Thursday, April 25, 2024

Cathedral Window Hot Pads at Free Motion Mavericks

Hi and welcome to week 579 of Free Motion Mavericks! Last week I made a crowd of hot pads 😁. I always thought that Cathedral Windows were very difficult. I watched the video, and it looked easy. Then I made a crowd of them and it turns out that they're not so easy! 😉

Cathedral Window Hot Pads & a Layer Cake

Many years ago, I got a great deal on a Layer Cake (10" squares from a collection of fabrics), in this case, Figures by Brigitte Heitland for Zen Chic and Moda. When I needed 10" squares to make Cathedral Window Hot Pads, I found my package of Layer Cake and started the production.

My first crowd of Cathedral Window hot pads

I made the first one for myself, since I was sure that it would turn out wonky...and it did, but not terrible. I got an air fryer for Christmas and I wanted to have a hot pad that would stay nearby. Don't they look good together 😀

My first hot pad - made to hang out with the air fryer

I'm afraid that I didn't take any process pictures but if you want to learn how to male these, I highly recommend a tutorial by Shabby Fabrics (see link below). The thing about Cathedral Windows is that it's all about how those windows look in the centre and in the corners. Here's an image from the video on how they should look. You can see that the centre and the corners of the Cathedral Windows are well defined and relatively pointy.

Look at those corners -
that's what they should look like!

Unfortunately, mine didn't all look like this. Some came out really good while others sort of continued into space 😁. I'm sure that my non-quilting friends won't mind but if I'm going to make these, I may as well figure out how to make them well.

Here are close-ups of the three that I made for a friend. Aren't these fabric amazing?

A white background with blue accents and yellow Cathedral Windows

I love this blue and yellow combination

There are so many lovely blues in this one

This is what they look like from the back

You may have noticed that the top blue hot pad on the right is double stitched around the Cathedral Windows. I was trying different variations of making these, and for this one, I managed to forget to stitch down the Cathedral Windows before adding the backing and turning it over (like a pillow case). It didn't make that much of a difference, except for the double stitched line.

Cathedral Window Hot Pads gift

What I learned

In theory, making Cathedral Windows is not difficult.
When I first watched the Shabby Fabric tutorial, the instructor said to be very careful with the centre of your Cathedral Windows. So I put all of my attention on the centre but sort of forgot the corners. Generally my centres do look good.
I'm still trying to figure out how to get some lovely bottom corners in my Cathedral Windows. When I figure it out, I'll let you know! 😊
Many people would like some of these hot pads, so when I make my next crowd, I'll be extra careful with my corners and take lots of pictures and notes so that I can get them consistently right.
I used my walking for making the hot pads. Now that I've gone back to piecing the Mystery Quilt with my ¼" foot, I've noticed that my accuracy is much better. I'll have to take that into consideration the next time I make these hot pads.

Free Motion Mavericks

Thanks to everyone who linked up their projects! Here are those projects that involved FMQ, ruler work or walking foot quilting.

Kat from Scrapbox Quilts finished a lovely 3 yard quilt named Charlie as part of the 2024 3YD Quilt Series with Material Girlfriends. She quilted it with flowers in the centre of the blocks, using "Every Leaf " templates by Amanda Murphy. I'm sure that the child who will receive it will love it!

A lovely 3 Yard Quilt by Kat

Some lovely FMQ as seen from the back.

It's now your turn 😍

Thursday, April 18, 2024

Mystery Quilt so far on Free Motion Mavericks

Hi and welcome to week 578 of Free Motion Mavericks. I'm trying to catch up in my 2 Colour Mystery Quilt with Joanne of Canuck Quilter Designs. I keep trying to get caught up, but then every Thursday we get another clue....😉

2 Colour Mystery Quilt

Today we'll be getting the Week 8 clue. Here is what I've done so far.

Week 1 was about cutting the fabric. Since that's my least favourite part of quilt making, I only cut what I have to, as I need them. So I actually started cutting Week 2, when I knew what I needed!

Week 1 - cutting for week 2

Week 2 blocks

I had quite the challenge putting the Week 2 blocks together but I did it! 😊

Week 3 was making a whole bunch of half-square triangles. That went better.

Week 3, large and small half-square triangles

In Week 4, I sewed some of the half-square triangles together. That's when things start getting a little bit wonky, but generally not too bad.

