Hi, I was catching up on my blog reading when I found Yvonne's Quilting Jetgirl's First Quarter Check in party and post. It's been such a whirlwind of activity here that I thought that it would be nice to actually see what I said that I would do, and what actually happened so far! Thanks Yvonne!

January to March 2024

Quilts

In my Quilts section, I got distracted and chased a squirrel! I ended up not participating in this year's SAHRR (Stay At Home Round Robin) but instead signed up for Joanne's at Canuck Quilting Designs, 2 Colour Mystery Quilt. It's been a challenge because I'd forgotten how fiddly a traditional quilt can be! The mystery quilt started at the beginning of March. I followed along well for the first month but I'm a little behind at this time. I am getting there!

Weeks 1 to 5, with week 6 slowly happening! Only 1 week behind!

I did start on Hubby's wall quilt but didn't get very far. I'm hoping to get it done in June....but who knows. I ended up taking a class with Cyndi McChesney, one of the experts on quilting with panels! It was a two-part workshop on Zoom with Cyndi who taught us how to make wonderful quilts with our panels. It helped me immensely since I really had no idea where I was going. Now I know what to do, it's just a matter of getting it done!

Wonky improv strips that will be the background

Layout of the final design

I did measure between each panel to see how wide each improv section of the background needs to be. I had to get at least that far since we needed the dining room table for Easter supper 😋.

Finally, I FMQ my girlfriend's quilt. I'm happy to say that she loved it! 😊It's a beautiful quilt and she did a great job!

FMQ my girlfriend's quilt

Challenges, Journal Making, Art Quilts and Mindful Stitching

The beginning of 2024 was extremely busy as I participated in 4 of the 6 challenges of Project Quilting. I actually started another one but never got it finished.

Project Quilting 15.1 - Bird House Challenge 1 was my favourite make so far this year. It was even part of a small fibre show at a local restaurant, Chez Lucien, in the market in Ottawa.

Home to Feed - hanging at Chez Lucien

Project Quilting 15.2 - Sky Colour, Challenge 2 was a very practical make. I improv pieced and FMQ an agenda cover.

Sky Colours, my 2024 Quilting Agenda Cover

Project Quilting 15.3 - Inside Out, Challenge 3, was a smaller make. I made a meditation quilt piece and attached it into my journal. It was a lot of fun!

In a fish bowl, looking out!

Project Quilting - 15.6 - Irish Chain, Challenge 6 was more practical. I've always wanted to make an Irish Chain quilt, so this is my first one. It's a cuddle quilt that was donated to Community projects through my local guild. These lovely, tiny quilts go to the Intensive Care Neo-Natal or Post-Partum Units. I had a great time FMQ it!

Irish Chain Cuddle Quilt

My favourite year long challenge is Joyful's Table Scraps Challenge 2024. I've been participating for a few years now and love it. At the end of each month, I make a small scrappy piece. Scraps and colour - what's not to love!

For the March (purple) and January (green) Table Scraps Challenge, I made Hubby and Sarah some scrappy colourful improv placemats for the house.

Last year's and this year's scrappy improv placemats

For February, since I was away at the end of the month, I made a meditation piece for the Red challenge called Love All Around. It was perfect for making in the car and hotel.

Love All Around, February's Table Scraps Challenge

So far this year I've only made one hand-make Scrappy Journal. It was a Challenge and a lot of fun. Hubby liked it so I'll be making him a few.

Scrappy Journal Cover drying

Finished Scrappy Journal with Zig-zag stitch

In February I finished Swirling Leaves 3. It's for one of my daughter's friends who got married in the fall. Since she loves all things Fall, this was a perfect gift.

Swirling Leaves 3

I've been doing some mindful stitching - not on a daily basis, which is what I was hoping for, but rather in spirts. That's so much more my style.

My big stitching project this year is doing some mostly mindful stitching on a hand-woven tablecloth that I brought back from Istanbul many years ago. There are 16 boxes per row and I've stitched 3 rows so far. Here are a few images. I guess that I'll have to post an update soon.

