Free Motion Mavericks - Week 109 - Surprise Quilt

Here it is - my most unplanned quilt to date!  Nine practice panels that have been stuffed in a bag for about three years are all now joined together and bound into a rather idiosyncratic quilt.

It is the right size to sit on the top of a double bed, but the only room today where the light was good enough for photos was my daughter's bedroom, so I flung it over a single bed.

The poor light played in my favour, with the shadow showing up the quilting really well.  The rudbeckias panel had to go in the middle because it is my favourite, and the grapes and the oak leaves above and below are the only panels with strongly contrasting cotton, so they went in the central column also.

I really loved how the pale brown gingham joining strips toned in with the cream colour of the panels.

I wasn't sure whether I would have enough for the binding.  It was a narrow squeak - I had about two and a half inches left over!

I am so pleased I could keep with the gingham theme.  If I had had to use another fabric for just a couple of inches I have no idea what I would have used.

The back is what might be termed fortunate random.  I didn't even look at the back when planning the placement of the panels.  It is pure chance that two identical panels didn't end up side by side.

This quilt has been an eye opener for me.  I have never had any inclination to make a one colour quilt, and I usually avoid pale colours.  However, now I have finished and am so surprised and delighted with the result, I think I might have to make another one.  Not just yet, though.

Here goes for week 109...

A big cheer for Olena for being the only person who linked up last week and saving me from sobbing all over my sewing machine.  If you haven't seen her beautiful autumn study yet, nip over now and see more photos.

If you love free motion quilting, whether you are a beginner just taking the plunge, or you have reached the stage where you can do ostrich feathers with your eyes shut and still achieve perfect symmetry, then please link up.

Remember, FMQ is FMQ, whether your machine was made last week, or it is older than your granny.

Here are the very easy and slightly elastic rules:-

1.  Link up with any recent post, ideally from the last week but within the last month, which features a free motion quilting project, whether it is a work in progress or a finish.

2.  Link back to this post in your own post and/or grab the linky button for your blog's sidebar.
  
3.  Visit as many of the other participants as possible and say hello in the comments box.

4.  The link up will remain open for four days, from midnight to midnight GMT for the long weekend, Friday to Monday.

So far quilters from the USA, England, Wales, Australia, Canada, Germany, Holland, New Zealand, France, Macau, Russia and Ireland have taken part.  The first participant from each new country will get a special mention the following week.

Linking up to Kelly's blog My Quilt Infatuation for Needle and Thread Thursday
and Sarah's blog Confessions of a Fabric Addict for Whoop Whoop Friday
and Nina-Marie's blog Creations... Quilts, Art... Whatever for Off The Wall Friday
and Amanda Jean's blog Crazy Mom Quilts for Finish It Up Friday.

Free Motion Mavericks - Week 92 - Free Motion Sampler Quilt

Deadlines seem redundant when speaking of a project started over two years ago, but I was determined to finish this quilt this week. 

At last - the FMQ sampler quilt is finished!  It measures approximately 45 x 51 inches and is made up of all the experimental panels that I quilted using my stash of Oakshott cottons.  All the colours in this quilt have been discontinued, so it is my own little piece of fabric history.  Virtually all the fabrics are shot cottons, so they have a lovely sheen when the light catches them. 

Possibly what took me so long to finish the quilt is that I could never decide how to arrange the panels, so I selected the best nine and set the remaining two aside and shall probably use them for cushion covers.  Firstly I arranged them by size, so I could make a rectangle, then I placed the colours as best I could.

This is the darkest red, which ended up next to the darkest blue.

Next, I made sure that quilting designs that have a definite direction were all the same way up.  The most obvious case is the rudbeckia design, on the bright yellow panel.

All the quilting has been worked in variegated threads.  In some cases I aimed for contrast, as in the case of the leaves on the pale blue striped background, whereas there is very little contrast between thread and background fabric with the black bryony design on the right. 

The rosehips design on the left is one of my favourites, and I just love the rich shade of red.

