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Thursday, 4 December 2014

Free Motion Mavericks - Week 24 - Another Sampler Finished


Here is the second thread sampler that I have made, a companion to the first, sampling eleven more shades of Gutermann's Sulky Cotton 30 variegated threads.



This coppery orange in the centre lifts the whole colour scheme.



I gave the leaves curly hooks around the edges, and was treadling away happily thinking that I might try out a design based on teasels...



... until the darker leaves jumped out at me and all I could think of was woodlice.

Oh well, can't win them all.  The colours are nice, though.  It is impossible to convey the subtlety of the shades in photographs.  In fact, at first I thought there wasn't enough contrast between the different threads used in the background, but once the chocolate brown binding was on, it looked a whole lot better.

blogbutton photo peacockfmq025_zpse5bceb10.jpg

Here goes for week 24...

Many thanks to Gwyned and Hilary 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.
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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 and France 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 Amanda Jean's blog Crazy Mom Quilts for Finish It Up Friday.

10 comments:

  1. This is a really neat idea for getting the full feel of those threads. I like the curly cues on the leaves! No wood lice look to me. :D

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    1. Thanks Lyn. The dreary damp weather must be getting to me. It's woodlice paradise outside.
      Love, Muv

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  2. I love your design. It is beautiful. I use sulky and love it too.

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  3. This is lovely, Muv. You are quite an artist.

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  4. Ewww, lice! But I never thought of that until you said it. The leaves are lovely, and what a great way to sample the thread. I have always been a little afraid of any cotton thread for free-motion quilting. No idea why, except I imagine there might be more friction. Just need to sit down and try it.

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    1. Perhaps you don't see enough woodlice. We had them coming into our bathroom a few weeks ago, somehow getting through an upstairs window.

      My machines love this thread. I have used another brand of cotton in a 40 weight which kept snapping, and I can guarantee that it was nothing to do with dry air.

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    2. Our problem, this year and last, has been stinkbugs. They don't seem to harm anything, but you have to be very careful when catching them not to upset them so that they emit their stink. It's pretty strong. And of course you can't just squash them....the smell is 100 times worse then. I only know because as a child, I crushed one. Now I catch and release ALL critters.

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  5. I saw leaves until you mentioned the woodlice! The colours of the threads look beautiful.

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  6. I loved it til I got to the woodlice statement and then I couldn't see anything else. Do love the stitching though.

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    Replies
    1. The woodlice effect is finally wearing off with me - I'm seeing leaves again now.

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