Thursday, September 17, 2026

Slow Stitching and an extended I Quilted This!

Hi and welcome 😊I didn't get any FMQ done this week but I played with thread, fabric, and slow stitching. I think I needed the calm that it brings. Please note that I'll be going away on a personal art retreat next week. Since I won't have access to the internet for my computer, I'm going to extend the linking party for an extra week. Also, the linking party for September's A Quilter's Cove QAL will take place on Saturday, October 3rd.

Mini Stitch Block

I have been reading a lot about art lately. On the Take Two blog, I read this very interesting article, "How to bring a sense of place into your art." Debbie Lyddon suggests that you sit quietly and observe a place, rather than reach for your camera. Here is an exercise that she suggests. In a place that you already know, spend 10 minutes and write down three sounds, two textures and one memory that the place brings up.

These are the notes I took on my phone (without taking pictures).

3 sounds: the leaves singing in the wind, bird chirping and crickets.

2 textures: long grass and cement blocks

1 memory: feeding the animals.

Here's what I came up with. A little piece that finishes at 5" x 5".

Backyard Senses - an impressionist fibre art collage

The piece started off with a white flannel back to which I attached the hand-dyed scraps. I used a variety of thread - shiny green rayon floss for the flower stems, shiny gold rayon for the leaves in the tree, and hand-dyed perle cotton. To illustrate the cement, I needle wove a little block.

After the embroidery and the bird appliqué, I used sewing thread to stitch the background with running stitch. I also added wool roving for the cloud.

I found a 5" x 7" canvas that I've attaching it to. It was probably the most difficult part since I looked online and they don't recommend using watercolour paints directly on canvas. I looked into my paint and ink supplies and found some Liquitex Acrylic ink that could work. That's what I worked on tonight - I was just too impatient to wait. I added Prussian blue ink to the front, sides and back edge of the canvas and then mounted the piece onto it.

Backyard Senses - attached to the painted canvas

What I learned

I'm sure that I could take this sense of space further but it was interesting to think about including sound and texture into the work.
I wanted to get the feel of the wind blowing in the leaves and the texture of grass and cement.
It was the first time that I used my rayon thread. They were at hand and I didn't want to hunt down anything specific. I'm glad that I took the time to play with them.
I'm hoping to work on this concept on little pieces like the one I did. They are fun, forgiving and take just an investment in thinking and a few hours of stitching.
After all of the quilting that I've done this summer, I'm going to give myself permission to play and experiment with art. 😍
I enjoyed working with the Liquitex Acrylic ink and it dries very quickly. When I painted the sides, it made a mess on the back edge of the canvas, so I carefully painted that. Next time I'll make sure to paint everything before attaching my piece.
As I mentioned, this linking party will be on for two weeks while the Quilter's Cove QAL linking party will start on Saturday, October 3rd.

I Quilted This!

Welcome to the I Quilted This! linking party that celebrates quilting on a domestic machine or custom quilting on a long-arm. Feel free to link up and share any recent project, even if you're not quilting it!

Here are the posts that included FMQ, ruler work and walking foot quilting last week. Thanks for linking up 😊 and consider grabbing the button.

Gretchen of Gretchen's Little Corner is busy quilting baby quilts. What a lovely Berenstein Bears Baby Quilt with Framed Squares. Check out her simple but effective quilting. She started by stitching-in-the-ditch and then quilted around the insides of the squares and then added half orange peels.

Gretchen's Berenstein Bears Baby Quilt

Details of the quilting on the back of Gretchen's baby quilt

Sally from Crafts, Cavies and Cooking made a very lovely string backpack to replace an old one. She backed the blocks with fabric and stitched some wavy lines to keep it all together.

A lovely new string backpack by Sally

Sandra from mmm quilts made another lovely quilt. This one, Biblioasis, has some great book themed fabric in it. You'll want to check out her blog for more information on her FMQ and her quilt!

