Free Motion Mavericks - Week 125 - Stamp Collection Cradle Quilt no. 2

Stamps are a perfect design for a pieced quilt, giving plenty of colour at the centre.

The background colour is reminiscent of manila envelopes.

I just happened to quilt the large blue stamp on the day that the Queen celebrated the sapphire anniversary of her accession to the throne, so I spared her a thought before running across General Franco and his Scottish postmark, which gave me great mirth last time I used this fabric.

In true scrappy fashion, I used up every shred I had left of the red and white fabric that frames the central panel, and had to add a tiny bit to the end of the strips.  Spot the seam.
  

And spot the spots.  The spotty binding went really well with the starry border.

The backing is a rather sophisticated Christmas print in toned down colours.

It was almost a relief finishing a quilt so quickly, after expending so much time and energy on the Secret Project...

...which is now the Secret Quilt.  Here it is hiding underneath the cradle quilt.  I just had to show you the gorgeous shade of red that I found for the binding, but now it is going back under wraps for a few weeks.  All shall be revealed.  Eventually.

Here goes for Week 125...

The project that caught my eye in Week 124 was Gwyned's assembly of different pieces of 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 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, Ireland and Brazil have taken part.  The first participant from each new country will get a special mention the following week.

Linking up with Connie's blog Confessions of a Fabric Addict for Whoop Whoop Friday
and Amanda Jean's blog Crazy Mom Quilts for Finish It Up Friday
and Michelle's Romantic Tangle for Let's Make Baby Quilts.

Free Motion Mavericks - Week 124 - On The Home Run

At last, the end is in sight!  The Secret Project is no longer a tale of many parts, but of two - one big section of seven panels joined together and another smaller section of four panels. 

Here is the first job I had today, pegging sections together.  Somehow I was slightly dreading this part of the process.  This join runs the full length of the quilt, and I was convinced there was going to be a bit of shift going on, so that even though the sections might be level with each other at the top, by the time I reached the end of the seam they would be out.  I shouldn't have worried.  The trusty old pegs method worked again.  I had forgotten that I had used this trick as recently as last year.

Just think, by this time next week I might even have finished this quilt and be proudly showing you the binding.  Not much else, though.  It is a secret after all.

Here goes for Week 124...

The project that caught my eye in Week 123 was Gwyned's leaf design on a closely quilted background in lovely soft greens. 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 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, 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 123 - A View of the Back

This week I have been concentrating on the Secret Project.  I am now quilting the eleventh and final panel, and eight of the panels are now joined onto their neighbours.  Suddenly the quilt seems immense.

The backing is all the same plain blue, and for the joining strips I have used this incredibly expensive blue floral cotton.

Shamrocks and oak leaves are a recurring theme in the quilting, and throwing the poppy seed heads into the mix has been fun.

Here goes for Week 123...

The project that caught my eye in Week 122 was Louise's beautiful houses 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 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, 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 122 - Joining Panels

Ever been spoilt for choice when choosing batiks?  Now that I am reaching the final stages of the Secret Project, with ten of the eleven panels completed, I have started to assemble the quilt.  None of the fabrics I had at home fitted the bill, so it was a great excuse for a shopping trip to find the perfect match for the joining strips.

As it turned out, I found two perfect matches, one with a lighter background...

... and the other with a darker background. 

The end is in sight, but this project still needs to stay under wraps until May.

Here goes for Week 122...

The project that caught my eye in Week 121 was Heulwen's gorgeous 3D daffodils and tulips wall hanging.  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 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, 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 121 - Poppy Heads

Very quick and easy.  Why have I not stitched these before?  I have been doodling these poppy seed heads alongside Sudoku puzzles off and on for months, and have only just stitched them for the first time this week.  Originally I wanted to do poppy flowers, but decided the petals would be a bit of a fuss.  In real life they drop off so quickly you spend more time looking at the seed heads, so perhaps the autumnal look is a bit more true to life.

This photo is also interesting for another reason.  The quilting was done a couple of days ago, and the stitch is fine.  What happened in the meantime to throw the tension off?  Just slightly, nothing drastic, but enough for me notice and be dissatisfied.  I had a happy twenty minutes checking the tension and testing the stitch today.  Let's hope it will be full steam ahead tomorrow.

