Thursday, September 03, 2020

Seeing stars with Free Motion Mavericks

Welcome to Free Motion Mavericks, week 296. Have you noticed the number? We are getting near 300 weeks! Make sure that you come back on October 1 to participate in the 300th Linking Party. We'll have virtual balloons, cake, tea and loads of fun. 🎈🍰 😀 You can read about our linking up plans below.

Another star is quilted!

As you may remember, I've been trying different free motion quilting (FMQ) designs for my Pinwheels and Stars Baby Quilt. From May to July, I tried out 7 different FMQ designs for the pinwheel blocks. Once that was done, I found several FMQ designs for the 6 star blocks, and quilted the first star block in August. It's now time for the second star.

This design is a variation of Leah Day's Sun Star Block. It wasn't difficult to quilt but it did involve 5 different steps.

Second star FMQ
Here are the steps:
  1. I drew lines through the square to make sure that I would stop at the right place when making my diamond. This was FMQ in the four corner blocks.
  2. I then quilted the triangle. In hindsight, I should have quilted these triangles as I was moving around the block quilting the corner diamonds.
  3. I drew out these diamonds - it was well worth it since there were only four.
  4. The circles are only between the diamonds so I quilted each set and traveled using the lines of the diamonds.
  5. The squiggly lines were the last thing to add. They started from the outside circle to the star point. I was able to travel to make these and then get to the next one. 
Steps to quilting this FMQ design

This design really looks good from the back.
The back of the block looks good but is much less forgiving!

I now have one completed free motion quilted row of the Pinwheels and Stars Baby Quilt
One row completed

September's One Monthly Goal (OMG)
Red flannel curtains 
ready to be sewn

I have been feeling guilty about not making these curtains for my niece's cottage bedroom for several months now. This is the month that it gets done! 

My biggest anxiety was cutting the fabric since there is nothing extra - so nothing can go wrong! Well, last week I watched the YouTube video a couple of times, made my notes and finally cut the fabric. As far as I know, all is well, but I'll find out when I make them! 

What's on this week
Since I'm the only one in the king size bed this weekend, I am taking the time to keep FMQ my king size batik bed quilt. At last count there was only 115 blocks to go! I'm hoping to get some of the middle of the quilt blocks done while I don't need to sleep under the quilt.😊 p.s. it's also a PHD for 2020!

What I learned
  • I made the second easiest star block and it took me about two days (between work and life). I did start early but I will have to start on Monday to get the next ones done by Wednesday night. Wish me luck on the others!
  • The quilting went quite well. As I mentioned, I could have done the first diamonds and the triangles at the same time, so something to look for next time.
  • I always have problems making the lines for the diamonds straight. I tend to do a curve instead of a straight line. Marking all of them helped.
  • I'm really happy with how it came out - and I can now make these images in PowerPoint in much less time. Yeah! 😊
Related links
Linking parties

I will be linking up to many fun linking parties, so check them out if you can. September's One Monthly Goal, Long Arm Learning, Midweek Makers, Put Your Foot Down, Needle & Thread Thursday, To-Do Tuesday, PHD in 2020, Peacock Party, Can I Get A Whoop Whoop?, Friday Foto Fun, Finished or Not Finished Friday, Patchwork & Quilts, Monday Making, Colour & Inspiration Tuesday, Design Wall Monday, What I Made Monday, and Let's Make Baby Quilts! 

Free Motion Mavericks

We had a lovely turn out last time. Thanks so much to those who linked up and those who left comments. It's wonderful to see everyone's quilts and hear your thoughts. Thanks!

Karin of the Quilt Yarn made a Lemur quilt. She's a lady after my own heart - she stopped at two lemurs since it would give her more background to quilt! When she linked up, she wasn't quite finished so here's the link that she shared with us and here's the link to her finished quilt. Enjoy!

Lana Lemur quilt in progress by Karin at The Quilt Yarn

Before we get to the linking party, I have something special to share with you.

Thank you to Greeting Islands for the invitation design

We hope to see your then!

Now it's your turn.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

15 comments:

  1. I think your star block looks fantastic, front AND back, Andree! I know what you mean about needing to "train your brain" to travel through a design continuously. I'm so used to just picking up a pen or pencil to start in a different spot when sketching on paper. I think it helps to sketch it out ahead of time, but forcing myself to keep the pencil down on the page the whole way through the design.

    I chuckled at the thought of you sleeping under your unfinished quilt at night and taking it off the bed to work on it some more on the sly. I have a King top meant for my own bed that "just" needs to be quilted. Ha ha ha, famous last words. ;-)

    Thanks for linking up with Long Arm Learning. I feel so sheepish for having no quilting to share of my own this week!

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    1. Thanks Rebecca. I didn't have to take the King quilt off the bed on the sly this time since I was the only one here. It was a frustrating experience but I did persevere! The ripped fabric has been replaced and many, many more blocks have been quilted. Thanks for dropping by.

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  2. Quilting plans... SEW not my strong suit!! Thanks for sharing.

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    1. Hi Joy, usually not mine either but it does give me something to post about :-)

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  3. Hi Andree! I love reading about the steps you took to quilt your latest star block. It look spectacular to me and you can really see the details on the reverse side. I would have to spend a bit of time studying it to see how you were able to continuously stitch it. That rocks! Congrats on nearing your 300th link up. ~smile~ Roseanne

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    1. Oops - I forgot to say thanks for linking up!

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    2. Thanks Roseanne. This block couldn't have been made truly continuous but it came close. Thanks for dropping by as for hosting :-) Take care.

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  4. Thanks for showing us how you quilted the star! I find it very informative!
    Thank you for linking up to PHD in 2020! :-)

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    1. Thanks Gail, this was an interesting design. I'm going to make sure that this baby quilt gets finished for my PHD :-)

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  5. I really love that star/pinwheel quilt and anxiously awaiting its finish. The tea party sounds fun.

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    1. Thanks Denise, not as anxiously as me! :-) I hope this one makes it by the end of 2020. I need a couple of finished towards my PHD! Take care.

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  6. Happy sewing. Thanks for linking up with Elm Street Quilts One Monthly Goal and good luck with your project!

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  7. Karin's quilt is fantastic, really effective with just the pair. I like watching you try out so many FMQ designs too. Thanks for sharing at Clever Chameleon.

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Hi! I would love to hear from you and I will try to answer you. Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a message. :-)