Mallard Duck Mini Finish with Free Motion Mavericks

Even without my favourite sewing machine, I was able to sew and quilt with the walking foot, my son's Mallard Duck mini. When I showed it to him, he said that he would find a spot for this one and the other two that I've made for him.

Finishing the Mallard Duck

As you saw in my Making a Mallard Duck Mini post, the foundation paper piecing went well. I always manage to make at least one piece that doesn't have enough selvage but I'm really good at problem solving 😊  I would have loved to go crazy with the free motion quilting (FMQ) but this little guy got off easy.

Finished Mallard Duck mini 

In a previous life I was a planner, but you wouldn't know it based on most of my quilting. I had planned to use my extended-border binding technique where I extend the backing fabric to make the binding, but I wasn't thrilled with the backing fabric as a binding. I ended up trimming the piece but if I had through it through, I would have added at least a half inch to the outside so that my binding would be wide enough to look like a frame. 

Carefully measuring the binding for a ½" frame

So, more problem solving to be done. I cut the binding fabric 2" wide but didn't double it. Instead I very carefully measured the front of the binding so that it would be a ½" wide all around the piece. I should be measuring my binding all the time since I tend to have some wider areas. Accuracy and consistency are not my strengths but that doesn't mean that I can't try!😊

Looking for that perfect button

When it came time to choose the perfect button, I went to my giant jar of buttons. I thought that it was a good idea to have all of my buttons in one jar (and it looks good too!) but having to find one tiny button in that jar might not be the most efficient way of storing them...

Writing the label on fabric backed
with freezer paper

The back of the mini

In case you don't know this trick, the next time you need to write up a label, iron a piece of freezer paper to the back of the fabric. It will stabilize the fabric so that it's easy to write on.

What I learned

• I'm really happy with my finished Mallard Duck mini. I spent a lot of time getting the binding to be the same width so that it looks like a frame.
• Sometimes I make fancy labels but I kept this one simple. Using the freezer paper really helps me write on the fabric.
• I'm not sure what I'm going to do with my button jar. It's not like I need buttons very often, so it may not be worth changing it...again!
• I would have loved to FMQ this little guy - I even found a great picture to follow to make it realistic. Oh well, maybe the next one.

Related links

• Making a Mallard Duck Mini, November 17, 2021
•  Extended-border binding technique
• A loon, a bear and a binding tutorial, November 25, 2018
• Made by Marney website and her patterns on Etsy

Linking parties

I'll be linking up to many fun linking parties. Check them out! November's One Monthly Goal (OMG) Finish,  Monday Making, Design Wall Monday, Patchwork & Quilts, Oh Scrap!, Put Your Foot Down, Off The Wall Friday, 15 Minutes to Stitch 2021, Needle & Thread Thursday, 

Project details

Mallard Duck Mini, pattern by Made By Marney

8¾" X 8¼"

Materials: commercial and batik cotton, button

Techniques: foundation paper piecing and quilting with a walking foot 

Free Motion Mavericks

Welcome to week 358 of the Free Motion Mavericks' linking party. Last time, Donnalee linked up her red birds on an improv background. She FMQ her background with a serpentine design. It looks very effective. If you didn't see her post, check it out here. She also discovered that using safety pins is a good way to keep her quilt sandwich together. What do you use to keep things together (if you're not using a long-arm)?

DonnaleeQ: Red Birds Improv

Now it's your turn.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Making a Mallard Duck Mini

About a year and a half ago, I promised my son a third mini for his apartment entrance. My timing is off since he’s moving in a few weeks to another apartment. I really hope that he’ll have somewhere to hang up, or even use these as mug rugs.

Foundation Paper Piecing a Mallard Duck

I’ve used a few of "Made by Marney" foundation paper piecing patterns. I particularly like her Woodland Animals series. 

Mallard Duck mini - so far

I love this little guy. As you can see, I haven’t cropped it yet.

