Birds on Free Motion Mavericks

Welcome to week 402 of Free Motion Mavericks. I managed to find time to get a little bit of FMQ done yesterday. Today we are celebrating birds - the cute ones, not the Hitchcock ones😊

A flock of birds

I added some birds to Stéphane's Version 2.0 quilt. I found a few pictures on the web of simple bird outlines that I copied. I then drew templates of Canada Geese from a picture.

A flock of birds

I started by drawing out the area that needed to be filled on a sheet of long paper. I then placed my freezer paper templates over the area to see if it would work. It was a great idea, but of course, I didn't follow my plan!😊

Planning the placement of the birds

I copied the birds onto freezer paper thinking that I would iron-on the template and stitch on the very outside of them. It was ok, but when I stitched on the freezer paper, it was really hard to remove without affecting the stitches. So scratch off that idea!

Stitching the woodpecker from the freezer paper template

FMQ woodpecker

I then used my chalk pencil to draw around the template. That worked much better. After making the first bird that way, I just decided to do it again, and again!

Flock of cute birds

For that other space, I wanted to add the Canada Goose. Again I used the freezer paper as a template and drew around it.

Canada Goose

The last bird that I did stood on a branch. I drew around the bird template and then drew the branch.

Bird on a branch

Bird as seen from the back of the quilt

You can see here the goose and the bird.

Canada Goose and bird on a branch

October's One Monthly Goal

My OMG for October is to stitch another 2 areas of the Version 2.0 quilt. It helped last month to have a goal, so I'm going to do it again :-)

What I learned

• Freezer paper is fine for a template, if you can just FMQ around it. Don't use it if you have to stitch through it!
• I was pleasantly surprised that my chalk pencil worked on the light blue fabric.
• It was nice FMQ these birds since they were mostly near the edges of the quilt.

Related links

• Wildflowers on Version 2.0 with Free Motion Mavericks, September 22, 2022

Linking parties

I'll be linking up to many parties, including the October One Monthly Goal. Let's see what's out there...but remember to link up here below too! Needle & Thread Thursday, Put your foot down, Midweek Makers, Monday Making, Design Wall Monday, Finished or Not Finished Friday, Peacock Party, TGIFF, Off The Wall Friday, Patchwork & Quilts, 

Free Motion Mavericks

Welcome! Did you get any free motion quilting done this week? If you did, make sure to link up. If you didn't, you can share your quilting project anyway 😊.

Last week, we saw Sue Daurio's custom quilting on the San Marco quilt. What a beauty! Make sure to check it out! Since we didn't get any link ups and Muv is not able to host this week, I'm doing a take 2! Please link up 😎

Sue Daurio's custom quilting on the San Marco quilt

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Exciting News

Hi, you may remember that I taught a Meditation Stitching course this summer. It was a great experience, and I'll be repeating it (in French!) at the end of November.

Getting Ready

I know that I have a lot of time to get ready, and that this is probably another great way of procrastinating, but I've prepared this lovely piece to show at the course.

Joyful

There isn't anything very about doing mindful stitching. It's all about taking the time to be creative, to set a few parameters around what you want to do, and then enjoying the meditative process of stitching. I believe that doing this process regularly can help to keep you grounded, bring relaxation and encourage creativity. 

As an exercise, I used my wonky block sample to see if I could create four different blocks from each quarter of the cut-up block.

I cut this sample block into 4 to make meditation blocks

Here is my stitching process. I chose various fabrics that might go with the base block and then started stitching. My favourite stitches are the running stitch, cross stitch, blanket stitch, chain stitch and a variation of the fly/feather stitch. These embroidery stitches are about as basic as it gets. 

Adding fabrics and colour

Using stitches to add texture
(and more colour!)

At some point I trim the block, although I do like having things sticking out when I can. 😊 Here are close ups of the blocks. 

First block

You can see that all of the bases started with the wonky star but evolved pass that! I love using different thread, yarn, and fabrics like hand-dyed cheese cloth, organza, felt, linen and velour. The flowers were cut from one of my favourite top. 

