Hi, welcome to week 420 of Free Motion Mavericks. I have a free motion quilting (FMQ) project to share as well as the flying geese for Round 4 of the SAHRR. I'm glad that you can join me today.
FMQ Wild Hexies, a Mystery UFO
I called this a mystery UFO in my July 2021 post because when I wrote the post, I had a partially made quilt on my design wall with extra fabric in a project box, but no pattern! Since I had been inspired to make the quilt by seeing a finished version on someone's blog, I asked if any of my readers could help me. Wendy of Pieceful Wendy found the post for me - Nancy of Grace and Peace Quilting had made the quilt. I couldn't find the pattern because it was in one of my digital quilting books! Thank you Wendy and Nancy 😊
 |
| Mystery UFO is finally getting FMQ |
The pattern is called Strip Lash from Stripology 2 by GE Quilt Designs. You can read about my making adventures in my previous post (see Related links).
I stitched-in-the-ditch around the hexies and then each row of hexies. Then I started FMQ the top and bottom partial hexies with some of my favourites - elongated loops (I call them cursive l's), twist (j's and l's) and then some triangle dot-to-dot patterns.
 |
| FMQ the top and bottom triangles or partial hexies |
 |
| FMQ elongated loops (cursive l's), twist (j's and l's) and triangle dot-to-dot patterns |
This is not a great picture but you can see my Swirling Stars in the top row. The next row of hexies contain a sun, clouds, and snowflakes.
 |
| FMQ the partial hexies and the first 2 rows |
You can see glimpses of the sun, clouds and snowflakes in the image below.
 |
| Glimpses of the sun, clouds and snowflakes designs |
Next came a row of trees.
This week we got to add flying geese to our quilt. I wasn't sure what method to use, but I was inspired by Denise of The Quiltery - For the love of geese, to make some foundation paper pieced flying geese. I checked out one of her patterns and drafted my own pattern.
Here is a close up of the 5 flying geese that I made using my own foundation paper piecing pattern.
You may notice that my pattern below is for 6 flying geese. Let's just say that I made every mistake possible, which included cutting my pattern while trimming. I'm very lucky that it happened on the 5th goose! I took it as a sign that 5 was plenty 😊
Gail made a second fabulous Lone Star quilt in some beautiful Island Batik pre-cuts and dark green. She FMQ it with small arcs in the diamonds and fake feathers on the grey.
Frédérique of Quilting Patchwork Appliqué made a baby quilt for the neonatal care unit. She FMQ the centre diamond densely and then added light curves for a soft and smooth quilt.
 |
| FMQ a row of trees |
Finally some houses.
 |
| A row of houses |
If these look familiar it's because I FMQ them in the Places and Communities section of my son's Version 2.0 quilt. The designs are from Lori Kennedy's book, Free Motion Machine Quilting 1-2-3.
Round 4 of SAHRR
 |
| Round 4 - a top row of flying geese was added |
Here is a close up of the 5 flying geese that I made using my own foundation paper piecing pattern.
 |
| Close-up of flying geese and wonky stars |
You may notice that my pattern below is for 6 flying geese. Let's just say that I made every mistake possible, which included cutting my pattern while trimming. I'm very lucky that it happened on the 5th goose! I took it as a sign that 5 was plenty 😊
 |
| My foundation paper piecing pattern |
 |
| Extra flying geese blocks |
After I finished the top row and attached it to the quilt, I decided to see how else I could make these blocks. I vaguely remember that they weren't that difficult to make. I found a post in Simply Handmade Everyday by Kristin Esser with a tutorial on making flying geese blocks 5 ways. Her 5 ways didn't include foundation paper piecing!
I ended up using the Oversized Stitch and Flip method since I'm accuracy challenged! They worked out very well. I now have 5 extra flying geese on the design wall and have fabric to make a few more. I'm going to see what Round 6 brings before I add them to the quilt.
What I learned
- For my FMQ, I should have spent more time practicing my Swirling Stars design. The fabric is so busy that looks fine.
- I love Lori Kennedy's pictural designs and am looking forward to making cars, pencils, apples, etc.
- I actually know who the baby quilt is going to, so I'm going to have to figure out how to quilt a teddy bear!
- I considered using the No Waste method that makes 4 flying geese blocks at a time, but those blocks all have the same middle piece. I wanted them to be different, so that method was out.
- For my SAHRR quilt, I ended up re-doing the bottom row. I had added fabric to make it fit, but I ended up not really liking what I had done. I was also surprised that the hourglasses in the bottom row really didn't show up. The fabric with the multi-coloured dots just faded away. I added two bright hourglass blocks and then re-did the corner blocks. I like it much better.
