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Thursday, September 8, 2016

Free Motion Quilting Journey

 Yesterday I quilted a baby quilt with FEATHERS--and they weren't too bad!  Getting the hang of FMQ has been my challenge over the years.  It really helps to PRACTICE, a lot.  And my Bernina Q20 makes the actual quilting a breeze--lots of table space to support the quilt, excellent tension with no fiddling, and stitches that are as regular as I please.  It's not the BEST quilting ever done, but it's quite an improvement for me so I am making progress on this journey.

The fabrics are mostly Raining Cats and Dogs by Free Spirit Fabric--perfect for this particular quilt:

Top, Before Quilting  38" x 46"
















The feathers were totally free-form, no marking.  I did draw them on paper several times to get the rhythm and size I wanted.

For the border I did a free-form cable, a bit too free--form it seems now.  I used a Crayola Ultra-Clean Washable Marker to draw two lines in the border, one about 1/2" inside the outer edge, and one down the center of that space.  This gave me reference points to aim for as I quilted the borders.  In hindsight, I should have marked the four corners too since I "got lost" as I came into and out of the corners.  

Here is the finished quilt, after washing.  I love how a quilt gets that pucker-y look after washing and drying.  


Now, if I could just find the label I made 3 weeks ago and put in a "safe" place before my Studio Sale...

Let's Quilt!

Barbara
at

7 comments:

  1. Rhonda St. CharlesSeptember 8, 2016 at 6:54 AM

    It looks wonderful!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Rhonda St. CharlesSeptember 8, 2016 at 6:54 AM

    It looks wonderful!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Janet O.September 8, 2016 at 7:32 AM

    Good job on the feathers. I remember how long it took me to get the hang of the shape and flow of feathers. You said it--it takes practice, and it appears your practice has paid off!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Frog QuilterSeptember 8, 2016 at 7:50 AM

    Keep practicing. Every stitch helps. I see all the imperfections but in the end it is the overall look of the quilt. 99.9% of the time it is FABULOUS. Yours is fabulous!!!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Sue BartlowSeptember 8, 2016 at 9:23 AM

    Great job on the feathers...that's one thing I haven't done yet on my HQ Avante. Practice makes perfect and I definitely need to practice that one.

    ReplyDelete
  6. TerryKnott.blogspot.comSeptember 9, 2016 at 11:20 AM

    Kudos for going for it on the FM feathers. They look nice in the space! As for corners, I do mark a little more so I have a better chance at making the corners looked "related!"

    ReplyDelete
  7. Susie HSeptember 10, 2016 at 6:07 AM

    Good job! I love FMQ and am so happy to hear more & more quilters are doing their own quilts on their domestic machines. Yay!

    ReplyDelete