Monday, February 29, 2016

MY FIRST FEATHER - WOO HOO!! -


Well - maybe not my FIRST Feather -

But at least it's the first one that actually LOOKED like a feather -

And THAT - to me - is worth the WOO HOO!! - ;))

I'll show you in a minute -

But first I want to show you why I'm SO EXCITED!! - ;))

As I may have mentioned before -

I'm what you could call "directionally - challenged" -

Probably from being Left-Handed -

And having to mentally "reverse" stuff all of the time - ;))

Anyway -

When it comes to Feathers -

I can think of FOUR different ways to approach them - ;))

Here's a photo of one of my stencils -
Simply (R) Quilting Stencils by Plaid -
Feather Border #28742 - Design Width: 5-1/2"



Really nice stencil - BUT where do I start? -

Do I -

#1 - Start at the bottom and go to the top and work my way down -
Alternating from one side to the other? -


#2 - Start at the bottom and go to the top and work my way down -
Going down one side and then up the other? -


#3 - Start at the top and go to the bottom and work my way up -
Going up one side and then down the other? -


#4 - Start at the top and go to the bottom and work my way up -
Alternating from one side to the other? -


One book/teacher will show one way -

Another book/teacher will show a different way -

And then I feel like Vinnie Barbarino on "Welcome Back Kotter" -

"I'm SO confused!" - ;))

Yeah - I know - I am REALLY dating myself -
And for those of you who have NO idea what I'm talking about -
You could probably Google it - haha - ;))


Anyway -

Here's MY FIRST FEATHER -

TA DAH!! - ;))


And if you want to know where I started -

I'm not telling -

But I WILL tell ya - again -

I'm LOVING this class!! - ;))

EDIT UPDATE - And - just so you know -
I didn't use the stencil to do that feather - I "winged it" - the stencil was just for the "directionally-challenged" demonstration of how confusing feathers have always been for me - ;))



Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew -



Design Wall Monday - 2/29/16


DESIGN WALL MONDAY -
Check out all of us who link up with Judy L. -
At Patchwork Times on Mondays.
We have some awesome stuff on our walls!
Well, THEY do - ME - not so much sometimes - ;))
===


HAPPY LEAP YEAR EXTRA DAY!! - ;))

On my wall today -

Three more FMQ practice blocks -

To play with this week - ;))


I finished up the spirals on the one I showed you the other day
And the other two blocks -


My "square spirals" are kinda wonky -


And I obviously have trouble with straight lines -


But I'm learning a whole new set of complex skills -

So I'm going easy on myself - ;))

I still have several more lessons -

And all of the blocks on the wall to do -

After I play with these - ;))



I talked about this class - HERE -

===
PLEASE NOTE - If you are interested - you could go directly to the Craftsy site and sign up there - but if you sign up using the link on Gene's blog - he is an "affiliate" - and he will get compensated - so why not help out a fellow quilter/blogger/friend - ;))
===

I wholeheartedly recommend this class -

To ANYONE who wants to learn how to Free-Motion-Quilt -

Or ANYONE who wants a refresher course on the basics -

Or ANYONE who wants to get into a "zen" mode - and just PLAY - ;))

NO stress -

NO judging yourself or your skills -

Just the basics -

And LOTS of practice - ;))

===
P.S.

After I drafted and scheduled the above post to go "live" this morning -

I played around a little more and made some "pebbles" - ;))

I LOOOOOOVE "pebbles" -

Not that I'm any good at them YET -

But I wanted to show you the back of my practice piece -

Take a look at this TEXTURE -

Don't you just want to pet it? - ;))


And - unless you get up real close -

You can hardly see all of my "boo-boos" -

That - for now - I'm calling "design choices" - ;))




Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew -



Sunday, February 28, 2016

Before and After -


Yesterday I mentioned that -
I figure these will be my beginning "baseline" blocks -
The BEFORE blocks -
So that YEARS from now -
I can compare them to some AFTER blocks -
And - hopefully - see some improvement - ;))

I remembered the improvement in my HAND QUILTING after I had been at it for a few years - and there WAS a BIG difference - between BEFORE and AFTER - ;))

I found a few photos photos of some HAND QUILTING that I did years ago -
To show you what I mean - ;))

BEFORE-

These photos of my Hand-Made Sampler Quilt - 1988 -
Are from my 9/9/15 post - Slight Diversion - HERE -
I dug the quilt out and the stitches on that blue door are 5 stitches to the inch -




AFTER -

These photos of my Watercolor Wreath - 1996 -
Are from my 8/12/11 post QJ - WATERCOLOR WREATH - HERE -
The stitches on the feather are 9 stitches to the inch -





So I KNOW from experience that I will improve with practice -

Maybe that's why I'm not really worried about my "boo-boos" right now -

I KNOW that if I just keep at it -

I WILL get better -

I just have to keep at it -

So I may as well relax and have FUN with it -

And ENJOY (my word for this year) the process - ;))

And when I finish this class -

I have two more to work/play through -

Then I can tackle that pile of tops that need to be quilted - ;))

And like the teacher says -
They don't have to be perfect -

They just have to be quilted - ;))



Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew -



Saturday, February 27, 2016

WAY too much fun -


I gotta tell ya -

I'm having WAY too much fun playing with my blocks - ;))