- I'm not sure if I have enough fabric to make a much larger quilt. I would rather incorporate the extra flying geese blocks into the next row if it makes sense. I guess I'll figure that out on Monday!
Related links
- Mystery UFO, July 24, 2021
- GE Quilt Designs and Stripology 2
- Strip Lash Baby Quilt by Nancy at Grace and Peace Quilting, November 13, 2020
- Places & Communities on Free Motion Mavericks, October 20, 2022
- Lori Kennedy, Free Motion Machine Quilting 1-2-3
- How to make a Flying Geese block (5 different ways!)
Linking parties
I'll be linking up the SAHRR quilt at Anja Quilts. Let's go see how everyone is doing on their quilt! Put your foot down, Sew & Tell, Midweek Makers, Needle & Thread Thursday, Finished (or Not) Friday, Can I Get A Whoop Whoop?, Peacock Party, Patchwork & Quilts,
Free Motion Mavericks
We've had some lovely FMQ last time!
Chris from Chrisknitssews made this lovely Carpenter Star baby quilt. She quilted it with gentle curves and lines. What a lucky baby! |
| Carpenter Star baby quilt by Chris |
Melva is carefully quilting a quilt for a client. It needed some work, but she's doing a great job (I peaked to a later post!)
 |
| Melva carefully quilting a quilt |
Gail made a second fabulous Lone Star quilt in some beautiful Island Batik pre-cuts and dark green. She FMQ it with small arcs in the diamonds and fake feathers on the grey.
 |
| Gail's fabulous Lone Star quilt |
Frédérique of Quilting Patchwork Appliqué made a baby quilt for the neonatal care unit. She FMQ the centre diamond densely and then added light curves for a soft and smooth quilt.
 |
| A baby quilt for the neonatal care unit by Frédérique |
It's now your turn 😊
Well, I'm happy to have helped in a small way - your quilt looks great! Your flying geese blocks look good too, especially after all that struggle to get them done!
ReplyDeleteThanks again Wendy. I'm enjoying FMQ the quilt, even if it doesn't show up much. In this, it really is about the process of quilting than the finished product! I've been reading over a few blogs and it looks like I consistently have problems with paper piecing - it's a 3D thing...and probably a focus thing too! Oh well, the frying geese are done until I see Monday's prompt!
DeleteI like your SAHRR and the FG you FPP. I have a FPP double flying geese pattern that I have adjusted to various sizes that is a favorite "go-to" right behind my all-time favorite of log cabin blocks. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks Melva. At least they got done. The other, older method worked quite well since it was so forgiving, so I'll stick with that for now lol!
DeleteI love all your FMQ designs. Lori Kennedy is a great source of inspiration!
ReplyDeleteThanks Andi, I love Lori Kennedy's designs - they are always so much fun and easily adaptable.
Deletelooks like a fun time with your FMQ project and your SAHRR is progressing great!
ReplyDeleteThanks Pat. It is a lot of fun! Take care.
DeleteCan't log in for Google, so it's Chrisknits here. Love the method you used for the Flying Geese to end up with different colors.
ReplyDeleteI make my flying geese the stitch and flip way and like it a lot. Usually I trim the "wasted" triangles and use them as leader and enders, planning someday to make a scrap quilt of all those HST pieces I'll end up with. However, I've gotten more realistic lately and don't save the ones tht will end up less than an inch finished.
ReplyDeleteHi Claire, I read about quilters using up those triangles but even on a big block, those triangles are pretty darn small! I actually kept these extra ones but I'm not convinced that I'll use them!
DeleteSorry to hear those gees gave you a bit of trouble, Andree. They turned out great (in spit of the piecing woes!)
ReplyDeleteThanks so much Joy. I'm not sure why but foundation paper piecing seem to require more ripping than sewing. I think that it's a 3D thing - or a lack of focus lol! It's all good, it's done!
DeleteIls vont très bien par 5 tes vols d'oies ;)) J'aime bien les deux versions.
ReplyDeleteMerci pour la mise en avant de mon BB quilt ;))
Bises
Merci beaucoup Frédérique. Bises
DeleteWhat a fun Mystery UFO!!!
ReplyDeleteThanks Alycia. I was very happy to find the instructions to put it together. I never would have figured it out by myself!
DeleteAll the ways you are FMQ on that lovely piece! It is gorgeous. Love your flying geese, too, and a big thanks for linking up to Tips and Tutorials!
ReplyDelete