Maturing twins and other things

quilted

I've finished quilting the challenging twins and intend to have it squared, faced & sleeved by next Wednesday's mini-group meeting. Then they'd be ready to hang at the next EBHQ community show. I've learned a lot from this project. More about that later.

No more quilting projects before my October trip. But I intend to continue with fmq each day by quilting more little 4x4 samples of Leah Day's beginner-intermediate designs.

In the meantime, I'm preparing for a two-day dyeing feast with my friend Pat. We'll combine a couple of exercises from True Colors with Carol Soderlund, to dye neutrals in dark and medium-dark values. All one yard pieces - at least 26 yards total. A real dyeing experience (as opposed to little sixteenths last year (here and here).

I'd rather be in the studio (or the garden) but I'm actually doing some housekeeping. It's starting to look presentable for my critique group which will be meeting here next week. I clean for a reason!

FMQ habit

I've fmq'd every single day since 7/7/2012! It has become an(other) obsession.

I've continued with Leah Day's beginner-intermediate filler designs, designs I learned about in last month's machine quilting class with Jill Schumacher and played with my own variations as well.

beginner-intermediate filler samples & more

Here's what the mini trapunto whole cloth  looks like now:

mini trapunto whole cloth in progress

Not much progress but many trial samples. On the left are the designs I'll use: from top to bottom, Jill's Waffles in the middle, Martha's Marshmallows in the hearts and Seven Treasures of Buddha around the outside.

And here's the Ohio Star:

Ohio Star in progress

Though Jill had advised me to quilt a simple border pattern because any fancy quilting won't show up, I saw it as an ideal opportunity to practice spirals and hide any wobbles. Those samples to the left are more spirals which I'll quilt in the solid blue and white areas around the star. The design is Leah Day's Swirling Water. It took multiple attempts to get this intermediate level (woot!) design right.

Since these two projects are stalled waiting for thread, I am working on this one:

pink mini whole cloth in progress

I'd barely started this one in a long-ago workshop with Sue Nickels and had shown it here, before I'd removed all the straight stitches. Not too much thinking needed since I'll quilt it similarly to this practice one:

practice for the pink one

All this practice has certainly helped my stitch quality but I'm still clueless about quilting my own improvisational work.

In mid-October I am going to the Crow Barn in Ohio for a machine quilting workshop and further fmq education from Sandy Ciolino. Check out Sandy's website and read what good things Kathy Loomis and Annette Guerrero say about her.

If you want to quilt your own non-traditional projects and improve your fmq, then you really must join me there. A great environment. We'll laugh, eat well, and learn lots too!

After three weeks & three days

I've fmq'd every day for three weeks. Then this weekend, three days more fmq in a workshop with Jill Schumacher, Quiltmaker to the Queen. These are accomplishment from that workshop:

Ohio Star fmq'd in the ditch with monofilament thread

two continuous fmq motifs

another version of feathered wreath

mini whole cloth quilt with trapunto

stitched sample of new filler design, an adaptation of a sashiko pattern

This workshop has a more traditional quilting perspective. Nevertheless, I've learned a lot though I'm still unsure how to quilt my own work.

I've gained two new ufos. The above filler pattern, 7 Treasures of Buddha, may be used in the gridded areas of the trapunto quilt. I prefer to not mark quilts nor use stencils, so I'm looking at Leah Day's 365 filler designs to finish the Ohio Star.

These additional hours of practice practice practice have given me dose of fmq confidence, though I won't become quiltmaker to any royalty any time soon.

Note: For another perspective on Sandy Ciolino's machine quilting workshop, see this post by Annette Guerrero. Annette was already an accomplished quilter when she took Sandy's workshop. What could be better than endorsement from another quilter?!

Audience with the Queen

Not Elizabeth. Not Latifah. I'm off to see the Queen of Quilting, Jill Schumacher!

