Showing posts with label Leah Day. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Leah Day. Show all posts

Wednesday, December 13, 2023

Back to FMQ the T-shirt Quilt on Free Motion Mavericks

Welcome to week 460 of Free Motion Mavericks. I have been able to do free motion quilting (FMQ) this week. It felt good to be back home and at my Jag (my sewing machine) ๐Ÿ˜ 

FMQ the T-shirts


I started quilting the outlines of the hearts on this lovely t-shirt. Once I finished the hearts, I added the row of ruffle to the top of the block. Isn't it cute? ๐Ÿ˜ I'll come back and do the sashing when I have blue thread in the machine. 

Lovely heart t-shirt with a ruffle

I then FMQ some of the t-shirts whose sashing I had previously quilted. In this case, I just wanted to keep it simple. They are mostly wavy lines.

The three high school t-shirts ✔

I just FMQ around the people and outlined the letters. After adding the photo to this post, I decided that it needed a little more quilting.

Outlining the group and name

Adding more swirls in white









I then started another t-shirt block. On this one I fudged improvised the sashing a lot because the t-shirt had to be cut at odd angles. I FMQ linked squares and rectangles and then went around the letters. I didn't want to stitch over the image too much because it's rubbery, but I went around the hat and it seems ok. I love the sentiment of this t-shirt...I guess my niece and I have that in common ๐Ÿ˜Š

Linked squares and rectangles in the sashing

Here are a couple more blocks. I had fun with the Bridge t-shirt. I FMQ clouds in the sky, then water below, with fish and a sailboat. It's not obvious but it will be a fun discovery ๐Ÿ˜Š I'll be FMQ the border when that navy blue thread comes out!

Bridge t-shirt with FMQ landscape elements 

For this t-shirt block, I used some dot-to-dot type FMQ for the sashing. The sides have rather rough diamonds, the bottom is covered with echoed paisley and the top is another variation from the dot-to-dot design. On the t-shirt itself, I quilted a row of meandering flowers at the bottom and then some swirls. I also outlined the girl. Isn't she precious? She reminds me of my niece when she was young!

Dot-to-dot variations in the sashing

For this next t-shirt, I had a dilemma. I FMQ the Anna Canada t-shirt following the very faint lines that are in the t-shirt fabric, and I outlined the numbers. However, you can probably see the extra t-shirt fabric on one side. It's more than a little pucker and it will be vulnerable to ripping so I went back and sewed it down by giving it a slight tuck. It took quite a few lines of stitches but it's better than a huge pucker. 

Puckers stitched down
A dilemma that
needed to be fixed

















The emoji t-shirt was FMQ with a kind of flowing algae design with white thread. It's much better than what I usually do, which is to circle around each element. 

I went back to the music t-shirt and added more looped filling within the t-shirt. As I cropped the image, I realise that I'd be going back once more to put a few lines between the locations at the back of the t-shirt. That has flatten it out well.
Additional lines of FMQ to flatten the t-shirt

The back of the t-shirt 
















Here is the t-shirt that I was working on when I ran out of bobbin thread and called it a day. I have to eventually publish this post! For this pink t-shirt, I'm FMQ some allover large echoed flowers. It's a lot of fun but is time consuming.  

FMQ allover large echoed flowers

What I learned
  • The FMQ goes quickly when I know what design I'm going to use. It always slows down when I have to think of something new to use.
  • I spent a few hours looking for and drawing out some fun designs. This time, I went back to Leah Day's 365 Free Motion Quilting Designs. I drew then out and added them to my FMQ journal to keep track of.
  • It turns out that even if there is no batting, I still need to quilt all over or there will be loose fabric that can get caught, as I showed you. 
  • Considering how accuracy challenged I am, I'm pleasantly surprised that there haven't been more problems.
  • I did manage to cut the backing too much at the top of the high school t-shirts. I left the top sashing unquilted for now, so that I can add a couple of inches of backing. ๐Ÿ˜’
  • Of the 25 t-shirt blocks, I have 7 more blocks to complete, 1 t-shirt only to FMQ (not the sashing) and I've almost finished the pink all-over block.
  • All of this, including the binding needs to be finished by next Wednesday. It will be done ✔
Related links
Linking parties

Free Motion Mavericks


There were no link ups last week. I don't think there were issues with InLinkz. If there are, please let me know in the comments. Thanks.


