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

• FMQ a panel with Free Motion Mavericks, July 4, 2019

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