Friday, August 3, 2012
Monday, July 30, 2012
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:
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?!
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| Ohio Star fmq'd in the ditch with monofilament thread |
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| two continuous fmq motifs |
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| another version of feathered wreath |
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| mini whole cloth quilt with trapunto |
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| stitched sample of new filler design, an adaptation of a sashiko pattern |
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?!
Thursday, July 26, 2012
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.
One filler, Leah Day's Matrix, in three 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.
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.
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.
It was good practice for this next UFO.
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.
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.
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| 12x12 ufo from machine quilting workshop |
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| three Matrix samples |
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.
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| pebbling sample |
Here's the UFO stitched with the two fillers plus a bonus.
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| quilted ufo |
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| samples with quilted ufo |
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| 18x18 ufo from machine quilting workshop |
I'll quilt this later. Right now I am getting ready to meet the Queen.
Thursday, July 19, 2012
Found art
You just never know where art turns up. A few months ago art turned up in Neiman Marcus. Today it turned up on an Oakland sidewalk.
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| side A |
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| side B |
Surface design on a southern magnolia flower petal. I'm guessing. So surprised & delighted by the find, I didn't look up and around for the tree.
What made the markings? It doesn't look like tire tracks. My walking friend speculates someone purposely stamped it. Would you do that?
What made the markings? It doesn't look like tire tracks. My walking friend speculates someone purposely stamped it. Would you do that?
Mysterious markings by a mystery artist.
I like a mystery. Let's stamp more petals.
I like a mystery. Let's stamp more petals.
Monday, July 16, 2012
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!
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).
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| these complete all 91 beginner level filler designs |
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).
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| can I ever contemplate fmq'ing this? |
Sunday, July 15, 2012
Basted 4x
I got this pin basted successfully on the fourth try.
The first time was a batting issue (see this post).
The second time was an un-squareness issue which had escaped notice. Couldn't let that be! The remedial reconstruction got involved and took so long, it began to feel like mending. I hate mending.
Keeping feelings in check, I trudged on. Eventually it was straight, square and flat.
I pin basted it for the third time and basked in the glory of success. Only for a moment. Something was awry - I'd left off a strip! Would anyone know? It threw the composition off and that would've bugged me no end. The good news was the strip was at the very bottom. The bad news was I had to un-pin the whole thing because the batting would've been short. Could've been worse.
If I'd kept a neater work space (impossible!), I might've noticed the errant strip sooner. Oh well. I'm just happy it's ready for quilting.
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| successfully pin basted |
The second time was an un-squareness issue which had escaped notice. Couldn't let that be! The remedial reconstruction got involved and took so long, it began to feel like mending. I hate mending.
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| under reconstruction |
I pin basted it for the third time and basked in the glory of success. Only for a moment. Something was awry - I'd left off a strip! Would anyone know? It threw the composition off and that would've bugged me no end. The good news was the strip was at the very bottom. The bad news was I had to un-pin the whole thing because the batting would've been short. Could've been worse.
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| strip added and re-pin basted |
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