You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Friday, August 26, 2022

Oranges and Lemons on Free Motion Mavericks

Welcome to week 396 of Free Motion Mavericks. Sorry for the delay. I guess I'm more ready for the weekend than I thought! ๐Ÿ˜

Playing with Oranges and Lemons!


This month on the Table Scraps Challenge, the colour is orange and the theme is Embroidery.

Oranges and Lemons runner ๐ŸŠ๐Ÿ‹

I started, as I usually do, with a look at my scrap containers. I found these in the scrap bag for English Paper Piecing (EPP) hexies. There are still lots, so it shouldn't affect my hexies supply much ๐Ÿ˜€

I was trying out my mother's Kenmore sewing machine to make sure that it was ready to give to my son - it made four patches just fine! I attached those to the larger squares and Voilร ! It was then time to add an inside border and then the oranges and lemons outside border.

Orange scraps with oranges and lemons border
ready to FMQ

I stitched-in-the-ditch around the borders. I didn't bother with the inside blocks. I then FMQ the oranges and lemons outside border. My FMQ got more elaborate as I went along ๐Ÿ˜Š

FMQ the runner

Finally it was time to FQM the centre blocks. I had just watched Lea Day's video on the Quilting Daily newsletter. She has a series called "Quilted & Bound: Quilting Ideas to Finish Your Quilt Tops Fast and Easy!"  For a scrappy quilt, Leah used the undulation design in all-over style. She had some good tips to share, so if you're interested, you may want to check out her Episode 1 video (see Related links below).

The centre blocks are FMQ using the undulation design in all-over style

I had some lovely light orange yardage that I used for the binding. I believe that the backing fabric comes from an old cotton tablecloth that I mother had. I love the Mediterranean vibes.

Hand-stitching the binding

Since the theme for August is embroidery, I just added a running stitch line of Perle cotton through the border.
Running stitch line of Perle cotton through the border

I shot the finished photos at my son's place last night after finishing the border. They had lovely sunflowers. 

Finished Oranges and Lemons runner with sunflowers
 

What I learned

  • I had several small squares of orange fabric scraps that I was able to use for the 4 patch.
  • I was worried that the centre blocks would be too much but since they're surrounded by the outside border, it frames them well and the overall effect isn't "too much"!
  • I was going to embroider the border with more than the running stitch, but since I ended up making it quite narrow, I decided for just a thin line of running stitch. I didn't stitch through all of the layers since I would have needed a thimble and didn't have one with me. 
  • I loved FMQ those lemon, orange, lemon and lime slices!๐Ÿ˜Š

Related links

Linking parties

I'll be linking up to the August 2022 Table Scraps Challenge as well as other fun linking parties. Why not check some of these out, after you've linked up below! Midweek MakersNeedle & Thread Thursday, Put your foot down - this week with True Blue QuiltsOff The Wall Friday TGIFF, Finished or Not Finished FridayPeacock Party, DrEAMi!, Design Wall Monday

Project details

Oranges and Lemons table runner
Size: 
Materials: commercial fabric scraps, perle cotton
Techniques: 4 patch blocks, FMQ, embroidery



Free Motion Mavericks

Welcome! Last time Nancy of Grace and Peace Quilting shared with us her "Bring the Love" mini quilts. If you didn't get a chance to look at these, you may want to check them out now after you link up!

"Bring the Love" mini quilts by Nancy of Grace and Peace Quilting

It's now your turn to link up!

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Thursday, April 01, 2021

Orbiting planets and funky stars on Free Motion Mavericks

I had a really fun time last evening doing some free motion quilting (FMQ) for this post. I can't wait to show you what I've been up to ๐Ÿ˜Š 

Adding planets and then funky stars

I started by doing some research using my trusty National Geographic "The New Universe, Here, Now, and Beyond". It was published in 2010 and you would think that the information would be up-to-date, but it turns out that a LOT has happened in astronomy in the last 12 years. However it was perfect for my purposes - pretty pictures, good descriptions and a map of our solar system. 

Here is my quilted universe to date. I'm really sorry that the pictures aren't more vivid but it was a dark cloudy day.