 

The binding is the only fabric on the front that isn't from Oakshott.  I had a fat quarter in a dark blue shot cotton and managed to squeeze the binding out of it.  I cut my binding strips one and five eighths of an inch wide, so a fat quarter can go a long way. 

 

Now that I have finally finished this quilt I want to make another one using these quilting designs all over again.  Time will tell.  I'm not exactly Mrs. Organised.

 

 

Here goes for week 92...

 

The project in Week 91 that really caught my eye was Maartje's guinea fowl table mat.  It made me laugh, because I love guinea fowl.  Far tastier than chicken.  If you haven't seen her blog post yet, nip over now and see more photos.

 

If you love free motion quilting, whether you are a beginner just taking the plunge, or you have reached the stage where you can do ostrich feathers with your eyes shut and still achieve perfect symmetry, then please link up.

Remember, FMQ is FMQ, whether your machine was made last week, or it is older than your granny.

Here are the very easy and slightly elastic rules:-

1.  Link up with any recent post, ideally from the last week but within the last month, which features a free motion quilting project, whether it is a work in progress or a finish.

2.  Link back to this post in your own post and/or grab the linky button for your blog's sidebar.
  
3.  Visit as many of the other participants as possible and say hello in the comments box.

4.  The link up will remain open for four days, from midnight to midnight GMT for the long weekend, Friday to Monday.

So far quilters from the USA, England, Wales, Australia, Canada, Germany, Holland, New Zealand, France, Macau and Russia have taken part.  The first participant from each new country will get a special mention the following week.

Linking up with Kelly's blog My Quilt Infatuation for Needle and Thread Thursday
and Sarah's blog Confessions of a Fabric Addict for Whoop Whoop Friday
and Nina-Marie's blog Creations... Quilts, Art... Whatever for Off The Wall Friday
and Amanda Jean's blog Crazy Mom Quilts for Finish It Up Friday.
 

Free Motion Mavericks - Week 36 - Leaves and Berries

Chaos reigns.  Two young men have smashed out all our front windows, and tomorrow they will be doing the same in my sewing room.  The 85 year old metal frames had to go, and we can now look forward to fewer draughts and less condensation.  You never know, furry sewing machine handles might become a thing of the past.  I will miss the history, though.  I was always very proud of the fact that we lived in a house that still had the hooks for hanging up the blackout blinds.

The only free motion quilting I have done this week was a panel of leaves and berries, which will be part of the free motion sampler quilt I was working on months ago.  It was nice and easy to do, but I'm not convinced I picked the best colour thread.  Errors of judgment are allowed on sampler quilts.

Here goes for week 36...

Many thanks to Heulwen, Maartje, Alison, Hilary, Linda, Mary, Teresa, Carole, Angie and Andree for linking up last time.

If you love free motion quilting, whether you are a beginner just taking the plunge, or you have reached the stage where you can do ostrich feathers with your eyes shut and still achieve perfect symmetry, then please link up.

Remember, FMQ is FMQ, whether your machine was made last week, or it is older than your granny.

Here are the very easy and slightly elastic rules:-

1.  Link up with any recent post, ideally from the last week but within the last month, which features a free motion quilting project, whether it is a work in progress or a finish.

2.  Link back to this post in your own post and/or grab the linky button for your blog's sidebar.
  .
3.  Visit as many of the other participants as possible and say hello in the comments box.

4.  The link up will remain open for four days, from midnight to midnight GMT for the long weekend, Friday to Monday.

So far quilters from USA, England, Wales, Australia, Canada, Germany, Holland, New Zealand, France and Macau have taken part.  The first participant from each new country will get a special mention the following week.

Linking up to Kelly's blog My Quilt Infatuation for Needle and Thread Thursday
and Angie's blog A Quilting Reader's Garden for WIPs Be Gone  
and Sarah's blog Confessions of a Fabric Addict for Whoop Whoop Friday.

Free Motion Mavericks - Week 14 - Home Again!

Somehow I always end up doing leaves if I want to fill up space quickly.These leaves were done about a fortnight ago.