I signed up for a Craftsy class by Christina Cameli -

Called "Free Motion Quilting Essentials" -

Gene mentions it on his blog - HERE -
He's an "affiliate" - so if you sign up through his blog -
I think he may get compensation of some sort -
And I don't mind promoting my friends - ;))

Gene's working on the "Advanced" class -

Me? - I'm in the "Beginner" class -
(BOB says I'm in "Pre-school" - and she may be right - ;))

Anyway - I got the blocks all made -

Got my machine all set up and the tension adjusted -

And I finished up the first batch of blocks -




Here's a close up of the bottom "loops" in the second block -
My crappy lighting makes it look more lavender than purple -
But it IS the same block - ;))


And don't laugh -

But this is supposed to be a "ribbon candy wiggle" - ;))


And - of course - there was the obligatory -
Get the backing folded over onto itself so you make a mess -
And have to spend some time "un-sewing" it for a "do-over" - ;))


I'm working on spirals here -

And I have those dumb things going every which way - ;))


I have a lot more blocks yet to do -


And I know that I have a LOOOOONG way to go before I get HALF as good as any of you out there -

But - you know what? -

I figure these will be my beginning "baseline" blocks -

The BEFORE blocks -

So that YEARS from now -

I can compare them to some AFTER blocks -

And - hopefully - see some improvement - ;))

In the meantime -

I'm having WAY too much fun playing with my blocks - ;))



Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew -





Monday, February 22, 2016

Design Wall Monday - 2/22/16


DESIGN WALL MONDAY -
Check out all of us who link up with Judy L. -
At Patchwork Times on Mondays.
We have some awesome stuff on our walls!
Well, THEY do - ME - not so much sometimes - ;))
===



On my wall today (kinda) -

Three FMQ practice blocks - ;))


I decided to pull the YELLOW out of all the pretty colors - HERE -

And save it for the sashing when I sew the blocks together at the end -

And to use YELLOW thread for the quilting -

To tie it all together -

And because it shows up nicely on all of the pretty colors - ;))

In these photos the RED looks really ORANGE -
Obviously my lighting is not the best sometimes -
Because the colors are really very bright and clear primary colors -
Like in the photo at the top of this page -

But they show that I did GO for it -

And got as far as the Wiggles in Lesson 2 - ;))




I plan to work my way through the rest of the lesson this week -

And then to take my time -

Working my way through one lesson each week -

Since life tends to get in the way -

And the "tax stuff" still needs to get done - ;))

After I tend to "business" -

I want to RELAX - ENJOY the process - and BREATHE - ;))

My Free-Motion Quilting skills definitely need improvement -

But we'll see how far I can go in the weeks ahead - ;))

One thing is for sure -

It can't get any worse -

Right??? - ;))



Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew -



Sunday, February 21, 2016

Set -


Funny thing -

BOB can't sew and blog at the same time - ;))

Today I had to cut the backing pieces -

And the batting pieces -

And iron/fuse them all together with the practice blocks -

And then I realized that I was not using the same batting as on my test piece yesterday -

SOOOO - I had to retest that -

And FINALLY -

Got myself all SET up -

To FMQ some Wiggles -






And I DID do some Wiggles -

But I need something to post for tomorrow's Design Wall Monday post -

And the practice blocks WERE on my Design Wall -

So I'll show you my Wiggles tomorrow -

If you promise not to laugh - ;))



Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew -



Saturday, February 20, 2016

Pause -


I have the blocks - and the batting - and the backing muslin -

READY -

So after BOB stopped laughing -

I got as far as getting the batting out of the package -

And then got sidetracked with the incoming mail -

And printer problems -

UGH!! - ;((

SOOOOOOOOOOOO -

I had to hit the Pause button for today -

And then -

TOMORROW -

I plan to check my tension -

And get that SET -

Re-watch the first couple of lessons -

And then GO for it!! - ;))

EDIT UPDATE - 8:45PM -

I decided to use yellow thread on the practice blocks -
And I'm not sure if you can really see in these photos -
But I think I got the tension SET - ;))



It looks pretty much like previous attempts - ;))



So now I'm READY -

And TOMORROW - I can re-watch the lessons and GO!! - ;))



Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew -



Friday, February 19, 2016

Ready -


This morning BOB got a GREAT comment that cracked her up -

I laughed SO hard -

Gene knows me SO well - ;))

If you missed it -

Go back to yesterday's post and check it out -

It was just the kick in the pants that BOB needed - ;))

In response -

I finished up the second batch of practice blocks -



And then the third -


Which - when added to the first batch -


Gives me some pretty colors to PLAY with -

Just like a new box of crayons - ;))


Now that I have the blocks - and the batting - and the backing muslin -

READY -

Tomorrow I plan to check my tension -

And get that SET -

Re-watch the first couple of lessons -

And then GO for it!! - ;))



Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew -



Thursday, February 18, 2016

Bit by bit -


Last time I showed you some pretty colors - ;))

The other day I got those all cut up to make some practice blocks -



And then I got the first batch sewn together -


With some bits left over -



Which should make a bunch of little hourglass blocks -


Cute, huh? - ;))

The plan is -

To finish making the blocks -

Find some fusible batting -

Find some muslin for the backing -

Get them all together -

Then PLAY!! - ;))

But since BOB's previous attempts to learn how to FMQ -

Didn't work out so well -

I think she may be stalling - ;))



Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew -



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