Sunday, January 08, 2023

Project Quilting 14.1 and Slow Sunday stitching

Hi, Project Quilting, season 14 has started again. The first theme is "The First One". I just had time to make a quick piece. I'm also working on a new slow stitching project.

The First One for Project Quilting

The theme brought me to think of "one" which can be alone but also unique. That's where my thinking stopped!

I found a beautiful, unique piece of hand-marbled fabric that was gifted to me.

The First One - Unique and Beautiful 😍

To use the fabric as the binding, I cut the backing and batting about one inch smaller than the front. I then double folded the edge of the front fabric. I machine stitched it from the back.

This is what it looked like with the first fold.

Fabric folded once for the binding.

Folded binding to the back.

Stitching in the Round

This first TextileArtist.org Stitch Club workshop of 2023 is by April Sproule. After watching her Further Development video, I created my own spiral to stitch and appliqué.

Stitching in the Round project - so far

There will be a lot of stitching, both around the spiral lines and within the spiral. On my template, I shaded in the positive space, where there will be appliqué and stitching. The negative space will be mostly left unstitched.

Spiral Template

This is how I envisioned placing some of the appliqué. After attaching the larger pieces, the rest of the positive space will be mostly smaller snippets of fabric with stitching.

Playing with possible layouts

I still have many enjoyable, mindful stitching hours left on this piece. 😊 Here are some close up pictures as of last night (or morning).

Attaching the fabrics in the background

I haven't finished attaching this beautiful sari yarn

Most of the stitching is on this side

What I learned

I forgot that the linking party ends at noon CT. That gave me just an hour to write the post!
I used the walking foot to quilt this since I was having problems with my tension with my FMQ foot. I'm happy to say that this has all be resolved!
I couldn't help myself, I started another slow stitching project from last week's TextileArtist.org Stitch Club.
Our workshop teacher, April Sproule, suggested that we use silk organza under our background. I didn't think that I had any that hadn't been pre-washed, but I found some. She's correct when she says that sewing through it is like going through butter!
It took me a while to figure out what to add to the background. I'm really hoping that it will work. I can always add more or even remove, if I really have to!
I am happy to say that I am playing, learning and stitching with mindfulness and contentment. So far so good!
You may have noticed my new blog background. What a job that was since Blogger is always changing how things are done. It's not what I planned to do, but it was the best that I could do at the time. Hopefully I'll figure out how to make some of the changes that I want!
BTW, Version 2.0 is coming along nicely 😊. I was able to fix the tension so the Travel Adventure is finished. I only have the second third of the Canadian section left. The final post will be on the upcoming Free Motion Mavericks.

Thursday, January 05, 2023

An Agenda Cover and Update on Free Motion Mavericks

Welcome to week 414 of Free Motion Mavericks. Are you busier than you expected after the holidays? I was anticipating a quiet week in the studio but it's been busy for all kinds of reasons. I hope that you got some quality playing time this week 😊

FMQ an Agenda Cover

It's a new year and since I'm not at my computer every day, I can't live without some kind of agenda. Over the years I've made a few agenda and journal covers and it's finally getting easier. 😎

2023 Free Motion Quilted Agenda Cover

For this year's agenda cover, I wanted to use fabric that I had created, so I started by looking at this summer's sun printed fabric. I really love this piece and it's large enough! Here is how this fabric came to be.

Day lily leaves, a fern and leaves of all sizes
on a yellow/orange background

Some lovely sun prints

FMQ on the sun printed fabric

I used Christina Cameli's Free Motion Quilted Gifts course on Craftsy again. It was a real pleasure to make, especially since I have extensive notes and experience!

I wasn't sure how to fill in the leaf outlines on the FMQ fabric, so I left them empty and added this year's intention using a Prismacolor pen. It was a lot more effective than if I had tried to free motion quilt the words. You can double-click on the image to see a larger version, but here is my intention for 2023: learn by playing, with mindfulness and contentment.

Adding my 2023 intention on the front cover

The back of the cover

The agenda with matching fabric for the inside panels

Version 2.0 Update

Need to finish the
Travel Adventure

I had run out of fabric for the binding, so I had to wait until the shop opened to get more of the Kona burgundy. I could have ordered it but I wasn't 100% sure that it was burgundy, so I preferred to take a scrap of the fabric with me. The fabric was purchased this week, washed, pressed and cut! I cut 8 rows of 3" binding and it fit just perfectly 😊(I love it when my math works!)

I watched a bit of a course on Craftsy about bindings and it was very complicated and much more fiddly than I like. I did learn a couple of tips that I'll include below.

