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Wednesday, July 31, 2019

Almost ready to quilt at Free Motion Mavericks

Welcome to Free Motion Mavericks link up (Week 240). Click here if you're looking for Throwback Thursday (TBT).

Finishing up my Kingfisher Stitch-Along quilt top

The Kingfisher Stitch-Along started in May 2018 and officially finished in July 2018. However, I do see a few other stragglers on Instagram - we are encouraging each other 😊

Blue flowers and blue hexies
The stitch-along was wonderful, but a LOT of work! 46 hexie flowers to be pieced and then sewn onto diamonds. It's no wonder that I didn't finish it last summer, but I love the hexies and the quilt design so much that I knew that I would eventually get it done!

There was a lot of pictures taken of these hexie flowers last summer! It was so much fun posting and seeing them on Instagram!
Playing with hexies on the train to Florence

It was also such a portable project that a few hexies got pieced and then placed on their diamonds on my trip to Italy last winter
Hexie flower in
Florence coffee shop

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 July One Monthly Goal (OMG)

To give myself a little bit of encouragement, I made the Kingfisher Stitch-Along quilt top my OMG goal for the month of July. I haven't quite finished but it's important to celebrate all these accomplishments. This goal was purely arbitrary - so I'm thrilled to have gotten this far. For the record, I'm going to make the quilt top my August OMG!

Kingfisher Stitch-Along quilt top - almost assembled
I was doing really well on Sunday and I thought that I might be able to finish the quilt top, until I ran into a glitch. I must have mixed up my diamonds when I sewed them into rows because it didn't work out as planned. The easiest way to deal with this was to add a couple more diamonds. The quilt will not be square, but it will be done.  😊 I'm linking up to To-Do Tuesday and Slow Sunday Stitching because I'm going to get these final 2 diamonds finished!

I'll spend some time on what I learned on my next Kingfisher post. Today is Free Motion Mavericks and I couldn't even pretend to have done any FMQ - but I think that this is just as exciting.

Related links
Linking parties
I'll be linking up to many fun linking parties. Join me to see how quilters are keeping cool this summer! August One Monthly Goal linkup (OMG), Design Wall Monday, What I Made Monday, Tuesday Colour Linky Party, Midweek Makers, Let's Bee Social, Monday Making, Moving Forward, UFO Busting!, Finished or Not Friday, Needle & Thread Thursday, Can I Get A Whoop Whoop?, Friday Foto Fun, To-Do Tuesday, Slow Sunday Stitching, BOMs Away!

Free Motion Mavericks Link Up
Thanks to everyone who linked up last time. It's always so amazing to see everyone's work. I have been shamelessly inviting many of you to link up in my comments to your site. I really hate bothering people (which is why I never pursued a career in marketing!) but everyone has been so kind and happy to link up - so Thank you!!!

It would seem that Karin from Germany, now living in Australia is thrilled to have found the linking party. As you look at her quilt, you can see why! We hope Karin will link up often 😊

Check out Karin's post at The Quilt Yarn


You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!
Click here to enter
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Wednesday, July 24, 2019

Hexie Extravaganza

It's that time of the year again!

One hundred hexies for 100 days! (#100hexies100days2019)

Week 1 is about me
This year, Sew Foxy Mama (@sewfoxymama) started the fun one month earlier. I'm glad since this is the perfect summer project - low key and with hexies 😊

Week One: Me

7 hexies about me

  • M. French Roast coffee bean that keeps me going in the morning
  • paw prints for those I love
  • colourful and pretty flowers
  • a cacti for the desert that I am drawn to
  • fabric from my first home-made curtains - very colourful
  • colourful modern fabric for the modern art that I'm starting to appreciate!

Close-up of some of my favourite things

Chevy - a paw print owner I love

Week Two: Summerlicious

Summer fun, at least when the heat is reasonable! 😊

Close-up of my summer fun hexies

Part of the fun is the photo shoots. It's great to go out and take pictures of hexies and it's a lot of fun seeing everyone's photos!

Summer hexies lost in the foliage :-)

This is my favourite photo of my beloved "Let's hibernate" cup, which is what I would and sometimes do in the cold, cold winter. I just wish that I also had an "estivation" cup - for burrowing away to hide from the summer heat!

I wish I had a "Let's estivate!" cup

Week Three: Teeny Tiny Things 

Teeny and tiny are relative terms - when an image on fabric fits onto a 1" hexie - it's teeny!

It was relatively cool today so it was a great time for a photo shoot in a nearby park.
Teeny tiny things for week three

Hexie among the rudbeckia 

Hexie cooling off near the fountain

These are the themes for the 100 days.

If you're on Instagram, check out the fun!

