Learning QAL - November Goal Setting Link-up

Welcome to the fourth month of the Learning QAL.

I hope you'll join me on my learning adventure - and make it yours!

The rules are easy - post what you would like to learn this month (it doesn't have to be complicated!) and link-up your post. At the end of the month we will have a Learning Sum Up and share our learning. You don't even have to finish the project as long as you post about what you learned. There is even a prize for a lucky person who has linked up to both the Goal Setting and Sum Up!

There must be something you have to make soon that involves learning something new! So please join in the fun.

In October, Mel of Mel's Quilting Blog wanted to try out Terial Magic and see if she should use it to make a T-shirt Quilt. She used the stabilizer on a t-shirt and made a pillow - and learned that yes, she liked the product and would use it for a whole quilt. I've never heard of Terial Magic until now. Sounds like a great alternative to ironing stabilizer. Thanks Mel for sharing your learning. You are the winner of a $20 certificate from Connecting Thread! Congrats!

I'll be searching this month for a few ideas as prizes for participating. They will be listed in the November Sum Up and the winner will choose the prize she wants! Each prize will be roughly a $20 value - so get that post written and join in!

Four improv quilt blocks made with different batting

October Learning Goal

My October learning goal was to try 4 types of batting to learn the difference in how they handled when quilted.

Since I didn't get a chance to bind and wash them by the Sum Up, there wasn't much to say except that the silk batting was very thin and the cotton-wool batting had more loft that the regular cotton and bamboo-cotton batting.

I also had a chance to try out some new improv blocks and practice my free motion quilting (FMQ). I would say that the experiment was a success, but wasn't finished.

In the next few days, I will write a post on the washed and finished blocks. Look out for it!

November Learning Goal

This month, I will continue the batting experiment.

As I did in October, here are the four different batting I will be using:

• Tender Touch bamboo-cotton (50%-50%) with scrim
• Warm 100 Cotton  with 100% cotton scrim
• Hobbs Tuscany Collection cotton-wool (80%-20%) batting with resin bonded
• Hobbs Tuscany Collection silk and fine polyester (90%-10%) with resin bonded

The time, I will be comparing the batting to see how they handle different threads as I do some free motion quilting (FMQ). I have a lovely collection of silk threads as well as cotton and metallic threads that I can't wait to use!

FMQ from the back

For the first three, I will be using a technique that I learned from Cindy Needham in her Craftsy course, Machine Quilting Wholecloth Quilts. It's called Large Print Wholecloth Quilt. Essentially it involves FMQ using the backing fabric as a template to create a wholecloth quilt in the front, on a solid fabric.

Here is the wholecloth quilt that I originally created, using this wild fabric as a template on the back.

For more details, see Free Motion Quilting Madness in the Related Links below.

Large Print Wholecloth Quilt

I'll be using these prints to create wholecloth quilts. The solid fabric behind the print will end up being the front of the quilt.

A whimsical birds and leaves fabric with a blue solid

A bird on a tree branch with a blue solid

A wild plant as the template on an off-white solid

For my last piece, I will be FMQ this fabric that I hand-dyed this summer (as my August Learning Goal).

FMQ on hand-dyed fabric

What I learned:

• One month isn't very long for learning something new. I like that I can keep learning based on the initial idea of using different batting for various projects.
• I suspect that I may be overly ambitious this month - on the other hand, when I get started, the FMQ goes fairly quickly. I guess we'll see 😊
• No matter how much I actually get done, there is guaranteed to be learning involved!!!

Related Links:

• Mel's October learning at Mel's Quilting Blog
• Connecting Threads
• October Learning Goal, October 1, 2017
• October Sum Up, October 25, 2017
• Free Motion Quilting Madness, March 16, 2015
• Machine Quilting Wholecloth Quilts with Cindy Needham at Craftsy
• Results of Learning to Dye Fabric, August 28, 2017

Linking Parties: I will be linking this post to many great linking parties. Check them out and see what others are doing! Midweek Makers, Let's Bee Social, Linky Tuesday, Design Wall Monday, Main Crush Monday, Quilter's Monday, Needle & Thread Thursday, Finished or Not Friday, Can I get a Whoop Whoop?, MOP Monday, Monday Making,

An InLinkz Link-up