Tomorrow is the beginning of a three-day quilting retreat at a not-so-local quilt shop, Always Quilting, a 45-minute drive away (In commute traffic?! Don't count on it!). They're providing breakfast, lunch and dinner, so I'll be machine quilting all day and into the night. The machine quilting gods should grant me better stitches after this!

Meanwhile I am not putting all my faith in the gods, I am continuing on my own fmq quest. Not only have I been making samples of Leah Day's beginner-intermediate fillers, I am fmq'ing two fillers onto this ufo.

12x12 ufo from machine quilting workshop

One filler, Leah Day's Matrix, in three samples.

three Matrix samples

The top one in turquoise is from a couple of years ago. The other two just recently. 


I cheated on the larger scaled one by stitching each line from back to front. Result: smoother stitches. It's really tempting to turn a piece and very easy for small ones. 


The smaller scaled one provides a more honest appraisal. No turning. Result: wobbly lines. Really shows I need more practice stitching in other directions. Still it's an improvement from the very first sample. So it is true . . . practice practice practice! 


The second filler is the popular pebbling pattern. 

pebbling sample

I took an hour to stitch this. Of course Leah's was faster and more beautiful. 


Here's the UFO stitched with the two fillers plus a bonus. 

quilted ufo

I went micro! Those small tight spaces screamed for tiny stitches. You can see how much smaller I quilted in this side by side comparison.

samples with quilted ufo

It was good practice for this next UFO. 

18x18 ufo from machine quilting workshop

The markings are barely visible. It's essentially the same pattern with additional long feathers on each side. And better fabric instead of muslin. 


I'll quilt this later. Right now I am getting ready to meet the Queen.

FMQ milestone

Out of 365 free motion filler designs, Leah Day designated 91 as beginner level. I'd made samples of most of them in 2010. Now I've made the rest. All 91 samples. A milestone! 

these complete all 91 beginner level filler designs

Don't look too closely! Admittedly some of my samples could be better. Sometimes I'd lose my concentration. When my attention wanders so does my stitching. Then all goes to heck. Once you head down that track, you just keep going. Kinda like bingeing on a guilty pleasure, eh?


On the other hand some of them look good, imho. Some movements felt more natural. These result in better stitches and smoother transitions. 


I'll keep going with beginner-intermediate level filler designs. Meanwhile I've dug into my ufo pile for something to fmq and found multiple candidates. Let's see if I can fmq an actual project. 


At the end of the month I'm taking a workshop: Quilting Queen Retreat with Jill Schumacher, an introduction to machine quilting at Always Quilting. A three-day mini-retreat. We'll start with an Ohio Star Block, so stencils, feathers and stippling, I expect. 


Every bit helps. I've committed to free motion quilting every day. This may limit work in other areas, but my goal is fmq proficiency by the end of the year. The litmus test: comfort with quilting one of my bigger tops  (not necessarily finishing, but at least starting). 

can I ever contemplate fmq'ing this?

How do you do . . . ?

Update:
For another perspective on Sandy Ciolino's machine quilting workshop, see this post by Annette Guerrero. Annette was already an accomplished quilter when she took Sandy's workshop. What could be better than endorsement from another quilter?!


My apologies if you've seen the rest of this post before. Due to technical difficulties and user error, the rest of this post was temporarily un-published.

How do you do IT? Machine quilting I mean.

quilting Orange Rhyme

So many decisions. What designs/patterns/motifs to quilt? where to apply it?
Quilting to stand out or blend in? contrast or complement the quilt top?
And thread: color, solid or variegated, weight, fiber type.
Let's not even get into batting.
Use the walking foot? or are you comfortable with free-motion?
Quilt on a home machine? or on a mid or long arm? 
Do your own quilting? or have someone else do it? 

I've pinned my hopes on getting answers from Sandra Palmer Ciolino. She's teaching a one-week machine quilting workshop at the Crow Barn in October. 