What I learned
  • Hexies are fun and not worth getting stressed about! Perfect for a tired quilter 😊
Related links
Linking parties
I'll be linking up to several linky parties. Join me and see what's happening in the quilting world! What I Made Monday, Moving It Forward, Design Wall Monday, Main Crush Monday, Let's Bee Social, Midweek Makers, Tuesday Colour Linky Party, Needle & Thread Thursday, Off The Wall Friday, Finished or Not Friday,
Friday Foto Fun, Oh Scrap!, Wondering Camera, Free Motion Mavericks, Favourite Finish Monthly Linkup,

If you've done any free motion quilting this week, remember to link up to Free Motion Mavericks with Muv on Thursday!



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Thursday, July 18, 2019

Moose panel with Free Motion Mavericks

Welcome to the Free Motion Mavericks link-up (week 238).

Free motion quilting a moose panel

The moose panel is coming along nicely. I did learn some things which is what the whole exercise was about (other than giving my brother a wall hanging for his cottage).

As I mentioned in the last Free Motion Mavericks post, I started by outlining the background behind the moose, the water under the moose, as well as the gray trees.

I was also wondering how to proceed with the multi-coloured foliage and how much free motion quilting (FMQ) to add in that area. My motto - when in doubt, dive in! So I started by FMQ some of the most obvious parts such as the separate branches and foliage. I also worked by colour - doing as much as I could with one colour and then changing thread to the next colour.
Working with different shades of green

You can see the difference that the FMQ makes by looking at these two pictures. In the picture below, only the outline has been quilted. Click on the images to see the details.


Just the outline done


















I then started on the brown and beige of the foreground. 

Adding brown and beige in the foreground
Next came the moose. I outlined the lighter shades and then went to the darker brown. I haven't decided if the moose needs to be FMQ with the medium brown.
Tackling the moose
Finally I FMQ around the first brown border.
Outlining the first border
What I learned
  • When I'm not sure what to do but I know that I can't really ruin anything, I tend to jump in and figure things out as I go along. As I mentioned in my previous post, the FMQ on this panel is quite forgiving since there are so many colours.
  • I started FMQ the most obvious parts and then made my way around the rest. Most parts can be tackled in a couple of way, such as going around a rust coloured section in the colour that surrounds it, or using the rust coloured thread around or on top of the section. Of course, I can do both, which is why I still need to go through the foliage with the rusty brown.
  • I do have to keep in mind that going around an area will make the quilting pop up - so then it's a matter of deciding if the area should just pop up or should it be covered in the other colour. I think that it's a judgement call and that it might be important to be consistent, but since there is so much colour, it might not make a difference.
  • The good thing about a project like this is that I can always go back and add more colour or thread. I don't usually undo my FMQ but I would if it was important.
  • The next step is FMQ the water and the sky. The water should be simple because it consists of many colours. Hopefully I can use the same technique with the sky, but there is a lot less colour changes. 
  • Finally I'll have to decide how to finish it. I was hoping to use the wood around the panel to bind it but I don't think that it's wide enough. I think that I have some dark wood fabric, so I may end up adding a wide binding. Of course, I should have thought of that before I trimmed it 😨
Related links
Linking parties
I will be linking this post to several link-ups. Let's see what's happening in this summer heat! Design Wall Monday, What I Made Monday, Moving It Forward, Tuesday Colour Linky Party, Midweek Maker, Let's Bee Social, Needle & Thread Thursday, Off The Wall Friday, Finished or Not Friday, Friday Foto Fun, Monday Making, Main Crush Monday,

Free Motion Mavericks link-up
Thank you to everyone who linked up two weeks ago. It's so difficult to choose, but here are two quilts that you should check out if you didn't see them last time!
Flying Geese Wall Quilt by Gretchen
Hopscotch Tiles by StoriedQuilts


You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!
Click here to enter
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Thursday, July 04, 2019

FMQ a panel with Free Motion Mavericks

Welcome to the Free Motion Mavericks link-up (week 236).

Free Motion Quilting a panel for fun and practice

Sharon's FMQ panel
I have free motion quilted (FMQ) a few wholecloth quilts but have stayed away from panels since they are not really considered quilts....but not anymore! Since I want to practice and I don't really like piecing, why not work on a panel? I need to get over my snobbishness!!!

I got the idea when I attended Sharon Blackstone's demo at Quilt Canada. She showed us a panel that was made up to look like different quilt blocks. What a great idea! Of course I looked for something like this but didn't find anything similar.

Since my brother asked for a wall hanging to hide the fuse panel in his cottage, I found this very fun panel. I'm not sure that there are many moose in Prince Edward Island but there are certainly moose in the rest of Canada.

FMQ a Moose panel
It's not easy to see, but I outlined the darker trees over the moose. The water under the moose has also been quilted.
Details of the FMQ
I started with grey thread, outlining the dead trees to the left as well as the logs. There is also an outline of the shore.
More FMQ details
It's going to be slow work but very enjoyable!