I was a bit doubtful about doing the leaves over the pieced strip because I thought they wouldn't show up very well, but with the variegated thread in strongly contrasting colours, I rather enjoyed doing them and quite like the finished effect.  I like the timelessness of this leaf design.

Just to demonstrate how timeless, here is a photo of a detail of the embroidery on some old liturgical vestments that I saw on display in Spain a few days ago.


                                                      

So here goes for week 14...

Firstly, many thanks to  Alison, Hilary, Gwyned, P., Dona and Zenia Rene for linking up last time  - a great collection of projects.  Also, special thanks to Zenia Rene for joining as a follower!

If you love free motion quilting, whether you are a beginner just taking the plunge, or you have reached the stage where you can do ostrich feathers with your eyes shut and still achieve perfect symmetry, then please link up.

Remember, FMQ is FMQ, whether your machine was made last week, or it is older than your granny.

Here are the very easy and slightly elastic rules:-

1.  Link up with any recent post, ideally from the last week but within the last month, which features a free motion quilting project, whether it is a work in progress or a finish.

2.  Link back to this post in your own post and/or grab the linky button for your blog's sidebar.
  .
3.  Visit as many of the other participants as possible and say hello in the comments box.

4.  The link up will remain open for four days, from midnight to midnight GMT for the long weekend, Friday to Monday.

So far bloggers from USA, England, Wales, Australia, Canada, Germany and Holland have taken part.  The first participant from each new country will get a special mention the following week.

Linking up with Kelly's blog My Quilt Infatuation for Needle and Thread Thursday
and Sarah's blog Confessions of a Fabric Addict for Whoop Whoop Friday

Free Motion Mavericks Week 13 - Bindweed and the Rose

This week's experiment has been bindweed leaves, with a slightly exaggerated curl just to make life more interesting and to help fill in the space.  I didn't think I had done a particularly neat job because I kept changing the direction the leaves were pointing, and wasn't sure whether they should be large or small, so over the whole panel the design is inconsistent.  I like the colour of the thread though - the variegated blue shows up well against the yellow and tones in well with colours of the pieced strip on the left. 

The Jubilee Rose wall hanging is now finished and has already been delivered to its new owner.  I kept the binding narrow, in a plain mid brown reminiscent of light wood, to keep the emphasis on the rose.

                                                      

So here goes for week 13...

Firstly, many thanks to  Marly, Alison, Pat, Gwyned and Linda for linking up last week  - a great collection of projects.

If you love free motion quilting, whether you are a beginner just taking the plunge, or you have reached the stage where you can do ostrich feathers with your eyes shut and still achieve perfect symmetry, then please link up.

Remember, FMQ is FMQ, whether your machine was made last week, or it is older than your granny.

Here are the very easy and slightly elastic rules:-

1.  Link up with any recent post, ideally from the last week but within the last month, which features a free motion quilting project, whether it is a work in progress or a finish.

2.  Link back to this post in your own post and/or grab the linky button for your blog's sidebar.
  .
3.  Visit as many of the other participants as possible and say hello in the comments box.

4.  The link up will remain open for four days, from midnight to midnight GMT for the long weekend, Friday to Monday.

So far bloggers from USA, England, Wales, Australia, Canada, Germany and Holland have taken part.  The first participant from each new country will get a special mention the following week!

Linking up with Sarah's blog Confessions of a Fabric Addict for Whoop Whoop Friday
and M-R Charbonneau's blog Quilt Matters for TGIFF

Free Motion Mavericks - Week 11 - Leaves and Berries

This is some quilting I did before we went away on holiday, combining leaves and berries.  I wanted to see how the variegated yellow thread looked on the purple, and have decided I rather like it.

We have just got back from Poland...

... complete with a souvenir mug for our son, who stayed at home and held the fort.  

It might take me a little while to get back into the FMQ groove, especially while I have a laundry backlog to catch up on and try to remember how to cook, so I am looking forward this week's link up.

                                                       

So here goes for week 11...

Firstly, many thanks to Gwyned, Cynthia, Barbara, Claire and Diana for linking up last time  - a great collection of projects.