Our Universe....so far

An asteroid, Neptune, and a Swirling Star












Mercury, the Sun, a faint
Flaming Sun, Venus,
Uranus and a Swirling Star

A Flaming Star and a Swirling Sphere




















I also took the time to look through the many FMQ e-books that I own. These were really great resources. When I found a star or something that could possibly be found in the Universe, I snipped a picture of it to put into my project folder so that everything is easily accessible. I also wrote the names of the design, the book it came from and the page number on a sheet so that I could easily find them again. See, working in information management for the last 9 years has paid off! ๐Ÿ˜Š 

The list of the funky stars I used so far are in Related links below. At the end of the project I will make a montage of the designs I used to help anyone interested in finding these.

Here is the labelled image of the "real" planets. You can click on the picture to make it larger.


Finally here is a close-up of a Flaming Sun.

Close-up of Flaming Sun
One Monthly Goal (OMG)
I will be linking up this project to Elm Street Quilts' OMG for April. It's time that this baby gets finished!

What I learned
  • Finding the FMQ designs of stars and other things that might be found in the Universe was really easy with the ebooks. This was definitely an advantage to ebooks. 
  • I practiced drawing the designs for a couple of days. I managed to reproduce a few very well while others still need work - but that's what practice is all about! My Swirling Star was getting better the second time around.
  • Most of the FMQ designs were for a series or an all-over design. I adapted these for this project. I really loved FMQ Sheila Sinclair Snyder's Flaming Star (she called them Spurs but that didn't go with my Universe!) 
  •  It was a lot of fun using variegated thread for the funky stars. I wanted them to be different from the "real" planets on the quilt.
  • So far, the plan is to keep adding stars, nebula etc. to the quilt and then to use some white Bottom Line thread to add smaller meandering stars between the larger planets and stars. It's possible that the FMQ of this quilt will be done by the end of April. I would like that - I think that it's time to get to my son's quilt!!!๐Ÿ˜ฏ
Related links
Linking parties
I will be linking up to many linking parties this week. I hope that you will check them out. Remember to also link up your projects below! One Monthly Goal, Monday Making, Put Your Foot Down, Finished or Not Finished, Off the Wall Fridays, Can I Get A Whoop Whoop?, Peacock Party, Patchwork & Quilts, Let's Make Baby Quilts

Free Motion Mavericks

Welcome to Free Motion Mavericks Week 325. Thank you for linking up last time. If you didn't get a chance to see Quilting Gail's t-shirt quilt, you really have to visit. I think that she had fun playing with different FMQ designs!  

Gail of Quilting Gail's FMQ of a t-shirt quilt
It's your turn!

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Thursday, November 12, 2020

Stars with Swirl Hooks & Flames on Free Motion Mavericks

Welcome to Free Motion Mavericks, week 306. It's been a month since I last free motion quilted (FMQ) a star. Today I'm going to show you the last two star blocks on the Pinwheels and Stars Baby Quilt. 

Swirl Hook Star

The first star today is the Swirl Hook Star based on Angela Walter's 4 Ways To Machine Quilt Star Blocks (see Related links below). 

In the last star post, I mentioned that I had been practicing my Swirl Hook. Of course I hadn't practiced it since then, but as soon as I started drawing it, the Swirl Hook came right back. It's amazing how the hand remembers the motions! 

Swirl Hook Star based on Angela Walter's design

Original design

Swirl Hook Star with pinwheel neighbours








Star with Flames

This next star is based on a mix of Leah Day's flame designs. 

Star with Flames

I practiced the flame designs and thought that it would work well in the star. When I started FMQ it, the flames were taking more space than I anticipated, so I ended up putting a large flame in every second point of the star and then making smaller flames in the alternate 4 points. Since the middle was a sort of spiral, I was able to use it to get back and forth to each flame.

You can see the FMQ better on the back of the quilt. Click on the image to enlarge it.

The back of the Star with Flames design

I also added a flame in each corner of the block.