Since my Jag is still in the shop and will be for another few weeks, I decided to do some basic quilting with my walking foot. It went ok. I had a hard time seeing if the stitching was going in-the-ditch or next to it. It was generally good enough – it’s not my favourite thing to do and frankly I’m only slightly better at it with my Jag 😊

Un-stitching the quilting

I got ambitious late one evening when I should have known better. I decided to use my walking foot to follow the not-so gentle curves of the water. Of course I wanted to get right to it, and didn’t adjust my stitch length, which would have been fine if the stitching had been good, but as it was terrible, I had one heck of a time un-stitching it.

I remembered a tip from Jackie Gering in her Craftsy class, Creative Quilting With Your Walking Foot. If you are very, very careful, you can remove your quilting stitches with your rotary cutter. You just very gently rub the edge of the rotary cutter over the stitches, between the batting and the fabric. I figured that I had nothing to lose, because if I couldn’t un-stitch it, I was going to re-do part of the piece (I’m not sure if that was possible, but I would have started over if that’s what it took!) I’m very happy to report that it worked wonderfully. You can see the results in this image. 

Once it’s pressed, I’m sure that it'll be fine. The next step is to practice on a quilt sandwich. I know that I can follow the curve of the fabric if I’m very, very patient. That’s not my forte, so I’ll have to be in a good place 😊

Bear Foundation Paper Pieced,
pattern by Made by Marney

This little piece is my November One Monthly Goal (OMG), so I’ll finish quilting it with my walking foot.  I’ll post the results on my next Free Motion Mavericks post (it’ll be a couple of days early, but I’m hoping you won’t mind!)

What I learned

• I’m sure that when I started quilting the curves that a voice in my head suggested that I not do it....but it didn’t scream and I wasn’t listening....so now I know that I can use my rotary cutter to un-stitch the quilting.
• I hope that my son will put up this third mini along with the others. Now that he won’t be living alone, it will have to be negotiated! I may have to make a couple more for his girlfriend...but I won’t suggest it since that could take me another few years (sigh).
• For some eye candy, here are a couple of minis that I've made with patterns by Made by Marney.
• I’m using my old sewing machine. It’s a Kenmore from the 1980’s. In theory it can do FMQ. I lowered the feed dogs but it’s very difficult to get the quilt to glide – now I know why they invented products like the Supreme Slidder. I’ve never had an issue with this on my jag, but then, it is a jag! 

Moose Foundation Paper Pieced,
pattern by Made by Marney

Related links

• Made by Marney and her Etsy shop
• Jackie Gering's Craftsy class, Creative Quilting With Your Walking Foot
• November's OMG - All for One, November 3, 2021

Linking parties

I'll be linking up to many fun linking parties. Let's see what everyone is up to! Midweek Makers, Patchwork & Quilts, Monday Making, Design Wall Monday, Put your foot down, Off the Wall Friday, Oh Scrap!, 

I've linked up this post on DrEAMi. If you want to see the finished project, my latest post will be published Tuesday, November 30 at 8pm. is here!

Free Motion Mavericks

Welcome to week 356 of Free Motion Mavericks. It's been a long time since I hosted my last party. It was good to have a rest, thanks to Muv, but now we will be resuming our regular fortnight schedule.

Thanks to all of you who linked up. It's always difficult to choose one quilt to feature and I do try to feature quilts and quilters who are at different levels on their journey to mastering FMQ. However, I had to feature Sandra's Fleurs quilt. What a beauty! She does all of her FMQ on a long arm, but she's the one in charge 😊!  You can see the whole quilt in Sandra's post. I really had to show you the details...Wow!

Fleurs by Sandra at mmmquilts

Now it's your turn!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Moose Cubicle Mini Quilt

It's a cubicle mini - a little late because I didn't finish on time for the March One Monthly Goal (OMG) but not too late since my son is still working in his cubicle 😊

Moose Cubicle Mini

I've made a few foundation paper pieced minis using Made by Marney's patterns. This is the latest.