Week 4, making a block with some of the half-square triangles

Weeks 2 to 4 with a couple of Week 5 pieces

In Week 5, I used some of those extra half-square triangles to make these blocks. I also chain pieced some of these. It sewed up really well.

Chain piecing the flip and stitch pieces

Week 5 blocks

Week 5 blocks in the other colour

For Week 6, I've cut up most of my fabric and started putting them together. I have 2 blocks of each colour done - only 22 more to go!

Week 6 in first colour

Week 6 in second colour

These are my cut pieces for Week 6.
I haven't counted them yet 😃, I just kept cutting!

What I learned

I wasn't doing too badly until I started sewing the different parts together. That's when things tend to get pretty wonky!
I trimmed up what I could of my Week 4 half-square triangles, but only a couple were too large. Most of them of OK or at least an ⅛" too small. That means that things are going to get wonky quickly!
I'll be trimming the Week 5 and 6 blocks - I know that the Week 6 blocks are pretty wonky, so I'm going to be more careful when I make the 22 others (of each colour). Hopefully I'll figure it out before I'm done!
As you saw, I used chain piecing as much as I could. I hope that the accuracy is OK.
In Week 7, we start putting the different blocks together. It looks very cool 😎
I think that my best bet is to use a very scant ¼" to stitch things together.

If you haven't read it yet, for the first time ever I participated in the First Quarter Check-in with Yvonne of Quilting Jetgirl. I'm glad I did because I've been all over the place, so it was good to look at what I've done so far. Thanks Yvonne!

Free Motion Mavericks

We've had a busy week! Thanks to everyone who linked up. Let's see what our quilters were up to!

Kat from Scrapbox Quilts linked up her very cute Dino Dinosaur quilt. She used a number of FMQ designs, from diamond crosshatch, stars, stippling to following the elements making up the dinosaurs blocks. If you want to see more, check out the picture of the back of the quilt on her blog post.

Kat's very cute Dino Dinosaur quilt

I saw this wonderful quilt on Frédérique's linking party and asked the author to link up 😊. It's a two-sided quilt made by the blogger of "des tulipes et des coeurs" (tulips and hearts). To read her post, you can use Google Translate which is located in the table of contents at the top right corner of the blog.

She made this quilt for 18 month old Romy. She FMQ from the back of the quilt, after stitching-in-the-ditch the bands of colour and the name. Check out the post to see close-ups of the different FMQ designs that she used - it's worth it!

The back of Romy's quilt by blogger "des tulipes et des coeurs"


The front of Romy's quilt - mostly Kaffe Fasset fabrics

Frédérique of Quilting Patchwork Appliqué finished her Jardin de corail (Coral Garden) quilt. It was made as part of a QAL and required 16 animals in the piece! She mostly quilted around each tropical fish that can be found in a lagoon. It really is wonderful. It was finished using the facing method so that it looks like they are in the lagoon, as opposed to an aquarium.

Frédérique's Jardin de corail (Coral Garden) quilt

Frédérique also made 2 stained glass mini quilts. Although she didn't quilt them, I want to share with you her poinsettia mini because it was attached to the backing and batting by using sequins and beads in the centre. How cool is that!

Frédérique's Poinsettia stained glass mini quilt,
attached with sequins and beads!

It's now your turn!

Monday, April 15, 2024

First Quarter Check-in

Hi, I was catching up on my blog reading when I found Yvonne's Quilting Jetgirl's First Quarter Check in party and post. It's been such a whirlwind of activity here that I thought that it would be nice to actually see what I said that I would do, and what actually happened so far! Thanks Yvonne!

January to March 2024

Quilts

In my Quilts section, I got distracted and chased a squirrel! I ended up not participating in this year's SAHRR (Stay At Home Round Robin) but instead signed up for Joanne's at Canuck Quilting Designs, 2 Colour Mystery Quilt. It's been a challenge because I'd forgotten how fiddly a traditional quilt can be! The mystery quilt started at the beginning of March. I followed along well for the first month but I'm a little behind at this time. I am getting there!

Weeks 1 to 5, with week 6 slowly happening! Only 1 week behind!

I did start on Hubby's wall quilt but didn't get very far. I'm hoping to get it done in June....but who knows. I ended up taking a class with Cyndi McChesney, one of the experts on quilting with panels! It was a two-part workshop on Zoom with Cyndi who taught us how to make wonderful quilts with our panels. It helped me immensely since I really had no idea where I was going. Now I know what to do, it's just a matter of getting it done!

