Thursday, March 31, 2016

I have a plan -



I spent some time the other day -

Setting up some more stuff on my new computer -

Just taking my time -

Doing a bit whenever the mood strikes me -

And when I think I may have the PATIENCE -

To mess with any potential problems -

That might arise - ;))

And all the while -

I was thinking about how I wanted to widen my FMQ "practice" top -

And looking ahead to some of my other classes -

When I came up with a PLAN - ;))

I downloaded and printed the class materials for the next class -

The Secrets of Free-Motion Quilting with Christina Cameli -

And saw more "practice sandwiches" in solid colors were needed - ;))

Other FMQ classes gave patterns for quilts -

To be used to practice the teacher's techniques -

And one asked for a package of pre-cut felt rectangles -

Which I DON'T have in my stash - ;))

Considering ALL of the unquilted tops in that there pile -

I am NOT looking forward to making yet ANOTHER top -

Or more "practice sandwiches" -

Or buying MORE stuff -

So that I can practice my Free-Motion Quilting - ;))

THEN -

The proverbial "light bulb" went ON - ;))
(not OFF - as I have heard some say - haha)

Why make more "practice sandwiches" -

When I could take those same solid colors -

In large "chunks" -

Add them to the sides of my practice quilt as borders -

And then practice my FMQ ON THE BORDERS - ?!?! - ;))

SOOOOOOOOOOO -

I re-installed EQ7 on my new computer -

Might as well -
I was re-installing some of my other favorite little programs -
And I was already in "installation" mode - ;))

Then I drafted a version of what I have so far -
Plus the top and bottom yellow borders -

And got this - ;))



Then I added the borders -

That I "saw" in my head - ;))


That should give me a dozen more "practice" areas -

In addition to the yellow sashing/borders - ;))

I think it will work -

What do you think? - ;))



Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew -



Monday, March 28, 2016

Design Wall Monday - 3/28/16


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 -

The "extra" hourglass units -
From making my FMQ class practice blocks - ;))


I didn't realize that it has been three weeks since my last post -

But - you really haven't missed much - ;))

For the last three weeks -

There has been NOTHING on my design wall -

Because I have been TRYING to get this dang thing together -

And I only got as far as getting the rows together -

And putting on the two side borders - ;))


The FMQ practice blocks were layered to be quilted "as you go" -
But - of course - I didn't space them the same distance apart -
On the backing fabric - ;))


If I HAD - I could have skipped the part about cutting the blocks apart -
And then putting them all back together again WITH sashing between them -

I could have just sewn the sashing on the top -

And then sewn the rows together and been done with it -

But - NOOOOOO - I had to do it the hard way - ;))

===
NOTE TO SELF -
Think ahead next time and include the sashing between the blocks on the rows - ;))
===

Then the blocks themselves came out all different sizes -

Some of the quilting pushed the fabric "out" on some blocks -
And made the block "bigger" than planned -
If that makes sense -

So I cut them all down to close to the same size - ;))

I thought that I could maybe offset them to minimize the differences -
But I didn't like the look - ;))


I don't want to bore you with all of the fun I had -
With the back strips not coming out right -
Either too wide or too narrow to make the batting join without a gap or overlap -

Or the "air sewing" with no bobbin thread -

Or the "bird's nest" bobbin messes on the back for no apparent reason -

Or the fun I had trying to use the Bias Tape Maker -
That's a post for another time - ;))

So I'll just show you photos of some of the blocks -





And the yellow sashing that I used between the rows - ;))


I like the yellow sashing with the yellow thread that I used to quilt the blocks -

BUT -

===
NOTE TO SELF -
Use a darker sashing next time so the block fabrics don't show through - ;))
===

And some of the sashing cut off some of the quilting -

But - oh, well -

Done is better than perfect - right? - ;))

I still have to add the top and bottom borders -

But it's looking a little tall and skinny -

So I think that I want/need to add some more to the sides -
To widen it out a bit -
Maybe I could use those "extra" hourglass blocks - ;))


All in all -

I'm REALLY getting tired of messing with it -

But it is so close to being DONE -

That I don't dare stop now -

Or it will be another UFO -

And the whole point of this FMQ class -

Was to make a dent in that pile -

Not to ADD to it - ;))

But I would really rather get back to practicing my FMQ -

Which is WAAAAAAY more FUN than QAYG - ;))

I made a quilt using this technique over 20 years ago -

And I remember now why I haven't made another one since then - ;))



Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew -



Monday, March 7, 2016

Design Wall Monday - 3/7/16


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) -

The three FMQ practice blocks -

That I played with last week - ;))


I finished those and then made the last set of practice blocks -




I obviously need WAAAAAAAAAAAY MORE practice - ;))

My spirals need work -


And my free-form feathers are awful -


BUT - I learned a LOT -

And I had a LOT of FUN!! - ;))

This week I want to get these blocks -

And their friends -

In some semblance of order -

So that I can put them together -

In a "quilt-as-you-go" fashion -

For my FMQ "BEFORE" Quilt -

So we'll see how that works out - ;))



Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew -


Friday, March 4, 2016

Friday update - 3/4/16 -


I'm still working on my FMQ lessons - ;))

If you want to learn FMQ -

I wholeheartedly recommend this class - ;))

"Free-Motion Quilting Essentials" with Christina Cameli -

This link will take you to Gene Black's blog - he mentions it - HERE -
You could go directly to the Craftsy site - or Christina's blog -
But Gene's an "affiliate" - so if you sign up through his blog - and his ad link -
I think he may get compensation of some sort -
And I don't mind promoting my friends -
Because Craftsy and Christina get paid either way - ;))

One thing I wanted to mention -

If/when you start working on the "Essentials"class -

Promise me that you won't skip around and "cheat" -
(Like trying "Feathers" first) -

And that you will start at the "beginning" -

And work your way through the lessons - one at a time.

I know some of you already know how to do it -

BUT she teaches the basics in such a systematic order -

Each step builds on something she showed before -

And I think you'll get so much more out of the class -

If you at least watch them in order - ;))

You may even discover some "bad habits" that you have to "unlearn" - ;))

Me?? - I'm a blank slate - haha - ;))

I'm up to Lesson #5 - ;))

I made that first feather and then got a little cocky -

"I got this!" -

And the rest of that lesson looks like crap - ;))

Oh, well - it's just practice - and I need LOTS of practice ;))


And as I mentioned to one of my bloggy buddies when we were discussing some FMQ designs -
...the most amazing thing to me was that - as I was thumbing through both of her books - I'm NOT afraid of any of those designs anymore - I KNOW I can do them - maybe not WELL at first - but I CAN do them - ;))



Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew -



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