Wednesday, April 10, 2019

Adding Color and Free Motion Mavericks

Welcome to Free Motion Mavericks (week 224) link-up.

Free Motion Mavericks

Lotus flower
A month ago, I foolishly thought that spring had finally arrived in Ottawa. During yesterday's small snow storm, I heard some not-so-funny guy mention that we had spring two weeks ago and that next week would be summer. That's not very funny because it's happened before. Since my favourite seasons are spring and fall, this would not be good news.

So, spring or not, I decided to add some colour to the free motion quilting (FMQ) that I created to celebrate the coming of spring.

Although this image is not great, you can click on it for a better look.
Spring is in the air FMQ
Adding a little bit of colour
was not very impressive
I had started FMQ with grey thread but originally I was going to use a variety of coloured thread. Since the piece was very dull, I wondered if I could add different colours over the grey thread to create some interest.

At first, going over the grey just added colour over the grey. It was not impressive. You can see the results in the image. Since it looked better in the flowers that were densely quilted, I just kept on FMQ.

After going over the grey many, many times, it started to look pretty good.
Adding colour to the original FMQ with grey thread
Here are some details.
The flowers are brighter after a lot of FMQ

Even the pond gets a make-over.

More colour over the grey
What do you think? Adding the coloured thread over the original grey certainly makes the FMQ stand out. I don't think that I would do this on purpose, but this did let me keep practicing and I now have a piece that is fun. Of course now I'm going to have to embellish it 😊

What I learned
  • The finished grey piece was a good practice piece but nothing else. Adding colour to it now gives it some potential to be a fun mini quilt.
  • FMQ over something that is already quilted is different than FMQ on a blank fabric. Because I had to follow the original stitching, I ended up FMQ the flowers from the top down so that I could see what I was doing.
  • Did you notice the blue flowers that I added behind the snow drops? I did go over the FMQ a few times to make the stitching denser but they are pretty dull compared to the other flowers around them.
  • In the original piece, I was pretty disappointed with the lotus flowers in the pond. After adding some variegated pink thread, I really like them. I was even able to change the original shape of a couple of them. 
  • I think that the water in the pond adds a lot to the piece. Now I need to find a frog!
Related links
Linking parties
I will be linking up this post to other linky parties since we need to get the word out and see what else is going on in the FMQ world! Tuesday Colour Linky Party, Midweek Makers, Off the Wall Fridays, Finished or Not Friday, Foto Fun Friday, Can I Get A Whoop Whoop?, TGIFF, Design Wall Monday, Monday Making, Moving it Forward, What I Made Monday, Wondering Camera,

Wonderful news! This post was featured on Midweek Makers. Thanks so much Susan!

Thank you to everyone who linked up two weeks ago. The FMQ was wonderful and it was really difficult to choose only one project to highlight. If you didn't see it, you really should check out Alycia's string quilt with its matchstick quilting and Greek keys in the border!

If you keep forgetting to link up, you can always follow this blog by email. Then you will see when the Free Motion Mavericks link up is on. You can also do the same at Muv's blog, Lizzie Lenard Vintage Sewing.
You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!
Click here to enter
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12 comments:

  1. Janine @ Rainbow Hare11 April 2019 at 19:27

    I love the colour. Really embroidery as much as quilting. Beautiful :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Andree G. Faubert18 April 2019 at 17:25

      Thanks Janine. I must say that I find FMQ much easier than embroidery :-)

      Delete
  2. Lisa J.11 April 2019 at 21:28

    I didn't realize you where hosting free motion mavericks now. Wonderful. Your fmq is really gorgeous.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Andree G. Faubert18 April 2019 at 17:27

      Thanks Lisa, I started co-hosting this winter. It`s a lot of fun since I really try to do a little more FMQ just for the link-up. I hope that you'll join us sometime :-)

      Delete
  3. Alycia~Quiltygirl12 April 2019 at 09:41

    Oh thank you for the shout out!!!

    I like the colored thread you are using - I think it adds dimension to your quilt!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Andree G. Faubert18 April 2019 at 17:29

      You are quite welcome - you quilt is lovely! Yes, the coloured thread does add so much more. I just didn't realise that I could do that over original grey thread....but I should have known, we can do anything with FMQ, and most of the time get away with it :-)

      Delete
  4. Susan14 April 2019 at 10:37

    Wow! Great free motion quilting!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Andree G. Faubert18 April 2019 at 17:29

      Thanks Susan, and thanks so much for featuring it on Midweek Makers!

      Delete
  5. Becca // Pretty Piney Quilts18 April 2019 at 07:43

    Ooooooooohh I love this! The colors make it magnificent!

    Also, I agree that very short springs and falls are incredibly disappointing. THE BEST SEASONS SHOULD BE LONGER.

    Thanks for linking up to What I Made Monday!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Andree G. Faubert18 April 2019 at 17:30

      Thanks so much Becca....we seem to be getting our April showers, so who knows, spring just may hang around :-)

      Delete
  6. Sherry18 April 2019 at 08:37

    I love this!! It's so pretty... I need to do more thread art

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Andree G. Faubert18 April 2019 at 17:31

      Thanks Sherry. I just love FMQ - especially with colour!

      Delete

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