Playing with colour, chain and running stitches

Celebrating my daughter's 30th birthday

Tablecloth - I now have 3 rows finished!

I also started my Outdoor Hanging Art Quilt. I started by making a meditation mini that I'm slowly using as the inspiration for my outdoor piece. You can read more about the inspiration here.

Inspiration for my Outdoor Hanging Sculpture

I'm working on different translucent scarves to make the first 3 Suns.

Dawn Sun

Noon Sun, still needs stitching and trimming

I've stopped working on these since I'm busy creating a piece for the Out of the Box (OOTB) Fibre Fling. I started at the beginning of April and it's my One Monthly Goal (OMG).

Spring Tulips - still needs a few more tulips

What I learned

I'm really glad that I took the time to write this post. Like I said, I've been so busy making that it's good to step back and see what exactly that was!
I want to add that I also celebrated 12 years of blogging!
I'm probably as productive as I was but my energy is generally fairly low, so between making, I spend a LOT of time reading! That's what re-fuels me 😍
As you can see, the smaller projects are so much easier to work on than the larger ones. It's not that their easier to do, just easier to pick up and work on, as opposed to projects that need thinking time.
As soon as I finish my Spring Tulips, I'll be focusing on my Outdoor Hanging Sculpture since that's due at the beginning of June. Although I haven't been working on it, I still think about it a lot and have figured out a few things....I hope. I won't really know till I try it!
I'm also looking forward to having a little bit of energy to play in the garden. Spring is when my favourite bulbs come out! With the rain this week, my Allium are getting big and will soon be blooming!

My favourite - I wasn't sure that they would be coming out!

Pretty pink spring bulbs

Poppy in the garden, ready to chase
squirrels, birds and bugs!

Linking parties

I'll be linking to Quilting JetGirl's linking party as well as many other ones. Let's see what others are doing! Design Wall Monday, Patchwork & Quilts, Sew & Tell, Put your foot down, Off The Wall Friday,

This post is based on my January 04, 2024, Making Plans on my 600th post!

Great news! Home to Feed was featured on Put your foot down. Thanks Denise 😊

Hi and welcome to week 569 of Free Motion Mavericks. I want to emphasize that this linking party is all about the quilter guiding the machine, whether it's a domestic sewing machine or a long-arm. We do this by using free motion quilting, ruler work or a walking foot. This party is as inclusive as possible as we share our quilting journeys.😊

Swirling Leaves 3

Last week I started FMQ Swirling Leaves 3. I started by using a dark red thread to quilt the veins of the leaves and then around the red leaves. I then used a variegated beige to brown thread to do the same with the three leaves that were not red.

Once that was done, it was all about quilting the swirls that give the quilt its name. I FMQ swirls around the leaves into the first checkered border. That was difficult because the thread matched the fabric colours so well that I could barely see what I had quilted.

FMQ Falling Leaves 3

For the outside border, it wasn't just difficult to see, it was impossible to see what I was quilting, so I quilted the border from the back! Before switching to the back, I stitched at the outside edge of the border so that I would know where to stop.

FMQ the border from the back
between the two lines

Swirling Leaves 3 on my design wall

What I learned

If you can't see what you're quilting because the thread blends too well with your fabric, go to the back of your quilt and stitch from there.

Remember to outline the area that needs to be quilted!
Make sure that your bobbin thread is the same as your top thread.
Your tension needs to be good😊

In the next week, I'll be digging out fabric for the binding. I'm really hoping that I have more of that second binding fabric, and that I can find it! Update: Found the fabric. Yeah!!!!
This quilt will be completed by the end of the month since it's my February One Monthly Goal (OMG).
For some reason, I keep calling this Falling Leaves instead of Swirling Leaves. I'm going to go back and fix some older posts but if you see Falling Leaves - it's the same project!

Free Motion Mavericks

Thanks to everyone who linked up last week.

Here are the wonderful projects from last week that were quilted either with free motion quilting, ruler work or a walking foot.

From Time 4 stitchn, we have some wonderful feathers and feathered wreaths. It's a beauty and no longer a UFO. Congratulations! Check out the post to see more of the FMQ.