Wonky improv strips that will be the background

Layout of the final design

I did measure between each panel to see how wide each improv section of the background needs to be. I had to get at least that far since we needed the dining room table for Easter supper 😋.

Finally, I FMQ my girlfriend's quilt. I'm happy to say that she loved it! 😊It's a beautiful quilt and she did a great job!

FMQ my girlfriend's quilt

Challenges, Journal Making, Art Quilts and Mindful Stitching

The beginning of 2024 was extremely busy as I participated in 4 of the 6 challenges of Project Quilting. I actually started another one but never got it finished.

Project Quilting 15.1 - Bird House Challenge 1 was my favourite make so far this year. It was even part of a small fibre show at a local restaurant, Chez Lucien, in the market in Ottawa.

Home to Feed - hanging at Chez Lucien

Project Quilting 15.2 - Sky Colour, Challenge 2 was a very practical make. I improv pieced and FMQ an agenda cover.

Sky Colours, my 2024 Quilting Agenda Cover

Project Quilting 15.3 - Inside Out, Challenge 3, was a smaller make. I made a meditation quilt piece and attached it into my journal. It was a lot of fun!

In a fish bowl, looking out!

Project Quilting - 15.6 - Irish Chain, Challenge 6 was more practical. I've always wanted to make an Irish Chain quilt, so this is my first one. It's a cuddle quilt that was donated to Community projects through my local guild. These lovely, tiny quilts go to the Intensive Care Neo-Natal or Post-Partum Units. I had a great time FMQ it!

Irish Chain Cuddle Quilt

My favourite year long challenge is Joyful's Table Scraps Challenge 2024. I've been participating for a few years now and love it. At the end of each month, I make a small scrappy piece. Scraps and colour - what's not to love!

For the March (purple) and January (green) Table Scraps Challenge, I made Hubby and Sarah some scrappy colourful improv placemats for the house.

Last year's and this year's scrappy improv placemats

For February, since I was away at the end of the month, I made a meditation piece for the Red challenge called Love All Around. It was perfect for making in the car and hotel.

Love All Around, February's Table Scraps Challenge

So far this year I've only made one hand-make Scrappy Journal. It was a Challenge and a lot of fun. Hubby liked it so I'll be making him a few.

Scrappy Journal Cover drying

Finished Scrappy Journal with Zig-zag stitch

In February I finished Swirling Leaves 3. It's for one of my daughter's friends who got married in the fall. Since she loves all things Fall, this was a perfect gift.

Swirling Leaves 3

I've been doing some mindful stitching - not on a daily basis, which is what I was hoping for, but rather in spirts. That's so much more my style.

My big stitching project this year is doing some mostly mindful stitching on a hand-woven tablecloth that I brought back from Istanbul many years ago. There are 16 boxes per row and I've stitched 3 rows so far. Here are a few images. I guess that I'll have to post an update soon.

Playing with colour, chain and running stitches

Celebrating my daughter's 30th birthday

Tablecloth - I now have 3 rows finished!

I also started my Outdoor Hanging Art Quilt. I started by making a meditation mini that I'm slowly using as the inspiration for my outdoor piece. You can read more about the inspiration here.

Inspiration for my Outdoor Hanging Sculpture

I'm working on different translucent scarves to make the first 3 Suns.

Dawn Sun

Noon Sun, still needs stitching and trimming

I've stopped working on these since I'm busy creating a piece for the Out of the Box (OOTB) Fibre Fling. I started at the beginning of April and it's my One Monthly Goal (OMG).

Spring Tulips - still needs a few more tulips

What I learned

I'm really glad that I took the time to write this post. Like I said, I've been so busy making that it's good to step back and see what exactly that was!
I want to add that I also celebrated 12 years of blogging!
I'm probably as productive as I was but my energy is generally fairly low, so between making, I spend a LOT of time reading! That's what re-fuels me 😍
As you can see, the smaller projects are so much easier to work on than the larger ones. It's not that their easier to do, just easier to pick up and work on, as opposed to projects that need thinking time.
As soon as I finish my Spring Tulips, I'll be focusing on my Outdoor Hanging Sculpture since that's due at the beginning of June. Although I haven't been working on it, I still think about it a lot and have figured out a few things....I hope. I won't really know till I try it!
I'm also looking forward to having a little bit of energy to play in the garden. Spring is when my favourite bulbs come out! With the rain this week, my Allium are getting big and will soon be blooming!