A Moose for you

Since I added a border to the mini, I actually remembered to used the Extended-border binding technique. It really worked out well. I stitched in the ditch around the border and then free motion quilted (FMQ) the mini, up to the border. I then flipped the border towards the mini and cut the batting and backing about one inch from the sewn edge of the border.

Cutting the batting and backing

I had ironed the binding so that I knew where to trim the batting and backing. At the bottom of the image below, you can see that the batting reaches to the border (if it's laid flat). Once the batting and backing were trimmed, I flipped the mini over and hand-stitched the border to the back, as if it was a binding. For more details see the link to the tutorial in the Related links below.

The border will cover the back, as if it was a binding.

Here is the mini from the back. The backing and batting have been cut and it's now time to fold the borders over them.

Getting ready to sew down the border

A moose for you

What I learned

• I used a different fabric for the bottom of the mini since I wanted it to look like vegetation. Next time, I think that I'll just add an extra piece between the sky and the bottom so that the vegetation doesn't go all the way up to the antlers.
• After trimming the batting and backing, I realised that the moose's antlers were not very visible, so I added some FMQ.
• Preparing the extended-border was much easier this time than the last.
• I used a quilting marking pencil that turned out to not be erasable! I got rid of it, but not before making a mark that won't go away!
• I could have made it on time for the March OMG (barely) except that I didn't have two small matching buttons in all of my button stash!
• As much as I love linking up to OMG, I'm going to give myself a break this month - I really need to just go with the flow for a while :-)

Related links

• Extended-border binding technique
• A loon, a bear and a binding tutorial, November 25, 2018
• Made by Marney website and her patterns on Craftsy and Etsy

Linking parties
I am linking up with Muv at Free Motion Mavericks as well as many of the fun link-up parties in the neighbourhood. Let's go see what's on! Can I Get a Whoop Whoop?, TGIFF, Finished or Not Friday, Friday Foto Fun, Brag About Your Beauties, Oh Scrap!, Monday Making, Design Wall Monday, Moving It Forward, What I Made Monday, Tuesday Color Linky Party, and Meadow Mist's April Favorite Finish Monthly Linkup.

Project details

A Moose for you
8¾ " x 9"
Materials: cotton and buttons
Techniques: Foundation paper pieced, free motion quilting, extended-border binding technique

A Mola finish

Funky Flower Mola

It's done! I've spent many hours embellishing the Funky Flower Mola that I started two weeks ago for the Dust Off a Quilt Book Blog Hop. I really enjoyed the embroidery and the beading.

Funky Flower Mola - finished!

After the blog hop, I added another butterfly and embroidery to the top of the piece.

Second butterfly and vines

I also added tiny pink seed beads around the funky flower.

Beading the funky flower

One Monthly Goal (OMG) for March

It's been a while since I linked up to an OMG - so here goes!

I have a mini to make for my son's cubicle! It's going to be the foundation paper pieced Moose by Made by Marney. So far, I've made two bears and a loon. It's now time for the moose 😊

A bear mini

A loon mini

What I learned

• Adding that many beads takes a long time - although I finished it faster than I expected.
• I had bought one container of seed beads. I got pretty nervous near the end....there aren't many left. Normally it wouldn't be a problem but I bought these on sale because they were being discontinued.
• I experimented with some of my daughter's perle cotton and metallic embroidery floss. It's fun to see the different effects they create.