Star with Flames and some pinwheels

What I learned
  • Practicing a design by drawing it is incredibly important to FMQ it correctly. I was pleasantly surprised that my hand still remembered how to draw the Swirl Hood design.
  • I didn't expect that my flames to be so large, however since I had practiced using Leah Day's tutorial (see Related links below) I had practiced making flames of different sizes, so it was easy to find my way out of a possible mess.
  • It would take a lot of practice to get consistent designs but I'm very happy with my results.
  • In my next Free Motion Mavericks post, I'll write a summary of the star blocks and start planning out the middle of the quilt!
Related links
Linking parties

Free Motion Mavericks


We are still getting a lot of Free Motion Mavericks joining our linking party! Thank you so much for coming by and posting, and leaving comments. It's great to be learning from each other and looking at the eye candy ๐Ÿ˜Š

Today I would like to share Avril's new jacket. Sandra of mmm quilts finally made a cover for her longarm, Avril. She quilted a series of panels on beautiful Island Batik fabrics and then sewed them together to make the cover. There are over 49 designs from the quilting world's best-known teachers. If you didn't see her post, check it out!

A peak at Avril's new jacket by Sandra at mmm quilts

It's your turn now!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Thursday, January 23, 2020

Welcome to Free Motion Mavericks

Hi! I'm glad that you dropped by for week 264 of Free Motion Mavericks.

It's been an incredibly busy week with my post for The Winter Blues Blog Hop on Tuesday and a finish required by Sunday morning with Project Quilting. I would love to say that I FMQ something just for today....but that didn't happen. Instead, I'm just going to show you my Cold and Sunny quilt and get on with the link up for the Free Motion Mavericks.

Cold and Sunny

Free Motion Quilted using Leah Day's designs

Cold and Sunny
Here is the schedule - see what's
keeping quilters from getting the Blues!
If you want to read more about how I did it and what I learned (it was a doosey!), then check out the post - but don't forget to come back to link up to Free Motion Mavericks and check out the entries! ๐Ÿ˜Š

Linking parties I'm linking up to some fun linking parties. Come see what's happening! TGIFF, Off The Wall Friday, Friday Foto Fun, Can I Get A Whoop Whoop?, Monday Making, Design Wall Monday

August 20, 2020: Show me Something Free Motion Link-up, 

Free Motion Mavericks

We had some really lovely posts linked up last time.
Caryl is learning more FMQ designs and Karin was trying out the Half Carat Diamond Ruler. I want to share both of these with you this week, in case you haven't seen their post last time!



Half Carat Diamond Ruler work by Karin

Caryl is practicing some FMQ designs
Now it's your turn!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!
Click here to enter

Friday, September 01, 2017

Learning QAL - September Goal Setting


Welcome to the Learning Quilt-A-Long (QAL)

Have you thought about your learning goal for September yet? Since September is traditionally the time for returning to school, it's a good time to consider what you'd like to learn this month.

Since I have a deadline in early October (see you at the Art with Fabric Blog Hop!),  I am going to keep this month's learning simple.

September Learning Goal: To learn a few more free motion quilting (FMQ) patterns.

There are so many great resources available - on the internet, in books, magazines, courses, etc. What I will be doing this month is use a few of these to learn and practice my FMQ. Since I have to keep this post interesting with images, here is some of the FMQ that I've done so far.
Race Car design from Lori Kennedy
Re-quilting a batik runner

Practicing my feathers

Using Angela Walter's Dot-to-Dot technique
Here are a few of the resources that I will be using (the links are in the Related Links below)

  • I want to learn a few of Muv's designs such as the Oak Leaf, the Rudbeckia, and the Berries and Leaves.
  • Craftsy: I have a ridiculous amount of free motion courses. I have watched and learned from many of them but it's time to get serious about learning and practicing! 
  • Of course I have to mention some of the renown FMQ teachers such as Leah Day, Angela Walters and Lori Kennedy. I have many books, web links and Craftsy courses by these ladies.  
  • There are a few quilters that I've discovered recently such as Esther with her 365 Day Doodle challenge and Yanicka's Three Feathers pattern. 
Re-quilting a door hanging
As the month progresses, I will share with you show off my FMQ and tell you what I learned using the various resources.

I really hope that you'll join me on my journey this month. You can follow along and share some of your favourite FMQ learning resources or you can link-up your own learning project below!