I still have three small sections to finish FMQ. I started last night but my machine was not cooperating - so it's getting a time-out until I do some practice FMQ to get my tension back to normal!

January's One Monthly Goal (OMG)

Totally finishing Version 2.0 is my January OMG. I'm hoping to finish by the end of the weekend....so we'll see!

I didn't get any fun fabric but my daughter and I splurged on some lovely #12 perle cotton. I played with it a little before putting them away 😊

#12 perle cotton

What I learned

I took the time to read my post about the last time I made an agenda cover (in April - see related links below). I also found my notes so this really helped the process along.
Place binding straight
and follow the quilt
As I did the last time I made an agenda cover, I used some of the left over sun printed fabric to make the inside panels. For the middle panel, any fabric can be used. This is a great way to use up fabric that you don't really like, or fabric that you have tons of and doesn't seem to disappear, ever!
For the binding, I learned that you should also press your binding once you have sewn it on to the quilt. Since I don't have extra width, this should help me make it wide enough.
I also got a couple of tips about doing the mitered corners for the binding. I didn't realise that if you fold the binding straight out before attaching it, that it will turn out great (see picture since it's hard to describe.)
When you press the attached binding, put the tip of your iron in the mitered corner to sharpen the miter.

Free Motion Mavericks

Thanks for linking up! We saw many lovely quilts made of 2022. What a productive bunch we are 😁.

Two projects we haven't seen are Frédérique's casserole carrier or sac à tarte and Donnalee's two Christmas runners.

I hope to make a casserole carrier as part of the 2023 Table Scraps Challenge this year. Frédérique used her guide bar to quilt it. That made for lovely straight lines! It's a very useful item to make for yourself or as a gift.

Frédérique's casserole carrier or sac à tarte

Donnalee's two runners came about because she didn't have enough fabric to make the four blocks required to make a wall hanging. I think that her table runners are a huge success and will make great Christmas gifts next year!

One of Donnalee's Christmas runner

It's now your turn to link up 😊

Saturday, December 31, 2022

Best of 2022

After looking back in my blog and Instagram posts of 2022, I realise that I had another very productive year!

Overview of 2022

Although there is some overlapping, my projects seem to fall into five categories:

Free Motion Quilting (FMQ) Version 2.0 quilt,
Small quilty projects,
Artsy projects and quilts,
Meditation stitching, and
Hand-made books.

FMQ Version 2.0 quilt

About half of my Free Motion Mavericks posts were about the Version 2.0 quilt. It's been a very large part of my FMQ year and I'm happy to say that it's almost done! My favourite area is the centre Sun with clouds, stars and a rainbow.

The Sun section, as seen from the back of Version 2.0

Small Quilty Projects

I made many small quilty projects, most of which were FMQ. Some of these were made as part of the Table Scraps Challenge (10 months) and Project Quilting (2 projects). Of course I continued to play with my hexies and added in a few Squirrels!😊

Prayer flags for the Holiday Season

Swirling Leaves 2

Pink Love for April's Table Scraps Challenge

Still playing with hexies!

I love the foundation paper pieced book blocks and will one day make a whole quilt with them. At this time, it's a UFO (Un-Finished Object).

Blocks for the Summer Book Club

Artsy Projects and Quilts

A number of my art pieces were created based on workshops in the TextileArtist.org Stitch Club. I also participated in 3 art shows and events this year.

Let them flourish

Please let me Play!

Wildflower vest

This art quilt was created for the Polar Bear Plunge Blog Hop.

A true polar bear story

Bonjour La Vie was created following a virtual Fantastic Fusion workshop with Lisa Walton from Australia.

"Bonjour La Vie"

Journey of Many Paths
aka Traveller's Blanket

Embroidered Seascape

Meditation Stitching

This year, as well as doing a lot of mindful stitching, I taught 2 in-person courses and 1 virtual presentation. For the courses, I made a lot of sample blocks, including ways of presenting them. I also participated in several stitching events such as Zen Stitching and the Embroidery Summit.

4-drop hanging with meditation blocks

I posted most of the images from these virtual events on Instagram. Here is a needle case made during one of the Zen Stitching events.

Zen stitched needle case

Hand-made books

Last year I made a few journals though the TextileArtist.org Stitch Club. When the Hand-made Book Club offered a very affordable 5-Day Accordion Books Challenge, I signed up right away...and of course I was hooked!

Fabric meditation book

Hand-made book with a woven binding

Quilty recycled pocket journal

Thank you so much Cheryl of Meadow Mist Designs for hosting this great link up event. It's great to review what we've done as we plan for the next year.