If you love free motion quilting, whether you are a beginner just taking the plunge, or you have reached the stage where you can do ostrich feathers with your eyes shut and still achieve perfect symmetry, then please link up.

Remember, FMQ is FMQ, whether your machine was made last week, or it is older than your granny.

Here are the very easy and slightly elastic rules:-

1.  Link up with any recent post, ideally from the last week but within the last month, which features a free motion quilting project, whether it is a work in progress or a finish.

2.  Link back to this post in your own post and/or grab the linky button for your blog's sidebar.
  .
3.  Visit as many of the other participants as possible and say hello in the comments box.

4.  The link up will remain open for four days, from midnight to midnight GMT for the long weekend, Friday to Monday.

So far bloggers from USA, England, Wales, Australia, Canada, Germany and Holland have taken part.  The first participant from each new country will get a special mention the following week!

Welcome to Ophelia and Jan Donley, the latest followers - thank you for joining!

Linking up to Kelly's blog My Quilt Infatuation for Needle and Thread Thursday
and Sarah's blog Confessions of a Fabric Addict for Whoop Whoop Friday

Free Motion Mavericks - Week 9 - Fancy Leaves

After enjoying trying out a fancy leaf a couple of weeks ago, I have done a variation on the same theme.  I rather like how these have turned out, and the serrated outline fills in the space between the stems with plenty of quilting.

Because the background fabric has a stripe, I used a darker thread than usual to make sure that the quilting design stood out.

This panel is opposite the black bryony design I did last week.  The thread I used against the red hardly stands out at all, and at times I had a bit of difficulty seeing where I was going when going back over a line of stitching.  It is interesting seeing how different the effect is.

Many thanks to Esther, Kathy, Hilary, Gwyned, Jessica, Celine, Laura and Renee for linking up last week - another great variety of projects on show!

So here goes for week 9...

If you love free motion quilting, whether you are a beginner just taking the plunge, or you have reached the stage where you can do ostrich feathers with your eyes shut and still achieve perfect symmetry, then please link up.

Remember, FMQ is FMQ, whether your machine was made last week, or it is older than your granny.

Here are the very easy and slightly elastic rules:-

1.  Link up with any recent post, ideally from the last week but within the last month, which features a free motion quilting project.

2.  Link back to this post in your own post and/or grab the linky button for your blog's sidebar.
  .
3.  Visit as many of the other participants as possible and say hello in the comments box.

4.  The link up will remain open for four days, from midnight to midnight GMT for the long weekend, Friday to Monday.

So far bloggers from USA, England, Wales, Australia, Canada, Germany and Holland have taken part.  The first participant from each new country will get a special mention the following week!


Welcome to Lisa Bragg, the latest follower - thank you for joining!

Linking up with Sarah's blog Confessions of a Fabric Addict for Whoop Whoop Friday

Free Motion Mavericks - Week 8 - Black Bryony

This is as far as I got today.  Treadling in a temperature of 80 degrees, wearing fetching pink gloves, I ended up absolutely blinking baking, so I was quite glad that the bobbin thread ran out - the last of the colour I needed.  It was time for a tea break anyway.

The design is based on black bryony.  The inspiration came a couple of days ago when I was hacking brambles out of the hedge and I pulled out a yard of black bryony that had been tangled up in the branches.  The berries turn bright red in the autumn, but at the moment they are bright green. In real life the berries are clustered around the main stem, looking like necklaces festooned in the hedgerow, but I have had to take a botanical liberty and put them on sprigs so I can fill the space.  

The leaves are heart shaped and a beautiful deep glossy green.

It is a shame I didn't have my camera with me when I was hacking about in the hedge, but it's nice putting links to a couple of blogs with photos of black bryony at different times of the year. 

When I was taking these photos today I remembered that I keep meaning to devise a design based on the leaves and flowers on the faceplate of the machine.

Many thanks to Jessim, Vicki, Gina, Hilary, Gwyned, Kathi and Cynthia who all linked up last week, showing a great variety of projects.

So here goes for week 8...

If you love free motion quilting, whether you are a beginner just taking the plunge, or you have reached the stage where you can do ostrich feathers with your eyes shut and still achieve perfect symmetry, then please link up.