Related links

• Dust Off a Quilt Book Blog Hop Mola Style, February 21, 2019
• Molas!: Patterns, Techniques & Projects for Colorful Applique by Kate Mathew
• Travelling vicariously and DrEAMi! October 29, 2018
• A loon, a bear and a binding tutorial, November 25, 2018
• A finished birthday bear mini, December 19, 2018
• Made by Marney website and her patterns on Craftsy and Etsy

Linking parties
I will be linking this post up to the March One Monthly Goal (OMG) as well as several other link-ups in quilt land. Let's go see what going on! Monday Making, Design Wall Monday, Moving It Forward, What I Made Monday, Tuesday Colour Linky Party, Midweek Makers, Silly Mama Quilts WIPs, Needle & Thread Thursday, Let's Bee Social, Off The Wall Friday, TGIFF, Finished or Not Friday, Can I Get a Whoop Whoop?, Main Crush Monday, New To Me 2019,

Project details

Funky Flower Mola
16" x 13"
Materials: Kona cotton, embroidery floss, perle cotton, beads, stones
Techniques: reverse appliqué, appliqué, embroidery, beading

A finished birthday bear mini

Birthday season in our family is mostly in the fall. This year I decided that I didn't want to keep buying birthday cards and that I would make each person a mini quilt. In theory it's a wonderful idea (and many of you agreed with me!), however.... it's much quicker to go buy a card than make a mini! So if you decide to do the same, you might want to add some "making" time to your mimi 😊.

Birthday bear mini

If you've been following the birthday card saga, I made a Loon mini as the first birthday card for my brother. I got wise and gave my other brother a free motion quilting practice piece that he had admired a while back and then gave my niece another mini that was already made (three down, two more to go!).

I started the bear mini but ended up giving the poor thing a broken leg (by using the wrong fabric on the front leg instead of the back one), so I used it as a practice piece for my Extended-border binding tutorial. I finally finished my husband's mini yesterday, only a little more than a month after his birthday. 😊

Finished birthday bear for hubby

Forest green is his favourite colour but I didn't have enough of it to finish the mini using the Extended-border binding technique. Since I've been working with batiks lately, I found the perfect brown for the binding.

Isn't that label terrific? This is one of the foundation paper piecing patterns that I get each month in Quilting on the Square's newsletter. This 4" beauty is called Square Stop, from Collection 5, Month #1. You may also notice my printed Ikaprint label on the right side. You can get a 5% discount if you go through Sew Fresh Quilts' website (see Related links)

Foundation paper pieced label

Here are the minis I've made so far with the Made by Marney patterns.

First mini - a loon

First try at the bear - oops!

My next birthday mini, for my Danish sister-in-law, is Olaf the Viking Penguin. The pattern is by Whims and Fancies.

Olaf the Viking Penguin
my next birthday mini

What I learned

• I still think that making a mini is better than buying a birthday card but next year I'm going to have to give myself more time to get them done. I still have a few forest animal patterns that I'm looking forward to making!
• Since there are a few birthdays at other times of the year, I'll see if I can plan these out, or make a few when I feel like it (or have the time).
• I really enjoy trying out new patterns, especially when they're so small. 
• It would have been nice to make a few Christmas minis but that didn't happen this year. The only Christmas preparation I've done so far is decorate my office since I did it with a colleague, before I left for holidays. I'll be writing a post about this since I have a couple of woven Christmas pieces to showoff share.

Related links

• A loon, a bear and a binding tutorial, November 25, 2018
• Travelling vicariously and DrEAMi! October 29, 2018
• Made by Marney website and her patterns on Craftsy and Etsy
• Quilting on the Square
• Ikaprint labels - get a 5% discount through Sew Fresh Quilts' blog (just scroll down....)
• Viking Penguin Olaf - paper piecing pattern by Whims and Fancies on Craftsy

Linking parties
I'll be linking this post to many link-ups. Let's go see what's going on in the quilting world this week!
Midweek Makers, Let's Bee Social, Tuesday Colour Linky Party, Linky Tuesday, Moving It Forward, What I Made Monday, Needle & Thread Thursday, Design Wall Monday, Monday Making, Oh Scrap!,

Project details


Birthday bear, pattern by Made By Marney
8½" X 8½"
Materials: commercial and hand-dyed cotton, embroidery floss
Techniques: foundation paper piecing and free motion quilting

A loon, a bear and a binding tutorial

Finished loon

The loon mini is quilted in-the-ditch.

