A Little Christmas Star

I recently finished a little Ohio Star wall quilt done in Christmas fabrics by Holly Taylor for Moda.  This is the block I am going to be teaching at Stitch n' Sew Fabrics in Mount Pleasant, SC on November 9, 2012.

For this class, the students are to bring two fat quarters and are going to learn how to make quarter square triangles and this traditional block.

I also had a stack of charm packs in the same fabric line and wanted to do a more scrappy version of this quilt block, which is my preferred way to work.

I was worried about getting the free motion motifs in the solid squares, so I first quilted each side in the ditch with just batting and no backing.  After that I layered the two quilts, marked one side and finished the quilting.  I liked the way the double layer of batting looks and how well the tension worked on my machine. I will definitely use this technique again.

September Free-Motion Quilting Challenge

For this months challenge I made a place mat for one my guild's (Cobblestone Quilters Guild) charities.  We have been making  place mats for our local Meals on Wheels.  I used Don Linn's method of transferring the stencil to my fabric, and I must say I really like this technique.  I have always hated marking quilts - but have found this to be fast, accurate, and easy.

Like Paula Reid I found that once I had enough space to the left and back of my machine, my free motion skills improved greatly.  I have a wonderful table that my husband cut a hole into so that my machine is level with the surface.  Unlike Paula, however I don't like to have the quilt sitting on my lap - probably has something to do with the heat in Charleston most of the year! I tend to "fluff" the whole quilt on the table.  I have machine quilted fairly large pieces this way.

After I quilted the center medallion, I then added small flowers in the corners and then practiced my echo quilting.  I need to work on the spacing of the echos.  They varied a little more than I would like.

The finished project:

Dreaming of Fall - Part 2

Last post I showed the beginning of a small wall quilt I was working on for a class sample and it is now ready for quilting.

To start off I wanted to stitch in the ditch around the inner border.  I hate stitching in the ditch because I am not very good at it, but recently had seen either a post or a discussion on using your blind hem foot to aid in staying in the ditch.  I can't remember where I read or heard it but decided to give it a try.

It really does work.  I used a light tan thread and as I sewed pulled a little on each side of the quilt to separate the seam slightly.  The thread went right in the ditch and as long as I stayed focus and relatively slow, the thread just about disappeared.  This is the best stitch in the ditch I have ever done and will use this technique again.

After I had the inner border quilted on either side, I wanted to use a small curve around all the edges of the cream and wanted them to be similar in size and look.  Since I hate marking, I used a small piece of Tiger Tape to mark the center of each curve and the size from the edge I wanted to go in the block. This small piece was moved around the quilt and was still sticky enough to hold on all the way to the end,

And although they weren't perfect curves, I didn't have any marks to remove either!

Now to quilt the inside of the leaf.  I free-motion leaves and swirls using a variegated thread all over the leaf.

The quilt is done and now hanging at Stitch 'n Sew Fabrics.

Dreaming of Fall - Part 1

At this time of year living in the coastal south begins to get a little tiresome.  Hot, humid days seem to stretch forever and having grown up in Colorado, I begin to dream of the crisp, cool days of fall and the changing of the leaves.

I am starting to teach a series of technique classes at Stitch n' Sew Fabrics  in Mount Pleasant called Fat Quarter Fridays.  The class will be held the second Friday of the month and will work on techniques using only two or three fat quarters.  Each class will be a different technique and require only basic rotary cutting and sewing skills

The class to be held on October 12th will be on half-square triangles.  The class will work on several different ways to make half-square triangles including the traditional mark and sew  through the center of a square, using the Easy Angle ruler by Sharon Hultgren and the Strip Tube Ruler.  After we make triangles we will assemble a maple leaf block and talk about how to finish it into a small wall quilt.

For the class sample I pulled the maple leaf fabric and inner border from my stash and used a Phenomenal Fall by Moda charm pack for the outer border and the back. The outer border has simple, random curved piecing.

As I was in a bit of a hurry to finish this piece and didn't really want a binding on the quilt, I finished by sewing the all the way around the piece after stacking a layer of batting, the top face up, and the back face down. I then very carefully cut an X in the backing fabric and pulled the quilt right sides out.  To make better corners, I always angle one or two stitches across the corner and trim the fabric away.

Now the quilt is ready to be quilted which I will show in my next post.  

August Free-Motion Quilting Challenge

I am very proud to be posting this months challenge way before the end of the month!  I enjoyed Wendy Sheppard's work and liked the jester "hat" motif.  This month I just worked on muslin to get the technique down.

First I drew the hats with a blue wash out marker and then stitched it with variegated thread.  I wasn't terrible happy with my design - the hats didn't travel smoothly from one to another

Then I drew the hats with the Fleur de lis look. I liked some of the hats and others not so much.

Finally I just took a blank piece of muslin and started stitching.  I am still not terrible happy with all my hats but I felt like I was finally getting the hang of stitching another hat to move from spot to spot.  I can see myself using this as an all over design in a quilt.

  

July Free-Motion Quilting Challenge

The last day of the month and I once again just finish the challenge.  Actually it was done yesterday - but we lost the Internet just as I was getting ready to post!

This months challenge by Angela Walters used straight lines to enclose quilting designs - she used a swirl design in her tutorial.  This technique is good for large open areas of a quilt.  I struggled with this as I don't tend to have large open areas in my quilts.

I did not want to make yet another 10" square sample and finally decided to randomly piece some scrap fabrics together and make a place mat out of the finished project.  My guild in Charleston, Cobblestone Quilters, has two charity projects this year and one is to make place mats for Meals on Wheels.

I had three fat quarters of Terrie Hanock's fabric for Robert Kaufman in three different color waves (the fabric with all the colored circles in the piece).  I used one to pull colors of the other fabrics and the backing and will use another for the binding.  After I pieced it together I used a variegated thread to do Angela's technique of tiles but I used a loopy swirl for my design inside of each tile.

I need to work on quilting straighter lines - but I think it makes a very cheerful place mat.  Now to bind it before next guild meeting.