Remember, FMQ is FMQ, whether your machine was made last week, or it is older than your granny.

Here are the very easy and slightly elastic rules:-

1.  Link up with any recent post, ideally from the last week but within the last month, which features a free motion quilting project.

2.  Link back to this post in your own post and/or grab the linky button for your blog's sidebar.
  .
3.  Visit as many of the other participants as possible and say hello in the comments box.

4.  The link up will remain open for four days, from midnight to midnight GMT for the long weekend, Friday to Monday.

So far bloggers from USA, England, Wales, Australia, Canada, Germany and Holland have taken part.  The first participant from each new country will get a special mention the following week!

Linking up with Kelly's blog My Quilt Infatuation for Needle and Thread Thursday
and Sarah's blog Confessions of a Fabric Addict for Whoop Whoop Friday

Free Motion Mavericks - Week 7 - Barefoot Treadling

For the first time for ages I have done a bit of work towards the free motion sampler quilt.  I am using up some of my mini stash of Oakshott cottons.  Each block is made up of two main colours, separated by a narrow strip made up of little oddments.  The first step is to quilt the central strip, then do something interesting on either side.

Some of the panels have turned out better than others.  Today I decided to try out a fancy leaf based on 18th century silk designs.  My birthday treat was a visit to the Fashion Museum in Bath, where there is a fantastic exhibition of Georgian costumes.  I spent ages with my nose glued to the glass, staring at the gorgeous colours and designs, and came home with a book of photographs of Spitalfields silks in the collection at the Victoria and Albert Museum

A bit of extra fun today was making this video.

The video is a bit fuzzy, I know, but you get the general idea - hot day, treadling barefoot and working up a raging thirst for tea.

Here is an individual leaf.  First I quilt the veins of the leaf, then go round it in a simple leaf shape, and then round again in a serrated leaf shape.

So here goes again with Free Motion Mavericks...

A very cosy, select party last week.  Many thanks to Gina, Hilary, Gwyned and Dora for taking part.

If you love free motion quilting, whether you are a beginner just taking the plunge, or you have reached the stage where you can do ostrich feathers with your eyes shut and still achieve perfect symmetry, then please link up.

Remember, FMQ is FMQ, whether your machine was made last week, or it is older than your granny.

Here are the very easy and slightly elastic rules:-

1.  Link up with any recent post, ideally from the last week but within the last month, which features a free motion quilting project.

2.  Link back to this post in your own post and/or grab the linky button for your blog's sidebar.
  .
3.  Visit as many of the other participants as possible and say hello in the comments box.

4.  The link up will remain open for four days, from midnight to midnight GMT for the long weekend, Friday to Monday.

So far bloggers from USA, England, Wales, Australia, Canada, Germany and Holland have taken part.  The first participant from each new country will get a special mention the following week!

Linking up to Kelly's blog My Quilt Infatuation for Needle and Thread Thursday
and Sarah's blog Confessions of a Fabric Addict for Whoop Whoop Friday
and Nina Marie's blog Creations... Quilts, Art... Whatever for Off the Wall Friday

Free Motion Oak Leaves on Bronze

This is a re-working of the oak leaves design, this time on a gorgeous shot cotton from Oakshott, a deep gold woven with dark red, and which has a wonderful autumnal golden bronze colour in real life. The leaves are worked on a slightly smaller scale than the original test piece I did, and consequently the acorns had to be a bit smaller.  They ended up being a bit fiddly, so I didn't do as many.  On the right hand side of the panel I have done the leaves and berries shown in a previous picture.  The colours in the latest photo are far more accurate - months of grey skies mean rubbish photos and lots of cheating with the computer so you can see the stitching.

The quilting on the random coloured strip down the centre is a bit cramped.  There is some nice wobbly stitching in there, but it looks fine from a distance.  I have done a much simpler pattern on the panels I did after this one, just a line of spirals, and it looks far better.