The Secret Project is coming on apace.  I am now on the ninth panel of eleven...

Here goes for Week 121...

The quilt that caught my eye in Week 120 was Deana's flower quilt, beautifully quilted to complement the appliqué.  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 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, 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 120 - Back to the Sewing Machine

I hope everyone has had a happy Christmas and New Year!

After having my son and daughter home from Ireland, and visiting my brother and his family in Surrey, life has been busy to say the least.  Sewing has taken a back seat, and yesterday I finally did a bit of free motion quilting.  The Secret Project is back on the anvil, so here is a tiny detail.  There is a deadline, so I need to concentrate on this quilt for the next couple of months.  Let's just hope I can steer clear of viruses, now that I am feeling rough for the second time within a month.  I'm not moaning.  Much.

Here goes for Week 120...

The quilt that caught my eye in Week 119 was Angie's baby quilt - so sweet!   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 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, 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 119 - Christmas is Coming

Time to take a break from quilting and get into gear for Christmas...  Over the past week or so I have made five quilt sandwiches - four for the Secret Project, and one for a cot quilt.  Quilting, however, will have to wait for a while.  Both my children will be home from Ireland within the next few days and somehow I suspect life will soon be a whole lot noisier.  I'm not complaining.

This will be the last link-up before Christmas.  The next link up will be on the 5th January.

The quilt that caught my eye in Week 118 was Donnalee's Christmas 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 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, 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 110 - Planning (of sorts)

Methodical or what?  Planning isn't my forte.  I prefer to bash ahead and enjoy myself and throw the pieces together at the end.  Such is the joy of quilting as you go.  However, having made six panels out of eleven for the Secret Project, I decided that it was time to decide where the first six were going to be placed, so that I can plan (after a fashion) the last five panels.  So here are all the coded labels, all in the top left hand corner so I get the panels the right way up.  Foolproof, you would think, but that still didn't prevent me getting one of the panels on the Surprise Quilt upside down.

Yes, I know the photo is rubbish, but this is a Secret Project after all.

Here goes for week 110...

The project in week 109 that caught my eye was Louise's fishy baby quilt, all made on a boat!  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, Russia and Ireland have taken part.  The first participant from each new country will get a special mention the following week.

Free Motion Mavericks - Week 103 - A Pile of Sandwiches

Exceptionally dull photo, I know.  The Secret Project is now nearing six finished sandwiches, and I'm beginning to get a bit bored and afraid it might just send me one sandwich short of a picnic.  I need an interim project - that dress I have been promising my daughter, perhaps, but having only been home for a few days I'm not yet back into the sewing groove.

Here goes for week 103...

The project in Week 102 that caught my eye was Judy's wonderful painted silk flower, which she then free motion quilted. 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, Russia and Ireland have taken part.  The first participant from each new country will get a special mention the following week.

Free Motion Mavericks - Week 102 - Slow Progress

Only a little bit of sewing to show this week... firstly, because I am working on a Secret Project, I can't show much, but more to the point, I have been a poorly old crock.  My daughter and I arrived home from Spain the Sunday before last, and I was full of enthusiasm, thinking I would get loads of sewing and gardening done.  Instead I spent a week closely attached to my pillow and didn't start returning to normal until after three trips to the dentist's.  Enough said.  That is why last week's Free Motion Mavericks just didn't happen.

Anyway, today I did a spot of piecing, using the 1916 Singer 99K, which is my straight stitch machine for this project...

... and in the past few days I have used the rudbeckia design

... and I have recycled this pattern of invented plants too.

So I can report steady progress, because I am now working on the sixth of eleven panels.  Hooray.

Next week my husband and I are going to Ireland, so this week's linky will be the last until 25th August.

Here goes for week 102... only a week later than promised...

The project in Week 101 that caught my eye was Olena's seashore quilt, now finished and packed off to an exhibition!  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, Russia and Ireland have taken part.  The first participant from each new country will get a special mention the following week.