Biblioasis by Sandra

Yummy details of Sandra's FMQ on Biblioasis

Melva of Melva Loves Scraps finished her Little Lala quilt that she made for her QAL. It's so lovely! She used the same quilting motif as her grandmother, except that it was machine quilted. Check out her post for more details.

Melva's Little Lala quilt

It's now your turn 😍

Thursday, September 10, 2026

Playing and I Quilted This!

Bonjour and welcome 😃 I spent most of the day outside playing with hexies - that was nice 😍 I'm writing this ahead of time since I'll be in Toronto for my semi-annual eye exam. I used to be able to stitch in the car but not anymore. That means that not much will get done quilting wise, so I may as well prepare this post before I go.

Playing with FMQ Designs

As you saw last week, I finally started quilting Square Dance, a baby quilt. Since then I've been FMQ one block per day. I'm so excited - it's pure play. Of course I said that I would keep it simple but you know me...a chance to practice and play with FMQ. I just can't help it. 😁

Since the first block I FMQ just had straight lines, I wanted to add some curves into the next one.

Straight lines with "C" curves

The next one, on the turquoise background was FMQ with Lori Kennedy's Swirling Stars. I drew the design on the fabric with a white chalk pen.

Swirling Stars

The maroon block has a pickle ball fabric in the middle, so I practiced drawing on paper and then on the fabric, pickle ball pallets and balls. The rest was FMQ with squiggly lines.

FMQ pickle ball pallets and squiggly lines

Summer Hexies Sew Along

As well as playing with FMQ, I also spent time doing EPP (English Paper Piecing), the wreath for the Summer Hexies Sew Along.

This is what I have done so far.

Hexie Wreath so far

Another double flower

I now have 10 single hexie flowers and 4 double hexie flowers. Now I need to make one double hexie flower and 8 single hexie flowers and the leaves. It's coming along nicely 😊

Focus & Flow Course

I'm taking the Focus and Flow course offered by Fibre Arts Take Two. The course is taught by Karen Olson. It's a mindful eco-art program. Our first project was a teabag paper journal. I used inks for a few of the pages and then used a branch from my yard to put into the spine. The book is tied with sari yarn.

Teabag paper journal

It was a windy day - the pages wanted to dance

If you're wondering. teabag paper is a translucent paper that feels a lot like tissue paper. It's very durable and takes paint quite well. Apparently if you want to work with Japanese papers, this is an inexpensive way to get used to them.

What I learned

I made the teabag paper journal a while back and have finally returned to the course. I've missed making books so it's great to be back into it. This is definitely from an arts perspective.
Playing with hexies outside for most of the day was very relaxing. I'm motivated to finish the wreath since it's more than half done.
Choosing fabric that plays well with the initial fabrics I bought has been fun. A little variety is a very good thing!
FMQ the Square Dance quilt has been fun, from figuring out the designs to practicing them and then drawing them on the fabric. As I've said before, it's a good thing that I'm pretty good at following lines 😀

I Quilted This!

Here are the posts that included FMQ, ruler work and walking foot quilting last week. Thanks for linking up 😊 and consider grabbing the button.

Kat of Scrapbox Quilts made another lovely Lil Bear Hug quilt. This one is yellow and purple - the August and September colours.

Kat's yellow and purple Lil Bear Hug quilt

Terry from On Going Projects has been quilting her Butterfly collage project. Here's a peak.

Terry is FMQ her Butterfly collage project.

Diann at Little Penguin Quilts has finished her lovely Patchwork Hearts quilt. She quilted-as-you-go. If you're curious, read about the process on her post!

Diann's Patchwork Hearts quilt

Preeti at Sew Preeti Quilts quilted a lovely quilt that she called Jeni's Colorado. You'll want to read all about it.

Preeti's latest quilt, Jeni's Colorado

Vicki from Vicki's Crafts and Quilting has been busy. You'll want to check out her post. Here are a couple of fall quilts that she finished.