I've already taken a basic introductory class, and a two-day workshop with Sue Nickels. I've followed Leah Day, Heather Thomas and Angela Walters online. I've stitched up many samples from The Free Motion Quilting Project. 

beginner designs

But I still don't get it - I have not mastered free motion quilting. Okay, admittedly I haven't practiced consistently. Yes, I know, practice, practice, practice! Two to three hours a day for beginners; more if not particularly gifted. Yep, that's me. 

the only finished project with fmq

My last quilt was intensely stitched with a walking foot.

lines up to 3/16" apart

Sure wasn't much fun getting the bulky thing to turn around under the machine arm. Free-motion would be the ticket to avoid that. Someone said, "don't let your skills limit what you can create". So my goal is to master fmq. 


A whole cloth quilt is not for me. Instead a perspective that'll work with abstract improvisational compositions. In time I may figure this out but I'm impatient. If fmq will never be my thing, then I want to find out soon. 

Sandy is a fabulous machine quilter using her domestic sewing machine. Check out her gallery of recent work on her website. I've heard much praise for her last workshop. She has quilted for Nancy Crow - that's alone is quite an endorsement. Plus she's a sweetheart to boot. 

There's room in the workshop. I'm hoping it'd be a go. Worst case scenario, it won't and might not be offered again. So won't you join me in Ohio for the workshop? Would be good for you. But really - full disclosure here - I'm asking in my own self interest.

Caught up with Leah Day

If only in one respect.



For various reasons I stopped making fmq sample patterns in April. Recently I started up again for more practice before tackling an actual project.

fmq foot w/ shank only 

I was making samples when my free motion quilting foot broke - fell apart! It seemed loose a few days ago but I couldn't see anything wrong. Then a plastic chunk fell off the right side. Oh, oh. But still usable so I kept going. Then last night the whole plastic piece fell off, leaving only the metal shank. OH, OH.

sewing machine sisters

I hauled out my 37 y.o. Bernina 830 (the original mechanical one not the new fangled one). No needle down, no needle threader, limited stitch length & width, limited stitches. But I love that machine! It was just been serviced and a couple of motor brushes replaced. Unlike the Janome – it purrs. Hmm, maybe the Janome needs service as well as a new fmq foot. 

Struggled with the different control foot and the toughest filler designs, which I had avoided until now, but I plowed onward. Finally, after midnight, milestone achieved! I have made samples of all of Leah's beginner free-motion filler designs to date!

fmq samples

Many thanks to Leah Day of 365 Days of Free Motion Filler Designs! Without her encouragement and hints, her filler designs and videos, I would have quit long ago. Though I am still no master, I am ready to free motion quilt a project – a first! At only 18x18 it is a good place to start.

Free motion quilting

Learning how to free motion quilt is like learning how to write cursive.

Back in the old pre-CAD days, my instructors advised students to use architectural printing exclusively. So for many years that's what I did. Only my signature in cursive. Printing was good. Later architectural printing wasn't so important anymore and I wanted to get back to the flow of cursive writing.

Granted, my handwriting has always been a scrawl. Even when I printed for personal use, I couldn't make out my own words if enough time passed. It's that bad. I eventually recaptured the motor skills to scrawl again. Now I am in a similar situation with free motion quilting.

Earlier this month I started making samples of free motion quilting patterns from 365 Days of Free Motion Quilting Designs. I picked and chose among the beginner patterns for the easiest ones. Or so they seem. Stitching forward and backward was easy. Stitching side to side not so much. Lines wouldn't curve and points weren't made. Stitches had a mind of their own. Out of control. Spastic. My samples barely resembled hers.

Now three weeks and 21 samples later.More consistent stitch lengths. More obedient lines. Fewer spasms.

Thanks really go to Leah Day. Without her videos, patterns, and easy-difficult classifications I would not have gotten this far. Check out her blog.

When I can write half-inch high readable words, my free motion quilting will have arrived.