Second block

I love how I can use up little bitsy pieces of some of my favourite fabric. Now I have an excuse to keep all of my tiny scraps if they are interesting :-)

Block 3

I also added beads on this last one. It looks so elegant! 

Block 4

Creating a 4 drop hanging

One of the things that I want to include in my class are options for how these wonderful mindful stitching blocks can be displayed. 

While reading a "new-to-me" Creative Embroidery book by Dilys Blackburn, I found a wonderful example of a drop hanging that is used to display embroidery pieces. The link to the book is in Related links below.

Since my finished blocks were roughly 4" square, I decided to make the finished hanging square 4½". I started by cutting my white fabric in 5" squares. I placed 2 squares facing each other, then added the square of batting on top. With my walking foot, I stitched with a ¼" seam all around the square except for a 1½" opening on one side. I then trimmed the batting and then turned the square inside out through the hole. In the image of my first block, I left a 3" space to turn the square inside out. This was a little too large, so I reduced the openings of the other blocks.

Opening pinned before stitching

I repined that opening so that the square would be more square. Then I top stitched around the whole square, as close to the edge as possible. After the four blocks were finished, I attached some wide white ribbon.

Back of the hanging

To prevent fraying, I cut the ribbon with pinking shears and the added a ½" fusible web and folded it over. I made sure that the ribbon was long enough so that I could sew a single layer over the original top stitched line. After I was all done, I just hand-stitched the edges down to stop them from flopping over.

I attached the meditation blocks with a couple of beads on the top corners. I want the students to be able to look at the blocks as much as possible. This also allows me to switch out the blocks if I wanted to.

I then went on a photo shoot in the back yard. 

Twix and Taffy (my brother's dogs) exploring the area.

A close up with the tree and sun as backdrop 

The picture that I took at night because I was so impatient 😊

What I learned

• I do find it difficult to know when to stop embellishing these beauties. Often it's when I've had enough 😊
• I've been reading about blogging and decided that I need to up my game by taking better photos. It's not always easy because I usually finish a piece in the evening and then have to wait for the next day to take good pictures.
• I got so caught up with making the hanging that I only took one process picture. If I make another, it might be a good subject for a tutorial!

Related links

• Embroideries in hoops, September 16, 2022
• Blue Wonky Star Mat, September 10, 2022
• Creative Embroidery by Dilys Blackburn

Linking parties

I'm linking up this post to many fun linking parties. Why not see what's going on in the quilty universe? Put your foot down, Slow Sunday Stitching, Monday Making, Oh Scrap!, Peacock Party, TGIFF, Beauties Pageant, Off The Wall Friday, Patchwork & Quilts, 

Project Details

Joyful     

23" x 4½"

Materials: Meditation embroideries with wool, thread, felt, lace, hand-dyed fabric scraps, tule, beads, etc.

Paint Night Party!

 Hi! I hope that you are doing well. I have something a little different for you today. I hosted a paint night for my daughter and her friends last weekend. I'm happy to say that fun was had by all!

Painting an aurora borealis night sky and tree

My daughter organised a paint night for her friends. I invited my artist friend, Lyne Génier to teach it.  It took quite a bit of preparation to choose the image that everyone was going to learn to paint. Thank goodness for social media (I had nothing to do with that part 😁). The final decision was a colourful aurora borealis night sky and tree. 

Aurora Borealis by Lyne Génier

Here are my daughter, son and his girlfriend applying a background coat to the canvas.

Painting the background with not quite black

Lyne at her easel 

Lyne is a great teacher. She gives clear instructions but encourages her students to do their own thing while giving advice if they get stuck or want to do something a little different.

The girls are hard at work at the other table. 

Working hard!

After adding the aurora borealis colours to the sky, it was time to wait for the paint to dry. 

Aurora borealis sky is drying

Before it got dark outside, everyone went to the back yard to add the stars to their canvas with a toothbrush. We had a lovely pot-luck snack break and then it was time to add the tree.

Enjoying themselves!

Getting ready for the finish!

The final reveal!

I see a lot of smile! Isn't it incredible how each one is different?

