Quilting & Learning - What a Combo!: November 2019

Wednesday, November 27, 2019

An Epic Bow Tie Neutral Quilt Finish

I'm almost glad that it was raining today because I found the best place ever for the Epic Bow Tie Neutral Quilt's photo shoot!

These were taken this morning at Parks Canada Place in Gatineau Quebec. I was lucky that it was decorated for Christmas and fairly quiet.

Draped quilt lounging around

Are we ready for Christmas yet?

Enjoying the decorations - do I spy a reindeer?

A closeup lounging shot

The lovely folded quilt pose

Finally we need to have the full view shot.

The Epic Bow Tie Neutral Quilt

Here are some of the FMQ designs that I used.

What I learned

I used a quilting ruler to make the straight lines within the snowball. It took me a while to get the hang of it and then I decided to try to just "eyeball" it - and it worked well. It did go better when I turned the quilt around so that I was quilting towards myself. I can FMQ in all directions when I'm quilting a curly design, but I found it much harder for a straight line.
I really love the sun design. I'm sure that I could adapt it for other sizes.
It was good to use just a few FMQ designs, although I have to admit that I did get bored with those straight lines.
I used silk batting for this quilt - it FMQ so beautifully!
I bought more fabric to add extra light fabrics for the background but I used only one of them since the others were too yellowish. I'm going to keep an eye out for beige fabrics since they're not easy to find.
If I were to do it again, there are a couple of fabrics that I used as background that I wouldn't use since they were too close in value to the lighter brown fabrics in the snowball.
I used a scrappy binding. My only rule is that the fabric in the binding cannot be the same as the block next to it. I've made that mistake once and I have learned from it!
I just love the look of a freshly washed quilt. The texture is just so beautiful. I'm glad that I waited to take pictures until I had washed it. Now I just need to add a label and my friend will finally get her quilt.

Tuesday, November 26, 2019

Learning to make a fabric basket

I took some time to play this week. Since I've signed up to Bluprint (Craftsy) for the next year, I thought that I should actually make something. So here is my experience making a basket from Christina Cameli's Free-Motion Quilted Gifts course.

My first FMQ fabric basket

This is what Christina's basket looks like. Isn't it gorgeous?

Christina Cameli's Free-Motion Quilted basket

As you can see, my basket is shorter and not as firm. I learned a lot though and had fun making it 😊

My finished basket

Free Motion Quilting the fabric
I made a sandwich with batting (more on this later), marked some lines for a grid, FMQ the triangles and then quilted inside alternate triangles. I really like the look of the quilted fabric.

Here's a close-up of the free motion quilted fabric for the basket.

Quilted fabric

The bottom of the basket

Making handles

I made my own handles using an old lanyard since I didn't have any pretty webbing. I cut the lanyard the same length that the web would have been. I then cut the fabric 2 inches wide and slightly longer than the lanyard (I'd rather trim it than not have enough). I pressed both long sides of the fabric ¼", placed the lanyard inside one of the pressed sides and then covered the rest of the lanyard. I sewed the fabric over the lanyard and then trimmed both handles. It really worked out well.

Making matching handles using an old lanyard.

What I learned

If you want a stiff basket, you need to use stiff batting!!!!! That really should have been obvious and I did think about it but I'm lazy and the silk batting was right there, waiting to be used.
It quilted up beautifully.😊
I'm very happy with the handles - re-purposing lanyards is a great way to make the handles. It's not like the contents in the basket will weigh that much!
I wrote most of this last post last night, and it only came to me this morning that I hadn't followed the instructions properly. I'm quite sure that I didn't fold the quilted fabric properly, and therefore my basket is shorter and wider than Christina's.
Now that I've made this first basket, I think that I would like to make a couple more as Christmas gifts. I'm going to have to experiment with batting though and figure out if I want the basket higher, as it was intended.
I've taken a couple of FMQ courses with Christina Cameli on Craftsy. I really enjoy her courses, including this one.

My basket is full of beautiful Japanese and New Zealand
fabrics from Kallisti Quilts of Waterloo Ontario

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

Chevy on Free Motion Mavericks

Welcome to week 256 of Free Motion Mavericks. Thanks for dropping by.

Chevy on Free Motion Mavericks

I'm shamelessly using Chevy's picture to attract you to the post 😊 because this week isn't going to be about my free motion quilting (FMQ)!

Chevy, sleeping on two quilts!

It's not that I didn't do any FMQ, but rather that I have nothing new to show you. I did finish quilting the Epic Neutral Bow Tie Quilt on the weekend and was busy sewing on the binding last night. I don't want to share it with you until I've finished hand-sewing the binding and then I've washed and photographed the quilt!

The two quilts that Chevy is sleeping on are the Colourful Scraps Quilt that I posted on Throwback Thursday last May and Bandit's first quilt.

Related links

Throwback Thursday - Colourful Scraps Quilt, May 6, 2018
Remembering Bandit (2002 - 2014), December 12, 2014
FMQ the Epic Neutral Bow Tie Quilt, November 6, 2019

Linking parties
I'll be linking up to many linking parties, just to get the word out about Free Motion Mavericks. I hope that you'll link up your projects below and visit these linky parties. Let the fun begin! Design Wall Monday, What I Made Monday. Colour and Inspiration Tuesday, Midweek Makers, Put your food down, Monday Making, Friday Foto Fun, November's Whims and Fancies,

Free Motion Mavericks

We had 8 wonderful projects posted on Free Motion Mavericks the last time. Remember that you can link up any project you're working on, even if your not FMQ. I think that it's safe to say that we are all addicted to anything made with fabric - so please don't let a little thing like free motion quilting stop you from linking up!