One Monthly Goal (OMG) - Updated September 3, 2017
Black & white fabrics for my OMG

When I wrote this post all of these projects were rather overwhelming. Now that I've had a couple of days to start and think things through, I've decided that my OMG for September will be to create a little wall hanging in black and white for my niece. She asked for this at Christmas but I was stuck - I just had no inspiration (more about that when I finish this project). I will be combining the FMQ for this month with the OMG to create that wall hanging that will showcase some of the FMQ I've practiced and learned.

What I learned
Design It, Quilt It: Free-Form Techniques
with Cindy Needham

  • It was so tough coming up with something that would be fun to learn but that could be done in smaller chunks of time and not too large and overwhelming. I really want this Learning QAL to be about the fun of learning and not the stress. I will be consciously trying to live that principle.
  • Since it was tough to decide, I now have a list of the many, many things that I want to learn in the next months. It was really good to take a look at all of the resources that I have access to. There is so much out there!
  • As I was adding the resources to my list, I wanted to make sure that I promote not only the obvious resources, but also the up-and-coming and not so famous ones. There are so many talented people out there who are so generous about sharing what they learn. It's so much fun to find them.
  • It's often a challenge to find visuals for a blog post where I haven't really done anything yet! Oh well, I guess that's when re-using photos comes in handy :-)
Related Links
Links to posts of the images
Practice Makes Better


Linking Parties: I will be linking to many link-up parties. Feel free to follow along. Free Motion MavericksOff the Wall Friday, Finished or Not FridayCan I get a Whoop Whoop?Oh Scrap!, One Monthly Goal SettingMOP MondayMain Crush Monday, Monday Making, Linky Tuesday, Design Wall Monday, Midweek Maker, Let's Bee Social,

Prizes
The August prize for participation goes to Donna of quiltpaintcreate. Thanks so much for participating! I will be in touch with you about sending you Yanicka's Cougar pattern featuring her Fractured image technique.

The September prize for participating in both the September Goal Setting and Sum Up link-ups will be a $20 (US) gift certificate for a quilting book so that you can keep on learning! For those who don't want to pay shipping, it can be a e-book (they are my favourites!) I am sorting out the details and will announce the publisher in the September Sum Up post.


Sunday, May 14, 2017

Joyce Wieland and Art with Fabric

Reason & Passion - based on
Joyce Wieland's Reason Over Passion (1968)
Welcome to Art with Fabric - Spring 2017! I'm thrilled to be participating in this blog hop again - thanks Alida for organizing it! It's so much fun finding an artist's work to use as inspiration. I had to find one that I liked since I spent about 4 months thinking and working on this piece.

The piece I've chosen to interpret is Joyce Wieland's Reason over Passion, created in 1968. Joyce Wieland (1930 - 1998) was an amazing woman. I was introduced to her art by my daughter who studied her works in a Canadian Art History course.

Joyce pushed many boundaries as an artist, film maker, feminist, and political activist.
Reason over Passion by Joyce Wieland, 1968

Reason over Passion was one of several textile art pieces in Joyce's True Patriot Love exhibit (1971). That show was also the first solo exhibit by a female artist at the National Gallery of Canada. You can imagine the  comments from the art establishment about fabric in an art exhibit in 1971. Joyce Wieland was a pioneer, incorporating many traditional textile techniques in her work as a way of elevating "women's work".

Reason over Passion was based on Prime Minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau's claim that he used reason over passion to guide his decision-making.

Here's a great story about this work of art. Joyce created both a French and an English version of this piece, probably to reflect official bilingualism in Canada. La raison avant la passion was given to Prime Minister Trudeau and hung in the official residence. One day, his wife Margaret Trudeau pulled the letters off the quilt and threw them at her husband. I can imagine how difficult it could have been to live with a man who lived by the motto: Reason over Passion!

You can read more about Joyce Wieland in my last post and in the Related Links section below.

Reason & Passion
Reason & Passion - Art with Fabric, Spring 2017
Reason & Passion - Art with Fabric, Spring 2017
Reason & Passion
Having thought about and worked on this piece for so long, I suspect that Joyce Wieland was being ironic when she created it. Notice that the colours she used are all in the warm palette and the hearts she placed all over it. Joyce loved hearts and these are not symbols or colours linked to reason, but rather passion.