With these panels, because I am doing different designs separated by a small strip, I have had to make sure that the density of the quilting is consistent over the entire panel.  I remember seeing Leah Day explaining this in one of her videos, and showing how dense quilting in one part of the quilt can lead to fullness in adjacent parts of the quilt that are less densely quilted. So far so good... getting plenty of practice makes it easier to keep the density of the quilting reasonably consistent.

Linking up today to Kelly's blog My Quilt Infatuation for Needle and Thread Thursday
and Sarah's blog Confessions of a Fabric Addict for Whoop Whoop Friday
and Leah Day's blog for Free Motion Friday

Free Motion Rosehips on Red

For the free motion sampler quilt that I am making, I decided to have another go at the rosehips design, this time on red.  The colours on the photos are far from accurate - poor daylight, flash a bit harsh etc etc - and in real life the thread is not nearly so pale.  I have had to do some serious tinkering with the pictures editor on the computer so you can at least see what is there.

These rosehips are a delight to do, much easier than some of the designs that I have done that might look less complicated. and red seems the most appropriate colour for them.

I especially enjoy doing the thorns - they add a touch of realism - and also help fill in little gaps here and there.

Linking up again to Sarah's blog Confessions of a Fabric Addict for Whoop Whoop Friday
and Leah Day's blog for Free Motion Friday

Inventing Free Motion Plants

This is a detail of the latest panel that I have made for the quilt I started before Christmas.  It is turning into a free motion sampler quilt.  Not only am I reworking designs I have done before, I am trying out some new ones.  The plant I did on the blue was fairly quick and easy.

When I did it I worked with the flowers (or are they buds or seed pods?) growing upwards. 

Then I turned it upside down and decided I preferred it that way because it reminded me of clematis. Of course it looks nothing like the real thing, but as I keep telling myself, this is quilting, not botany.

I know already that when it comes to putting all the pieces together I will have a bit of a bad time arranging them, taking both the colours and the quilting into account.  Serves me right for making work for myself.

Linking up with Lee's blog Freshly Pieced for WIP Wednesday
and Sarah's blog Confessions of a Fabric Addict for Whoop Whoop Friday
and Leah Day's blog for Free Motion Friday

Free Motion Rudbeckias and Blackcurrants

Work is ticking ahead on the new project.  The basic idea is to do panels with two colours, divided by a thin strip using up small scrap oddments.  It was fun reworking the rudbeckias design on yellow - all very sunny and summery.

As for the burgundy red, the colour suggested blackcurrants, so that's what I did.  The leaves are fancier than the real thing, but the sprigs of fruit are fairly accurate.  I have spent so many hours in my time with my head stuffed in a blackcurrant bush that I didn't need to to look at pictures or draw a sketch.  The fruit just grew out of the machine as I sewed.  Fab fun.

Linking up again to Sarah's blog Confessions of a Fabric Addict for Whoop Whoop Friday
and Leah Day's blog for Free Motion Friday
and Lorna's blog Sew Fresh Quilts for TGIFF.  I feel a bit cheeky linking up to TGIFF because it's not finished... but this block is finished, and she asked me to link up, which was very sweet of her. Thank you Lorna!
...and finally, Barbara's blog Cat Patches for the December NewFO.

A New Project

It is a while since I started a big project, so earlier this week I rummaged through my bag of beautiful Oakshott shot cottons and striped fabrics to start a new quilt.  The idea is that I will be working with gorgeous colours and using patterns I have already tried out on the free motion experiments I have been doing over the past few months.  This time I am using cotton wadding - for the experiments I used cheap and cheerful polyester - so the finished texture is softer.

These leaves and berries are no known plant, but it grows in great profusion in Fmqland. (Gosh, doesn't that read like England when the double vision sets in after mince pies and one brandy too many).  For the berries I have to thank Aeroflot, and the leaves are scaled down vine leaves.

It is such a great pleasure working with the vibrant colours, and also I have an excuse to try out lots of different variegated threads.  It is a bit of a shame the light is so bad at the moment so I can't get a better photo.

Linking up again to Sarah's blog Confessions of a Fabric Addict for Whoop Whoop Friday
and to Leah Day's blog for Free Motion Friday