This week's featured quilt is free motion quilted and in Issue 31 of Make Modern magazine. Join me in congratulating Devoted Quilter Leanne on her lovely orange peels quilt. I'd love to make a variation on her quilt....but I'm not committing to anything right now! You can also get the pattern if you buy the digital Make Modern Magazine.

Monday, November 11, 2019

Making quilted cup sleeves

It's hard to believe that November is here! The days are getting wetter, colder and shorter. I know that winter is important but it sure would be nice to jump from fall to spring (my two favourite seasons).

Quilted cup sleeves

Coffee Cat quilted
cup sleeve

While I was cleaning my quilting supplies, I found a small bag of fabric and batting already cut to make quilted cup sleeves. I had made three or four of them a few years ago and I guess I was preparing to make more but it never happened. I also did a search on my blog and didn't find any posts on cup sleeves so I might as well show you all of the ones I've made so far (or those that I still have) 😊

These are great for using up medium-sized scraps of fabric and batting. You can even use two different fabrics - one for each side, or piece fabric together for a really scrappy look.

I had been saving some coffee cat fabric just for this project. Since I only had enough to make two cup sleeves (not even a fat quarter), the fabric must have been given to me.

Another Coffee Cat quilted cup sleeve

Christmas cup sleeve

Christmas fabric quilted cup sleeve

Owl cup sleeve

Fancy fabric cup sleeve

Flannel Owl fabric cup sleeve

Cup sleeve using some lovely
swirling flowers fabric

Pooh Bear cup sleeve

My favourite Pooh Bear fabric makes
a lovely cup sleeve

Pooh Bear fabric quilted
cup sleeve

As you probably noticed, I didn't have any disposable coffee cups for my photo shoot. The cup sleeves barely go around my coffee thermos but it does make an elegant prop :-)

What I learned

I remember that my first cup sleeves were a little tight around the cups, so I made these using slightly longer Velcro pieces.
There are lots of tutorials on the internet for making fancy cup sleeves but I just used a cardboard cup sleeve as a pattern. I made it longer so that it would overlap to add Velcro.
You may want to check the direction of your fabric to see if this works - the Christmas birds would look much better if there weren't hanging on to the branch for dear life! 😊
Another tip - darker fabrics hide the coffee stains best, but these are reversible so they will last twice as long between washes.
These are really great but not terribly practical since I never have one on me when I'm picking up coffee! I'm now leaving one in my office so that when I think about it, I bring it down when I buy a mid-morning coffee. Sure I could keep one in my purse, but soon I'll need a suitcase for all of the stuff that I carry in my purse....just in case!
I will put a couple of them in the glove compartment since it could be useful if I think of bringing them in with me. BTW, I googled glove compartment to see if there was a more modern name for it, but it still seems to be called a glove box or compartment, from when driving gloves were used.
They also make cute little gifts!

Linking parties

Free Motion Mavericks

I'm linking up to Free Motion Mavericks as well as a lot of great linking parties - consider checking them out to see what others are up to! Monday Making, Design Wall Monday, What I Made Monday, Colour and Inspiration Tuesday, Midweek Makers, Put your foot down, Finished or Not Finished Friday, Friday Foto Finish, TGIFF, Peacock Party, Can I Get A Whoop Whoop?, Oh Scrap!

Remember to link up your free motion quilting projects and anything else that you're working on with Muv this week!

Wednesday, November 06, 2019

FMQ a neutral quilt on Free Motion Mavericks

Welcome to week 254 of Free Motion Mavericks. I'm very glad that you dropped by.

FMQ the Epic Neutral Bow Tie Quilt

You've seen this quilt a few times over the last year and the end is in sight. I'm just going to show you the free motion quilting (FMQ) that I've done so far. The final reveal will be before the end of the month since this is my One Monthly Goal (OMG) for November and I'm determined that it will be finished.😊

Usually I practice all kinds of FMQ designs when I quilt a lap quilt but I wanted this one to be calmer and unified. So far, there are only four FMQ designs in the quilt - and there is only one more to be added.

The darker blocks (the snowballs) are quilted with straight lines. I did get a chance to practice using my ruler. It took a while but I finally got the hang of it. I only have 11 of the 32 snowballs left to FMQ.

FMQ straight-ish lines through the snowball

The background beige four patch between the snowballs were quilted in two different designs. The rows that have 4 blocks have this lovely sun design. As you can see, I used a Frixion pen to draw the design. I then quilted it, including an echo.

A sun design with echoing

The rows with 5 background beige blocks have a loopy flower with tendrils. This design is great in a 4 patch block since the lines can be used to guide the FMQ.

This loopy flower with tendrils design is great in a 4 patch block

In the borders where there are only two beige background blocks, I used this design. I just drew a triangle with a Frixion pen and then used the seam of the two blocks as a guide.

I only have some dark blocks left to FMQ - which are 14 sets of two blocks (half snowballs) on the border of the quilt as well as 4 corner blocks. I'm still not sure what design to use there, but it will involve straight lines so that it fits in with the snowball blocks.

What I learned

I used Angela Walters' Shorty ruler for the straight lines. It took me a while to get used to using it because my foot would get caught in the ruler and skip a stitch or two. I've now figured out that the darning foot can't rest too tightly against the ruler. I can also hear when this is happening so that I can loosen my grip. It's working out well now that I have the hang of it.
The straight lines are the hardest part to quilt because depending on where I'm quilting from, I can't always see the other end of where the line needs to go. I found it much easier to quilt all of the other designs.
Two of the designs, the flower within the triangle and the loopy flowers with tendrils come from or are adapted from Angela Walters' Shape by Shape book.
I'll be discussing what I learned overall when this lovely is finished!