Thursday, March 24, 2022

A Finish on Free Motion Mavericks

Hi and welcome to week 374 of Free Motion Mavericks. Today I have a finish to show you as well as a tiny bit of FMQ on the Version 2.0 quilt.

"Bonjour la vie" is finished!

This piece is from a workshop taken with the Common Thread Quilt Guild (CTQG) in Ottawa. We had a virtual Fantastic Fusion workshop with Lisa Walton from Australia. I loved the workshop and I'm thrilled that this piece is now finished.

Bonjour la vie!

It was my February One Monthly Goal but I didn't quite make it. The free motion quilting (FMQ) was pretty much done by then but I didn't have the facing done to officially call it finished.

The colours of these batiks are so vibrant. My images aren't as vibrant as the real thing - I may have to invest in a photographing light or two. I'm including a few pictures taken with different lighting. There's no outside shot option right now as it's drizzling and cold out. The snow is at it's worse - mostly grey and dirty but it will all be gone by the end of the week. Youppi! 

Image taken when it was sunny outside

A detail shot of my favourite block.

It's hard to imagine but the colours of the block are even more vibrant than this photo! 

I also want to show you the back since it's almost as gorgeous (in another way) as the front! All of the different colours of Kimono silk thread vibrate from the back! I was going to use a fancier backing but after doing a mini just to see how the thread would do, it was pretty obvious that a busy fabric was wasted at the back of this piece. Again, I tried all kinds of lighting to show off the thread from the back, but nothing ready did it justice, so you'll just have to take my word for it! 😊

From the back - wonderful thread colours

Mini to practice with the silk thread

Back of the mini








Free Motion Quilting on Version 2.0

I expected to be able to spend yesterday afternoon FMQ Version 2.0 but I slept through it after I was put under for some dental surgery. Happy news, my teeth are as good as can be, bad news, no FMQ except for the little bit of extra quilting I did last time, after the post.

Biking as one of the sports

Bike from the back of the quilt










What I learned

  • The "Bonjour la vie" piece is going to a girlfriend who has just retired. Bonjour la vie means Hello life - how she greets every day as she wakes up. I love the way that she is open to what life brings her. I'm working on doing that too (but when I wake up, I just want to go back to sleep!)
  • This piece will be part of the virtual exhibition for Fibre Fling 2023, presented by Out of the Box Fibre Artists. I'll let you know when it happens so that you can all attend the free virtual show! 😊

Related links

Linking parties

I will be linking to some great parties - why not visit some of the links...and remember to link up your post also! Midweek Makers, Put your foot down, Needle & Thread Thursday, TGIFF, Off The Wall Friday, Finished or Not Finished Friday, Beauties Pageant, Peacock Party, Patchwork & QuiltsMonday Making

Project details


Bonjour la vie
Created in a Fantastic Fusion Workshop with Lisa Walton
Materials: transfer web backing, batik fabric, Kimono silk thread
Techniques: improv design and free motion quilting (FMQ) 





Free Motion Mavericks

We had some lovely quilts link-up last time. Karin at the Quilt Yarn, did some edge to edge quilting using a template that she copied onto Golden Threads paper while Gail used Silly Moon's Drop ruler to FMQ. Also, Denise used her embroidery machine to make this beauty! If you didn't see their posts, go have a look!

Karin using Golden Threads paper 


Gail using a Silly Moon ruler



Denise using her embroidery machine

It's now your turn to link up!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

13 comments:

  1. Andree, your Bonjour La Vie quilt is just amazing! I love it. What a wonderful gift for your friend's retirement!

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    1. Thank you so much Rebecca. I can't wait to give it to her in a couple of days. I just have to remember to write up the label :-)

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  2. Really pretty - It's a terrific quilt!

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    1. Thank you so much. I really love improv quilts with no rulers allowed :-)

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  3. Thank you for sharing my project. If you discover an indoor light that really reflects the beauty of the fabric let me know as I really struggle with lighting. It's either too bright and washes out the colors or not light enough. I've thought about getting another 4' LED shop light and standing it on end to take photos. Your finish is lovely and although the front is beautiful the back in more beautiful. Today I do not have any finishes to share.

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    1. Hi Denise, I did have the name of a lighting system from years ago - hopefully I can find it in my favourites :-) When I do, I'll let you know! I'm really happy with this finish and extremely happy that my girlfriend loves it! Have a great week!

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  4. Such a vibrant piece! Oh how I love batiks. Kimono silk thread intrigues me; I've never used it. I will check out the link to the on demand class; I'm feeling like I should be taking more advantage of the online offerings that have blossomed during the pandemic. The couple classes I have done have been very rewarding. My piece I linked up is not FMQ this time but lots of walking foot on my DSM so I hope that's okay.

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    1. Hi Sandra, of course walking foot work is ok and not always easy to pull off, as I know from first hand experience! I love quilting with the Kimono silk thread - it's just so rich. You just have to use a smaller needle, which I keep in by bag of thread. I highly recommend the class and the teacher - I've been taking full advantage of the pandemic to learn at a distance. I almost prefer it and you get such amazing teachers from all over the world. It's nice to try something different every once in a while! Thanks so much for linking up to Free Motion Mavericks. I see that you are keeping very busy...take care!

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  5. I love your "Bonjour la vie" quilt. I keep seeing pictures in the blocks. I could look at it for ages :)

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  6. J'aime beaucoup ce mini quilt, bravo, c'est un beau cadeau de départ en retraite. Le petit vélo est bien sympa aussi !

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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. :-)