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 😊
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.
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| Our Universe....so far |
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| An asteroid, Neptune, and a Swirling Star |
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| Mercury, the Sun, a faint Flaming Sun, Venus, Uranus and a Swirling Star |
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| 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! 😊
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.
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| Close-up of Flaming Sun |
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!!!😯
Related links
- National Geographic "The New Universe, Here, Now, and Beyond", 2010
- Leah Day, Quilting Design Gallery
- Flaming Sun (Day 310)
- Swirling Sphere (Day 287)
- Lori Kennedy: Free Motion Machine Quilting 1-2-3
- Swirling Stars
- Sheila Sinclair Snyder: Get Addicted to Free Motion Quilting
- Adapted the Spurs design for borders (I called it a Flaming Star in the image above)
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!
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| Gail of Quilting Gail's FMQ of a t-shirt quilt |
It's your turn!