I found some fabulous foundation paper pieced patterns for making woodland animals blocks. Here's how it started.

My October DrEAMi! (something that catches your fancy and you just have to Drop Everything And Make It!) was a foundation paper pieced block that I gave my brother for his birthday instead of a card. Since he loves the outdoors, I made him a loon.

This is the first of several minis that I'll be making using Made by Marney's patterns. The finishing of the loon mini and the making of the bear mini are my November DrEAMi!

A bear mini

My next mini was a bear - well actually two bears because I'm making a second one for my husband. The first one I made has a pretty obvious mistake so I'm keeping it for myself and using it in the binding tutorial below.

Extended-border binding technique

These minis are perfect for trying out new techniques. I tried this binding technique on the loon block and then took pictures of the process using the first bear mini for this short tutorial.

Challenge: I didn't want to add a binding to this block. I've tried binding the quilt from the back but didn't really like the results since my corners are not always very good. So I essentially made a wider border and used it to bind the quilt. Here is the tutorial.

Measurement: Decide how wide you want your border, then add ¼" for your seam allowance and add 1" for the binding.
In this case, the border fabric was made from 2¼" strips. (¼" seam allowance + 1" border + 1" binding.) * You can adjust how wide you want your border as well as how much fabric you want to use for your binding.

Attach the border
Attach the border fabric to the top and bottom of the block.

Adding the top and bottom border

 Attached the side borders to the block.

Adding the side borders

Sandwich the quilt with the batting and backing fabric and quilt the piece except for the border.

Quilting in-the-ditch with the "Shorty" ruler

Cut the batting and backing
Once the quilting is finished, flip over the border fabric away from the edge. Then, one side at a time, trim the excess batting and backing. 
(In this case, I cut the batting and backing 1" from the edge of the border.)

Trimming the batting and backing

Trimming the batting and backing from all sides

The front border extends past the backing once each side has been trimmed.

The front border extends past the backing

Finish Quilting 

If you want to quilt your border, this is the time to do it!

Press the border

Fold the extended part of the border in half and press. 

Pressing the extended fabric in half

Flip the pressed extended border over the back of the quilt. (I use small metal paper clips to keep my border in place.) Stitch the extended border to the back.

Using paper clips to keep the border in place while stitching

This is what the back of the pieces looks like with the border used as the binding.

The back of the bear min when the border is used as binding

The back of the loon mini 

Label

I made a label using some great retro duck fabric and used neutral fabric to write on. As I learned previously, I ironed freezer paper to the back to ensure that the fabric wouldn't shifting around when I wrote on it.

Using freezer paper to stabilise the fabric to create a label

Happy Thanksgiving to all those who are celebrating today!

What I learned

• Minis are great to try different techniques. There isn't the investment of time, material and effort that you might have with a larger or more complex quilt.
• One of the tricky things about foundation paper piecing is that the finished product is the reverse of the pattern. Since I didn't print up the pattern in colour, I mixed up one of the pieces. You can see that the bear block looks like it has a broken leg with a cast instead of the shadow of the leg. I haven't finished quilting the second bear, but it doesn't have a broken leg! 
• Making the bear pattern a second time was much easier since I knew what to do - and not do! I rarely make something twice but it is a good learning experience. The second time it usually is easier and faster and probably better. I think that I sometimes miss out on the learning aspect of that type of repetition. Since I was so intent on getting the second bear mini right, I wasn't bored 😊
• I used Angela Walter's "Shorty" ruler to quilt in-the-ditch. This is the second time I use it and I'm very impressed.
• I've never come across this method of binding a quilt, but if it's out there somewhere under another name, please let me know.
• I hope you were able to follow the tutorial (it's my first one). If you have any questions or suggestions, please leave me a message in the comment section, or email me at quiltingandlearning (at) gmail.com