A group photo with the paintings (and Coco)

The classic on-the-stairs photo 😊

A dog friendly event - Poppy made new friends!

What I learned

• The students had a great time and are looking forward to the next paint night! They requested a winter scene with options to add various things like a snowman and other winter elements.
• I even have a few friends who are interested in attending Lyne's next party 😊
• Jeannine's friends are experts on social media, so they organised a group site and voted on the date and then on the painting that they wanted to make. 
• The event started at 4pm. By 8pm the paintings were completed and it was time to chill. Lyne has lots of experience so the clean-up was fast and painless!
• I'm looking forward to hosting another party in a couple of months.

Linking parties

I'll be linking this post to many fun parties. Let's see what going on out there. Off The Wall Friday, Peacock Party, Put your foot down, Free Motion Mavericks with Muv, Patchwork & Quilts, 

Wildflowers on Version 2.0 with Free Motion Mavericks

Welcome to Week 400 on Free Motion Mavericks! I'm back to free motion quilting (FMQ) on my son's Version 2.0 quilt. It's getting cool. I'm sure that he'll want to snuggle into it soon😊 

Stitching up wildflowers

Wildflowers have always been one of my favourite things. When I walk in the woods, it can be dangerous because I'm always looking at the ground at the flowers. I've been practicing drawing wildflowers for the last few days. 

This first one is the easiest to draw, a cat-tail or bulrush. The FMQ is done on the blue, but it shows up so well on the back, which should be burgundy and not pink.

Bulrush, from the back

Cat-tail on the front of the quilt

The next one is also fairly easy to draw, a lily-of-the-valley. I have lots of these in my garden. They are gorgeous.

Lily-of-the-valley (back)

Next comes the humble clover, one of my favourite flowers 😊

Clover (back)

Another favourite is the black-eyed Susan. I've had some practice FMQ this one because it's pretty much the same shape as a rudbeckia. If you want to learn to FMQ this, you can find the link to Muv's FMQ video in Related links below.

Black-eyed Susan (back)

Black-eyed Susan flower

The next two are asters and lupin

Aster (back)

Lupin (back)

I finished up the wildflowers with some chives. I love all flowers from the Allium family!

Chives (back)

To practice drawing the flowers, I found a book on Wildflowers that I bought over 40 years ago at the Highway Book Shop in Cobalt, Ontario. They used to publish many books about Northern Ontario. I've included the link to this book in Related links. It's still available through quite rare - a real treasure.

Wildflowers of the North - a favourite book

A Strip of triangles and squares

I quilted one of the tan strips with meandering triangles and squares. It was nice to be able to quilt so quickly!

Meandering triangles and squares

Meandering triangles and squares next to the wildflowers

What I learned

• Most of my favourite wildflowers were much too complicated to draw. I did try, but it wasn't going to happen for this quilt. Maybe one day....
• I thought that I had lost the Wildflowers of the North book because I hadn't seen it in years. Turns out it was in a bookshelf that mostly contains my husband's books. It's now going to reside in my studio!
• It's too bad that the quilting doesn't show up very well in pictures of the front of the quilt. There is little sun this week so no possibility of going outdoors for pictures.
• It was great to FMQ the meandering triangles and squares. I will probably do at least one more strip with an easy quilting motif.
• In 5 weeks, I hope to spend a lot of time FMQ this baby and finishing it up.
• My September One Monthly Goal (OMG) was to finish FMQ 2 areas of Version 2.0, so that's done! 
• To keep myself motivated, I've put the quilt and the threads at my sewing machine. I hope to take advantage of the fact that it's there and ready to go....we'll see how that works!

Related links

• Free Motion Quilting Design Videos, with Muv - check out the Rudbeckia 
• Wildflowers of the North by Ruby Gibbins Bryan and and illustrated by Muriel Newton-White

Linking parties

I'll be linking up to the Finish Link-up of September's One Monthly Goal (OMG) as well as many other fun linking parties. Let's check out what's going on out there! Monday Making, Midweek Makers, Needle & Thread Thursday, Put your foot down, Peacock Party, Off The Wall Friday, Finished or Not Finished Friday, Design Wall Monday, Patchwork & Quilts, 

Free Motion Mavericks

We have to lovely finishes from last time. Melva made Hanna's First Year quilt and Denise made a lovely mug rug for her sister.