What I learned
  • The challenge will be deciding what to outline and what to quilt more densely.
  • I figure that I can always outline things first and then come back later to fill in sections that I think need it.
  • This project is going to be very interesting since there are so many colours and shapes. 
  • It's a great project to learn on since all of that colour will be very forgiving. 
  • When I did a search of my blog, I found that I had done one panel - the Beatles wall hanging (the link is below). 
Related links
Linking parties
I will be linking this post to several linking parties. Make sure to link below to Free Motion Mavericks as well as checking out these parties! Midweek Makers, Tuesday Colour Linky Party, Moving It Forward, Needle & Thread Thursday, Finished Or Not Friday, Friday Foto Fun, Design Wall Monday, Monday Making, Moving It Forward, What I Made Monday, Main Crush Monday, Tuesday Colour Linky Party,

Free Motion Mavericks
Thanks to everyone who linked up last time - what a great party!

Today I'd like to highlight 2 projects - Sandra's "Ladder Links", whose pattern was published in Modern by the Yard.  Here's a great picture of her quilting. Congrats! Check out Sandra's post.
Ladder Links by Sandra of mmm! quilts
Since our neighbours are celebrating their nation's birthday today, it was fitting to include Jocelyn's table topper. Happy 4th of July! 
Jocelyn of Happy Cottage Quilter


You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!
Click here to enter
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Monday, July 01, 2019

Relaxing and Playing

With its deadlines and general busyness, June was a pretty difficult month. I'm glad that the rush is over, but I'm sorry to see spring come to an end. I just love the cool weather and the beautiful early flowers - now it looks like the heat and humidity is back! Oh well, if I can't play in the garden, I'll just have to play indoors with my fabrics 😊

Playing with hexies and embroidery

I've finally taken a little bit of time to add to my embroidery. I'm not even keeping track of the Take a Stitch Tuesday (TAST) since I won't be catching up anytime soon. But who says that it needs to be done in one year? Certainly not our host, Sharon of Pintangle. I really appreciate her posts laid back attitude, and encouragement.

Page 3 - Buttonhole wheel stitch

I love how there buttonhole wheels play so well with each other. It almost looks like they belongs in the sea. This was my One Thing With Amy post  last week on Instagram. I did get it done - now I have to remember to actually post it!
Buttonhole Wheels (week 13)

Page 4 - Feather stitch (in progress)

I started this page this morning, while enjoying my coffee in the back yard. I'm going to play with variations of the Feather stitch.
Feather stitch (week 5) in progress
Page 2 - Herringbone stitch

After not knowing how to proceed with Page 1, I decided to add some hexies to break up the stitching and add a focus to the page. This page contains different sizes of herringbone stitches.
Herringbone stitches (week 6)
Page 1 - Chain stitch

The Chain stitch page may not be pretty but it sure holds many types of chain stitches. There is the Chain stitch (week 1), the Detached Chain stitch (week 7), the Cable Chain stitch (week 14), and the Butterfly Chain stitch (week 15).
All kinds of Chain stitches
Important Notice! I just found out that #100hexies100days2019 has already started on Instagram. I just love looking at everyone's very artfully arranged hexies. It's so much fun. Anyway, I'll be joining in once a week and will write a couple of posts during the event!

Summer Book Club Quilt-Along

I'm participating in the Summer Book Club QAL on Instagram with Kate Basti of Quilt with Kate. I'm only on my second book but it's a really cute foundation paper pieced pattern called Tall Tales. It's very affordable and all proceeds from this pattern benefit the Columbus Literacy Council.

I really love seeing everyone's books on Instagram. They are so lovely.

Here are my two books so far. Instead of making a quilt, I'm making minis (of course!) Most of these will be cubicle minis for my colleagues, friends and family 😊 and the bonus is that these are great to practice FMQ.

This first book was made because it was the first cute fabric that I found.
Bambi book inspired by the fabric



FMQ flowers














"The Earth is Not Flat" book for my son
This second book was made for my son, the science guy in our family. I was going to call it "The Earth is No Longer Flat", but I knew that there wouldn't be enough space on the book spine and of course my son would have argued that the Earth was never flat - and I certainly didn't have space for "The Earth is No Longer Perceived as Flat!" :-)
FMQ stars and planets














One Monthly Goal (OMG) for July

My OMG for July is to finish the quilt top from last year's Kingfisher Stitch-Along,










What I learned
  • It's good to be playing around with quilting and FMQ.
  • You may have noticed that I join a lot of quilt-alongs and such but often don't get much done. I really like love to try new things and as long as I keep my expectations small (like minis and occasional posts) then I feel that I've gotten a lot out of them. Each activity, hosted by dedicated people, has lots to offer. I appreciate all of the work that goes into organising these events.
  • For all of the events that I do participate in, there are many more that I bypass. I'm finally getting to know what I'll enjoy doing and what will end up being just one more obligation....she can learn!
Happy Canada Day!

Related links
Remember to come back on
Thursday to link up!
Linking parties

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