Free Motion Mavericks - Week 186 - Distraction

Ever needed an excuse to take a couple of hours off from decorating?  This is the fashion moment that couldn't be missed.

So after another nil sewing week, I have to thank Olena for linking up last week with her beautiful Secret Garden quilt.

If you haven't already seen her blog post yet, nip over now for a closer look.

Here goes for Week 186.

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.
  
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, Ireland and Brazil have taken part.  The first participant from each new country will get a special mention the following week.

Free Motion Mavericks - Week 185 - Bare Walls

Every scrap of wallpaper has to go.  The decorator is coming next Thursday, and we are busy stripping the walls and clearing the front room so he has a clear run.  This was the state of the place earlier this week, when my husband had taken the fire surround off to do a bit of work on it, and before the chimney sweep came.  After all the anticipation, progress at last!

So, as you can see, it has been a nil sewing week, but for all the best reasons.

Here goes for Week 185.

The project in week 184 that caught my eye was Vireya's charity quilting.  If you haven't seen her blog post yet, nip over now and have a closer look.

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.
  
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, Ireland and Brazil have taken part.  The first participant from each new country will get a special mention the following week.

Blending Yarns

Winter has finally gone (it took its time) and the cardigan I have lived in for several months is now a little too warm for comfort.  It is time to make a lighter version, so I have been playing at yarn mixing again.

The dusky pin fleck in the foreground is a wool and cotton mix.  I found bag of ten balls at my local wool shop.  It was an end of line, so it was reduced, and I wasn't sure how far ten balls would go.  Rather than risk not having enough for a complete cardigan, I decided to use some of the yarns I already had.  Out came the raspberry and the grey random yarn that I used in the winter cardigan.

Once I set to with the knitting I quite liked the tweedy effect and the overall pinkishness of it, very different from the grey blend of the winter cardigan.

Essentially I am knitting the same cardigan all over again, just in different yarns, and this time I shall actually write down what I am doing a little more carefully.  At the end of it I might even have a proper pattern to share. 

Free Motion Mavericks - Week 184 - Symmetry

Spot the seam.

The beautiful Morris print remnants that I bought last month included three 11 inch strips of the Snakeshead print, cut across the fabric, all three of the same section of the design.  The only way I could get the pattern to match was to turn a strip upside down to give a mirror image.  This is how the design will look on the front of the next cushion.  Quilting it could be a bit tricky with such an intricate design.

Here goes for Week 184.

The project in week 183 that caught my eye was Chris's star cushion.  If you haven't seen her blog post yet, nip over now and have a closer look.

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.
  
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, Ireland and Brazil have taken part.  The first participant from each new country will get a special mention the following week.

Free Motion Mavericks - Week 183 - Poppies Cushion

On the front there are poppies...

...and on the back too.

This is the first cushion that I have made from the fabrics I bought last month, and is destined for our front room once it is redecorated.  The method is fairly straightforward - a large quilted oblong with a band for the buttonholes attached.  The only real problem I had was with the weight and thickness of the fabric when I was outlining the poppies.

On the back I quilted poppy heads, nice big fat round ones so I could fill up the space quickly and keep them in scale with the poppies on the front.  I was really pleased to see how well the red sprigs of berries on the buttonhole band went with the quilting, which was more by accident than by design.

Now I have to put this cushion away for a few weeks.  Can't risk getting paint on it.

Here goes for Week 183.

The project in week 182 that caught my eye was Andrée's batik quilt.  If you haven't seen her blog post yet, nip over now and have a closer look.

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.
  
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, Ireland and Brazil 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 Amanda Jean's blog Crazy Mom Quilts for Finish It Up Friday.