Melva's Hanna's First Year quilt 

Denise's sewing machine mug rug

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Embroideries in hoops

I've been doing some slow stitching in the last few weeks. It's always such a relaxing thing to do. 

Stitching a second seascape 

Last month, I wrote a post about Embroidering a seascape. It was based on TextileArtist.org's workshop with Bethany Duffy (see Related links below). I decided that I wanted to go further with this technique since it's a lot of fun and since I changed it up a little, was able to learn a new beading technique 😊!

A second seascape with a shell and sea glass

As you can see, it's still a work in progress (WIP). 

I used a piece of cotton for reinforcement and a hand-dyed piece as the background. On top of that, I added hand-dyed cheese cloth. I love the way that it looks like an old fishing net.

I attached the sea glass by making a beaded bezel. Since I had not way of attaching the sea glass, I treated it as a cabochon. I used Thom Atkins' book, Beading Artistry for Quilts. His explanations were great. It's obviously working since the sea glass is still attached after a couple of weeks!

Update: Here is a picture of the finished Seascape and Sea Glass 

Finished Seascape and Sea Glass (Dec 2022)

I love how it's turning out, so much so that I started another squirrel - literally 😊

Getting caught up in a Squirrel

Here is my second WIP. I found a half nut shell that had holes inside, so why not use it too? With a nut comes a tree and a squirrel! I used a double layer of a blue-grey sheet as my base and added some of my own hand-dyed cheese cloth. I love the texture that it gives the piece. 

A tree, a nut shell and a Squirrel!

I started with a tree trunk (a scrap of brown batik) and then some kind of olive green voile (from an old skirt) for the top of the tree. I've added a few daisy stitches as leaves and I'll continue doing that. I haven't attached the squirrel on the log yet. The squirrel may move, depending on what else I add to the piece. 

It's far from finished but it makes me smile when I look at it. 

Meditation stitching

Last weekend I spent a couple of hours at the Out of the Box (OOTB) booth at Fibrefest in Almonte. I did some great shopping beforehand and at the booth worked on some meditation stitching. A little difficult to be mindful with people asking questions but it was enjoyable talking with like-minded people 😊

Wonky star mat and the meditation block

Practice wonky star block

Can you see the quarter of the practice wonky star block as the background to the meditation block? I love trapping bits of thread and yarn beneath the tulle. This tulle is nice and glittery. I just finished the block, so here it is!

The beginning of a meditation block

Finished meditation piece

What I learned

• Learning how to create a beaded bezel was interesting. I'm surprised that I was able to follow it easily - the instructions were very well written. 
• I should have used smaller seed beads as I went up and around the sea glass. I didn't even know that they made them smaller than size 11! I'll have to go to a beading store for those.
• I don't think that I have much to do to finish the seascape embroidery, just tidy it up and finish the back.
• I pierced a hole on the inside of the nut to attach it. It was tricky getting the needle through it. Now I know what a curved needle could be used for!
• I will probably be working on the squirrel hoop for a bit - there is still lots to do.
• I'm working on more meditation pieces since it looks like I'll be teaching this later in the fall. I want to create a few finished articles to show what can be done with these, other than my huge traveller's blanket.
• Did you notice the lovely polar bear pin cushion that Turid sent me last year? I love it 😍

Related links

• Embroidering a seascape, August 22, 2022
• Bethany Duffy website and Instagram
• Thom Atkins' book, Beading Artistry for Quilts (it's on sale now at Connecting Threads)

Linking parties 

I'll be linking up to many fun linking parties. Let's see what's going on around the quilty world! Put Your Foot Down, Off The Wall Friday, Peacock Party, Slow Sunday Stitching, Finished or Not Finished Friday, Oh Scrap!, Patchwork & Quilts, Monday Making, Design Wall Monday, Midweek Maker, DrEAMi!,