Hi and welcome to week 437 of Free Motion Mavericks. Have you had a chance to do any free motion quilting (FMQ) this week? I played with fusible web, Bottom Line thread and zig-zag stitching, but no FMQ. I didn't quilt my Neighbourhood Houses, but I did add many (possibly too many) fun elements to the quilt. The rest of the effects will have to be done through FMQ.
Quilt Top Done ✔
Two weeks ago I thought that I was mostly done with the quilt top. I greatly underestimated the time that it took to add the finishing touches.
 |
| The Rainbow Neighbourhood quilt top is done 😊 |
First Row of Houses
The first row of houses all have blue skies, different green yards, including fences, benches, trees and bushes from a wonderful piece of fabric that I've had forever. You can see the fabric at the bottom of this section.
 |
Row 1 - first house
|
 |
| Row 1 - second house |
 |
| Row 1 - third house |
Here is the fabric that I used. This is the only part that doesn't have huge holes 😁
 |
Fabric that I used for the fences,
benches, bushes and trees |
Second Row of Houses
The second row of houses starts with a house and then parks and a lake. I was able to include a lot of fun elements to the lake - from a turtle, fish, a girl fishing, a frog prince and a duck😊
 |
| Row 2 - first house |
 |
| Row 2 - lake and park |
 |
| Row 2 - friends' house |
There will probably be a few more elements added to my friends' house but I don't have the ones I want. I'm sure that I'll come up with or find something before I finish the quilt.
Third Row of Houses
This third row of houses are set in a night scene. I kept the elements simple, especially in the yards, with one tree and some cute critters.
 |
| Row 3 - first house |
 |
| Row 3 - second house |
 |
| Row 3 - third house |
What I learned
- Two weeks ago when I had finished assembling the quilt top, I didn't realise how much more work I still had to do to add elements to all of the windows, yards and then the lake and parks.
- I also didn't realise how fiddly it was, and how difficult it was on my eyes. I didn't seem to see well enough when appliquéing. Finally I switched to a clear and more open foot which helped a lot.
- As I was zig-zag stitching the various elements to the quilt, it was very obvious that this needed to be done before the quilting. It was just easier to work with a quilt top than a whole quilt with batting!
- It will be easy after that to just accent these with the FMQ. This will also add an extra layer of stitching so that they all stay in place!
- I started zig-zag stitching with regular thread but quickly decided to use something less visible. I have three cones of Bottom Line thread - so I used a little bit of black and then white thread. Eventually I just finished everything with the tan thread. It worked for all of the fabrics.
- As I was working on the quilt top, I was thinking about the eventual quilting of it. Since the Bottom Line thread worked so well, I've ordered a couple more spools of it - one taupe, which works for almost everything and a blue for the sky.
- I had originally thought of adding features to the quilt with the FMQ, but at this time, I think that I'll only do that for the park and lake section. The quilting will need to unite all of these sections together.
- As for FMQ the yards, I was considering adding shadow trees (or the outline of trees) with the quilting - all in the Bottom Line thread. This will add some lovely texture.
- I've really had a great time participating in Sandra's QAL. The houses were easy to make and adding the extra elements made it lots of fun.
- I had fun, now have a quilt top for my friends and learned a lot! I couldn't ask for anything else 😊
Related links
- Rainbow Neighbourhood Flimsy mostly done!, June 15, 2023
- Rainbow Neighbourhood Houses Finished, June 08, 2023
- Rainbow Neighbourhood Houses 5 and 6, May 11, 2023
- Rainbow Neighbourhood Houses - Blocks 2 to 4, April 25, 2023
- Block 1 of the Rainbow Neighbourhood QAL, April 08, 2023
- Link to the Rainbow Neighbourhood pattern by Sandra of mmm quilts
Linking parties
Free Motion Mavericks
Have you had a chance to check out Kelly Young's latest book, Perfectly Pieced Quilt Backs? Many of our favourite quilting bloggers are posting their quilt backs inspired by her book.
Gail showed us 4 of her quilt backing. Two of those quilts are FMQ with “Wild” or “Graffiti” quilting. The FMQ is so beautiful from the back!
I hope that you have a great week. It's now your turn to link up!
I love your little town. I have the school house die from AQ and the 4" cube, been meaning to combine these two for some time, which is something I am short of at the moment.
ReplyDeleteThanks Denise, I hope that things get back to "normal" soon, although even then you're always so busy! Take care of yourself.
DeleteYour quilt is fabulous. I was so busy, the thought of embellishing was not even a twinkle in my eye until I saw yours! I love it and all the fabulous details you added. I did purchase the pieced back book and am excited to use it on some upcoming quilts.
ReplyDeleteThanks Kathleen, I'm considering making a pieced back but it'll depend on what I use as the backing. I will purchase the book as soon as it's available electronically in Canada.
DeleteJ'adore revoir les détails dans ton village ! Les maisons sont belles et le quilt lumineux. Superbe !
ReplyDeleteMerci pour le partage ;)
Merci beaucoup Frédérique. Je suis heureuse qu'il est fini. Je devrai le quilter un fois qu'il fait moins chaud dans mon studio! Bonne fin de semaine!
DeleteFabulous quilt Andree - you've done a great job of adding your own touches.
ReplyDelete