I wanted to create something different from Joyce's work - something that would reflect my thoughts and beliefs as well as the evolution of textile art. I decided to create Reason & Passion because I believe we need to balance both of these elements in our lives. Even scientists like Albert Einstein complemented their rational, reasoning side with creativity and passion in their work.

To acknowledge the evolution of textile art, I created a wholecloth quilt filled with free motion quilting (FMQ). No one will be able to throw my letters at me!

Symbolism

The quilt is divided in three horizontal sections.
"Reason"
  • The letters and FMQ are in cool colours - blue and green with some neutrals.
  • The FMQ motifs are geometric or linear.  
"Reason" in cool colours and geometric motifs
"&"
  • The "&" is in a bright multicoloured thread with the FMQ starting to be in warm colours such as red, pink, orange and yellow.
  • The FMQ motifs are more organic - mostly those found in nature such as flowers, leaves, stars and snowflakes.
"&" in bright multicoloured thread and organic FMQ
"Passion"
  • Passion is written in bright warm (or hot) colours which are echoed in the FMQ.
  • The FMQ motifs are still organic (and a little wilder) and become more abstract with the addition of paisleys and quilted feathers. There are also a few symbols that Joyce Wieland used in her works, such as lips and hearts. 
  • I also added "Yin yang" symbols throughout the piece to illustrate the wholeness that we create when we accept what are seen as opposite qualities within us, as complimentary.
"Passion" in hot colours with organic and abstract FMQ
What I learned
  • My passionate side is the strongest in me. I loved creating those patterns with the wild colours.
  • My reasoning or rational side came out in the planning of this piece. It was, however, more difficult to quilt geometric patterns in cool colours.
  • I have to thank Leah Day for her inspiring book: 365 Free Motion Quilting Designs. I could never have come up with all of the FMQ motifs on my own! 
    Working on the FMQ
  • Those who know me won't be surprised that I used a wholecloth for this project so that I could minimize the piecing and maximize my FMQ practice. A win-win combination! I learned many new FMQ motifs that I will incorporate in my quilting.
  • For the letters I used size 40 threads; Madeira Polyneon, Rainbows by Superior Threads as well a Signature variegated thread. I didn't have enough colours so ended up picking up some Gรผtermann machine embroidery thread. It was fine and all had a nice sheen. 
  • All of the FMQ was done with Kimono Silk thread from Superior Threads (size 100), except for one flame made with Signature variegated thread.
  • I used Superior Threads' Bottom Line in the bobbin and two 70/10 Microtex needles (that's a lot of quilting!). Since I've started using these needles with Bottom Line and Kimono Silk thread, I've had no problems with the tension. Yeah!
Details of some of the FMQ:
  • A flaming arrow,
  • Snow flakes
  • A lotus flower
  • Circle of hearts 
  • Quilted feathers
  • Yin Yang symbol with snow flakes and flames
  • Many leaves and flowers

Related Links

Project Details

Reason & Passion
32" x 24"
Inspired by Reason over Passion (1968) by Joyce Weiland (1930 - 1998) 
Materials: Cotton, buttons
Techniques: Wholecloth quilt with free motion quilting (FMQ)



Art with Fabric Schedule - Check out the participants' art work!
Art with Fabric blog hop

Monday, May 15th, 2017
Art with Fabric - Day 1
Andrรฉe at Quilting and Learning Combo! (me)
LeeAnna at Not Afraid of Color 

Tuesday, May 16th, 2017 
Adele at Adele Mogavero

Wednesday, May 17th, 2017 
Bea at Beaquilter
Janeen at Quilt Art Designs 

Thursday, May 18th, 2017 
Jennifer at Inquiring Quilter  
Carol at Quilted Fabric Art 

Friday, May 19th, 2017 
Art with Fabric - Day 5

Linking Parties: I have also linked my post to the following Link-ups. Check out what everyone is doing in Quilt Land :-) Monday Making, Main Crush Monday, Linky Tuesday, Moving it Forward Monday, Let's Bee Social, Midweek Makers, Needle & Thread Thursday, Free Motion Mavericks, Off the Wall Friday, Can I get a Whoop Whoop?, Finished or Not Friday,

This project was also my OMG (One Monthly Goal). I've linked up to the May Finish Link-Up
I'm also linking up to Sarah Goer Quilts - Show Me Something with Solids