Free Motion Quilting...Oh My!!!!

You look at pictures of quilts, and you sigh...wow!  Look at all that beautiful quilting!  It isn't just about the piecing or the applique, it's also about amazing quilt stitches!  And, true...many quilts are done by a professional with a longarm quilting machine.  But, many aren't. I look at those and I know that if I don't learn to free motion quilt, I will never have such beautiful quilts! I love intricate designs, and for the most part I have only quilted baby quilts or lapthrows, so turning my quilt under my needle (and stuffing it through the machine throat) wasn't TOO hard....but what about the larger quilts!

Sooooo I am doing my very first free motion quilting...and I have to tell you, it's difficult! :-)  Yes, I'd tried it a couple of times in the past, but not with my new machine, so I practiced for about fifteen minutes on a scrap fabric. Granted, I probably should have kept practicing for about six more MONTHS before I started doing it on my quilt, but I was impatient!  I have removed about a third of the stitching I have done (boy, going backwards is REALLY hard!) but I have to say even with the un-sewing I am enjoying learning this new skill!  Here's a sneak peek....

This was the first thing I did...I didn't even draw it in first.  I have four of these on each corner of a grandmother's flower garden block, and then placed a flower right in the center.

I had already sewn the leaf shapes, but added free motion veins. (Compare them to the quilting I show on my last post--no veins. Big difference!)

I had already made this lozenge shape with straight sewing also, then added the interior designs.  You can see where my straight lines are not up to par!!!

More leaves.

Leaves on part of the center panel, and leaves on the border of that panel. I like the light blue quilting against both the muslin and the darker fabrics.

T-shirt comforter

This is the T-shirt quilt I just finished (my first completed project on my new machine!)  I really gave the Viking a workout, too!  Not only is this T-shirt material, it is also pieced and backed with flannel.  It slipped a lot even though I basted it in place, and I had some trouble binding it as a result.  I also made some mistakes with this first T-shirt effort that became a learning experience!  But, overall, I think it turned out pretty good.  It not only covers most of the T's and sweatshirts my daughter wore (a couple of them made by her grandmother) but I quilted it with remembrances from her childhood, like a viola, a pair of pointe shoes, her cat and dog, etc.  There was no way I could try to free motion quilt these difficult designs because I was quilting the comforter with a stretchy stitch, so I did a LOT of turning! :-)  But it was worth it.  It's cozy and soft and warm....and really fun.  Here are a few pictures:

The range of shirts goes from military campaigns (her Dad was in the Air Force) to ballet and school shirts, to a couple sent to her by her aunt who was modeling then.  I realized too late I should have tried to cut them all at least two basic sizes....the puzzle effect of all the different sizes was hard to deal with.

A close up of a few...an exercise bear her grandmother did with fabric paints was one.  Her summer program with Joffrey was another.

I added the heart to a blank square.  Her grandmother made the snowman.  She was first chair viola at her school.

A view of some of the quilting...this is the viola.

And this is a pair of pointe shoes.  Our daughter danced for 14 years.

The Sewing Room!

OK, I am sure that many of you have been wonderful WHERE I have been!  The last five months have been interesting...two moving trips from Virginia to Arizona, plus all the unpacking that has ensued....and now our daughter and son-in-law just moved into a new rental as well (in Tucson still, though) and we helped a little plus they are opening a new restaurant in town, which is now up and running, but both of them are working every day and I am watching our grandson after school....OK all that was a huge mouthful!  The bottom line is I just haven't been able to quilt YET!!!!  Unfortunately, THIS is what the sewing room looked like a few days ago....

It has actually improved somewhat since then...I'm getting there slowly but surely!  The big chest of drawers is full of fabric....

And this is a closet with a shelf piled high of MORE fabric.  You can see part of my collection of feedsack fabrics here....

And I am absolutely DETERMINED to finish getting this room squared away and start quilting again within the week!  I miss it!!!  Here are a few of the projects I have waiting for me....

This is a quilt top and backing that needs to be sandwiched and quilted...

 These are the squares I made the very first time I attempted to do a sampler quilt.  I didn't know what I was doing and they are NOT very good....BUT I still want to get it made into a top and backed and quilted after, what, 40 years!!!!!

And these are some squares that I worked on in Texas when I lived there years ago, and the rest were made in NC for a Bee Friends challenge we were doing.  They were purposefully made to "go together" but now I need to make about four more squares to finish it off, and get it made into a top as well...
And I won't even go into all the other projects that are partially done, or that I want to start.  I have to GET BUSY!!!!  Hopefully in a week you will have a really good progress report on the room.  Wish me luck!

Roped, Hog-Tied and Branded by a Texas Lone Star!

I know that many of you have made beautiful Lone Star quilts, and you will likely laugh me to scorn over this. My plan was to make a lap throw for my Dad's 80th birthday. He made a Lone Star as a child with his mother. They probably did foundation piecing, and I know it was beautiful. My lap throw was to be an homage to his childhood achievement. But....don't EVER try to make something without detailed specific instructions! You may end up like I did, tied up in confusion and branded with frustration! It just isn't worth it. Here is my auspicious beginning.....

I started with a search online for directions. This yielded me a lot of vague references to what you do OR order forms for books or dvds on the subject. Nothing of any real HELP. OK, so how hard can it be!? I had my strips all cut out, and then sewed them meticulously together, ironing the seams open as suggested on one website.

I cut the strips on a 45 degree angle....

Carefully measuring so my diamonds would be the same size (might I add it didn't help that I was working with such narrow strips ie small diamonds!)

At first I didn't realize that I needed an equal amount of strips so what I had sewn together was definitely too long.

A paper pattern helped me envision the right size.

And viola! a perfectly shaped diamond star point! Only.....on careful inspection I suddenly realized that the colors are not placed correctly. They don't go ACROSS the width of the point! WHY???!!!!

This is what it is SUPPOSED to look like! Well, maybe if I remove the ones off either side. Only then I realize you can only remove the strips from ONE side and get a nice straight edge. The other side becomes jagged. Nope....this can't be anything like what I was supposed to do!

I GIVE UP! It bested me. Oh, well, I guess a good set of instructions would have been a HUGE help! I'm turning my strips into something else!!!!