Vicki's fall wall hanging - check it out!

Vicki's sunflower table runner

Gail of Quilting Gail made the cutest baby quilt. You'll want to read the story behind it. She quilted it with the Rocket Ruler by Silly Moon.

There's a dog on my quilt by Gail

Details of the ruler quilting by Gail

It's now your turn 😍

Thursday, September 03, 2026

FMQ a Baby Quilt and I Quilted This!

Hi and welcome 😊 I hope that September finds you well. I'm so grateful that the back-to-school rush is no longer a thing in my family - I don't miss those very stressful days! I've been quilting the first baby quilt of three for JJ's friends. Let's see how I'm doing.

Square Dance is getting quilted

This week I quilted-in-the-ditch the first baby quilt. The title of the pattern is Square Dance, so I'm sticking with that! I used a light grey for the top and a light blue thread for the bobbin. I'll be using a light blue in the bobbin when the top thread is pale, and a darker blue to match darker thread. That's the plan since my tension will cooperate 😀

First block quilted - ruler and FMQ

I started by using a ruler to quilt the top triangle of the block. I gave up after that section was done. It was easier, faster and more accurate to draw the lines and FMQ them. That's because I have a generic ruler foot that is not very good. One day I will buy the proper Janome ruler foot - hopefully that will help.

Here's Square Dance with all of the blocks stitched-in-the-ditch. The top light green block has been quilted, except for the rainbow centre block. I'll probably be FMQ it with rainbow shapes that I learned at the Free Motion Quilting Summit 2026.

Square Dance stitched-in-the-ditch

Back of the quilt with extra novelty squares

September's One Monthly Goal (OMG)

I would love to have Square Dance all quilted by the end of the month, but that may be too ambitious, so I'll aim to have half of it quilted 😉. Wish me luck!

What I learned

I enjoy sandwiching small quilts - it's just so much easier!
The back of the quilt came together easily. The pattern called for one extra row but I was done, so I added the 6" blocks to the back. It worked out perfectly 😊
I was disappointed with the ruler quilting. I guess I had forgotten had bad the generic ruler foot can be. I was not in a patient mood, so out came my FMQ foot. All was good 😍

I Quilted This!

Here are the posts that included FMQ, ruler work and walking foot quilting last week. Thanks for linking up 😊 and consider grabbing the button.

Kat from Scrapbox Quilts FMQ this stunning panel following Angela Walter's challenge, Arcs, Curves and Points. This is the challenge I was going to use to do ruler quilting on the Square Dance quilt, but the rulers have been put away. Kat isn't a fan of the dark panel but it is a stunning finish. You'll want to expand her photo to get a better look at the FMQ.

Kat's FMQ on Angela Walter's Arcs, Curves and Points panel

Diann at Little Penguin Quilts quilted her last block and is now putting together her Quilt-as-you-go (QAYG) colourful Patchwork Hearts quilt.

Diann quilting her last colourful patchwork heart

Diann is ready to put the whole Patchwork Hearts quilt together!

Vicki of Vicki's Crafts and Quilting has finished many quilts this week. Here are a couple of them. You can check them all out on her post. The first one below is a lovely disappearing 9 patch. Those blues really play well together! My favourite is this colourful table topper. I just love the pieced border!

Vicki's blue disappearing 9 patch

Vicki's colourful fall topper

Margo Yang of MY Quilts and Crafts got her gorgeous denim quilt finished. It's called She's A Star. Let's hope it'll be hanging in the Quilt National 27!

Margo's She's A Star

Sandra of mmm quilts finished a quilt for her daughter, Holiday Star. It was quilted very simply but I love the little extra Sandra quilted in the secondary blocks.

Sandra's dramatic Holiday Star

Debbie of A Quilter's Table made this great improv quilt - Plethora. Debbie quilted this in an uneven grid with a number of coloured thread, for a plethora of fabric and thread. Check out her post for more details.