To keep it simple, I've included the links to the related posts within the text.

What I learned

We have until January 2nd to link up to this party, but one of my blogging objectives (that I didn't share) was to increase the numbers of posts in 2022 to the same number as my 2019 and 2020. By publishing this post in 2022, I've reached my objective. I will have published 68 posts in 2022! Yeah!!!🎆
However, writing 4 posts in a little over one week is something that I don't really want to do again. Now I really want to get to my quilting 😊
Thank you so much for following me on my quilting/art journey. I really appreciate your friendships and support.
My wish for 2022 had been for calm, joy and play. I think that calm and joy are great long-term objectives but this year I'm keeping it more real and focused. My intention for 2023 is to learn by playing, with mindfulness and contentment
I wish you all the best for 2023.

Linking parties

Best of 2022 Linking Party, Put your foot down, Needle & Thread Thursday,

Friday, December 30, 2022

Planning for 2023

Thank you Yvonne at Quilting Jetgirl for hosting this great linking party again this year. Hopefully it will help keep me focused.

Last year I minimized my plans for 2022. Of course it didn't all get done but that's ok because that's what planning is all about. For 2023, I'm keeping it as simple and general as possible.

My intention for 2023: learn by playing, with mindfulness and contentment

Quilts

This category is more specific because of my promises to get these projects done. I'm very hopeful of completing these and they'll provide great content for the 2023 Free Motion Mavericks' posts.

Finish Version 2.0 quilt

Version 2.0 will be finished in the first week of January

Make my niece's t-shirt quilt

One of four pictures of her t-shirts

Create my daughter's Paddington Bear quilt

Paddington Bear design book

Fabric samples

Challenges and Hand-made Books

I don't want to add pressure to myself, so I will participate in the Table Scraps 2023 Challenge and create hand-made books whenever I can because these are usually small simple projects where I learn things and they make me happy.

Oranges and Lemons - August's Table Scraps Challenge

Coptic Book Challenge - December 2022

I made this beautiful coptic book during the challenge, but never got around to writing a post. So here it is! Coptic is the way the book is bound. The cover is made with a background of printed book pages covered with the top layer of a paper napkin. I love the effect!

Coptic Book

I'm using the book to keep my dried leaves and other natural elements that have been glued onto paper and/or covered with Mod Podge. These are ready to be used in art pieces 😊

The coptic book is used to hold natural elements ready to use for art

Art Quilts and Mindful Stitching

I am placing these together because they are often inter-related. December has shown me that, for my peace of mind, I need a mindful stitching practice. I believe that any hand-stitching can be mindful, so I'm going to make a real effort to stitch every day.

Stitching on eco-printed fabric (I forgot about this project!)

Off the Grid sampler in progress

Meditation block in progress

As well, I will participate in more of the TextileArtist.org workshops, and actually finish the projects. I've started a few projects that I've yet to finish or blog about. Here is one of them.

This project, from Jean Draper's "Stitches in thin air" workshop (August 2021) is still in the percolating phase. I love how the yarn and string, stiffened by glue, makes such interesting patterns. The first image has two layers on top of each other.

Two layers together

I added so much yarn in the top layer that you can't see much of the bottom layers. However, the plan is to separate each layer by at least ⅛ " to ¼" so that the bottom layers can be seen from the side. The overall plan is to create a 3D piece showing the different layers of earth underneath.

"Stitches in thin air" piece in the percolating phase

Blog and Instagram

2023 Planning Party with
Yvonne of Quilty Jetgirl

In the next few months, I will update the look of the blog and continue posting on Instagram. There is no pressure here but I want to get it done this winter or spring.

What I learned

As I mentioned in my Christmas post, "Although I'm retired, my life has not slowed down. It seems that living in minor chaos and stress has become a habit that I need to break!"

This is where my intention of learning by playing, with mindfulness and contentment comes in.

I know that this "plan" for 2023 is still a lot but I am retired and have time to play. It's just a matter of setting and living with the intention of playing with mindfulness and contentment.
The plan will, of course, shift since I now have a set of panels to FMQ for hubby. I bought the panels years ago and now seems to be the time. It's all good 😊
I've already registered for a couple of courses for 2023. I'm going to minimize this since there is already lots of learning included in the Stitch and Hand-make Book clubs.
I need to remind myself that although joining blog hops are a lot of fun, they have deadlines and can be quite stressful. I love comments but get very stressed when I have more than a few - which is what happens during blog hops 😕.