Related links

• Travelling vicariously and DrEAMi!, October 29, 2018
• Made by Marney website and her patterns on Craftsy and Etsy
• Angela Walter's "Shorty" ruler

Linking Parties
I'll be linking this post to Sandra's DrEAMi! party as well as other linkies. Check them out and see what others are doing! Free Motion Mavericks, TGIFF!, Slow Sunday Stitching, Oh Scrap!, Monday Making, Main Crush Monday, Design Wall Monday, Moving It Forward, What I Made Monday, Linky Tuesday, Tuesday Colour Linky Party, Let's Bee Social, Midweek Makers, Needle & Thread Thursday, Wondering Camera, Finished or Not Friday, Friday Foto Fun, Can I Get A Whoop Whoop?, TGIFF,

Project Details



Loon Mini, pattern by Made By Marney
8½" X 8¾"
Materials: commercial and hand-dyed cotton, embroidery floss
Techniques: foundation paper piecing and free motion quilting, embroidery

Travelling vicariously and DrEAMi!

Wandering Camera

I did my end-of-the-month post before thinking of the Wandering Camera photo linkup and my DrEAMi!. I don't want to miss it but I don't have much to post, so I've decided to travel vicariously through my daughter who is presently studying Art History in Venice (how cools is that 😊)

She has given me permission to share a few pictures that she's posted on Facebook or Instagram, so here they are!

This is one of the first pictures she took. I think that it's one of my favourites.

Venice - strolling along the canal

The gondolas are for the tourists. Many residents have small boats that they use to get around.

Boats moored along the canal

This image, so evocative of Venice, was taken on her way to the Biennale.

Venice in all its splendor

You may have noticed that the photos I chose were all around water. She has taken some great images of architecture and art - but for me, it's the water that makes Venice so special.

My daughter has given me permission to use her pictures in my art and on my blog. I am planning on making at least one art quilt from these....eventually 😊

While I'm travelling vicariously at this time, I am meeting her in Venice at the beginning of December. I'm sure that I'll have my own photos to post after that trip.

DrEAMi!

When I was younger, I used to love to give cards on special holidays or moments. I've grown out of that, probably because I've ended up throwing out too many of them. This year, as the birthday season in my family approaches (September to November is crazy!), I've decided to make minis to give instead of cards. I just think that they are more useful since they can be used as decoration, rug mugs, etc.

Deciding what to make was a bit of a challenge since I didn't want to make traditional blocks. Finally since I also promised to make a small quilt for the Charitable Campaign auction at work, I thought that a nature theme would be popular since I work for Parks Canada. So I recently bought a few "Made by Marney" foundation paper pieced patterns through Craftsy. There's a bear, fox, moose, mallard duck and loon.

I'm already behind since I got the idea after my second brother's birthday and my niece, sister-in-law and husband's birthdays are coming up quickly. Oh well, hopefully I can catch up soon. I'll post this one along with the finished ones in November some time.

What I learned

• So many ideas and projects and so little time :-( 
• I enjoy making these foundation paper piecing blocks but I ended up spending what little time I had this weekend finishing up my Art With Fabric piece. The reveal is November 7th but I needed to have my photo ready by October 31st. For the first time in age, the piece is done, not only on time but ahead of time! Hopefully is will stop raining here long enough to take some outside shots. They're always the best.

Related links

• Made by Marney website and her patterns on Craftsy and Etsy

Linking parties
I will be linking this post to Wandering Camera, DrEAMi! at Sandra's mmm! Quilts, as well as many other cool parties. Go check them out :-) Monday Making, Design Wall Monday, Moving It Forward, What I Made Monday, Tuesday Colour Linky Party, Linky Tuesday, Let's Bee Social, Midweek Makers, Silly Mama Quilts WIPs, Needle & Thread Thursday, Friday Foto Fun, Finished or Not Friday, Oh Scrap!, Can I Get A Whoop Whoop?,