Free Motion Mavericks - Week 196 - Quilting Orchids

Orchids fascinate me.  They always look so exotic, with gorgeous variations of colour.  In shops I can spend half an hour or more comparing colours, trying to decide which is my favourite.  The blue orchids on this fabric look ever so slightly odd, whereas the green ones are more readily believable.

Earlier this week, when making the quilt sandwich, I had an aargh moment.  I realised that I hadn't pre-washed the fabric.  Too late, I thought.  A cushion will need a wash soon enough, and I doubt that it would shrink at 30 degrees on a quick wash.  If it does decide to spite me and shrink after all, it will be an excuse to make another.

After an afternoon of quilting, I went shopping this evening and succumbed to temptation, which I had been successfully resisting for about three weeks.  I bought an orchid.  Let's see if, for the first time in my life, I can actually manage not to kill it.  Somehow I think the quilted cushion is going to last a lot longer than the real life plant.

Here goes for week 195:-

Many thanks to Janice for linking up last week with her beautiful appliqué hearts.  If you haven't seem her blog post yet, nip over now and see more:-

It's still hot, so whether you are overheating in the northern hemisphere or shivering in the south, if you have no free motion quilting to show, feel free to link up and show any project you like.  Here are the usual rules, but feel free to ignore them.

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.