Express Your Love #6

I should actually hide my head in shame, I can't believe it has been two months since I've worked on my Express Your Love - Goddess quilt.  My excuse is simple, I did not have the right threads for the job and I was simply too busy with family visits, and of course other little projects that got in the way.

But this week, I had so much fun coming back to her.  Every day this week I learned a new FMQ design.  Here are some close-up shots of what I've stitched.

I decided to, in contrast to Leah Day's Goddess Quilt, stitch Concentric Circles in red.  Because the McTavishing design is so bold and stand out so much with all the travel stitching I wanted it to not be too overpowering, and since there is quite a lot of travel stitching in this design too, the red does not draw that much attention.  Because my quilt already has so much colour I was also afraid that it will take away from it rather than add to the quilt.  

But I think I am wrong, all of the colours I've used looks great!

Concentric Circles

The next two designs, New Flock of Geese and Micro Zippling I decided to use together, this time in yellow.  That was before Leah posted the Wiggle Wiggle Spiral design with the Flock of Geese FMQ design.  

Flock of Geese and Micro-Zippling

The reason I decided to use Micro Zippling together with the Flock of Geese design, was in the beginning I made the mistake of stitching McTavishing in too many rays in comparison to Leah's quilt.  So I was scared of adding it to the others that I might not have enough rays left to learn and stitch new and different designs.

The next design, Boomerangs had me a bit nervous.  I sometimes have difficulty knowing in which direction to stitch, especially if it has a very distinctive and specific shape.  But I am very happy with it, and I just love how the travel stitching makes it pop.

Boomerangs

I also got around to echo quilt around the words in the first phrase I've added.

So, as you can see I have a had a very rewarding FMQ week, much better than the one I had last week, LOL.

Previous Posts:
Express Your Love #5

Express Your Love #4
Express Your Love #3
Express Your Love #2
Express Your Love #1

I am linking up to FMQ Friday with Leah Day @ The Free Motion Quilting Project.

Happy quilting.

Selling your own patterns?

Where do you get your inspiration to design your quilts or quilt blocks?

I've read and watched quite a lot of blogs and videos and most mention that they get their ideas or are inspired from nature, architecture, other quilters and even other quilts.

I am now quilting for a year, so the concept of designing something entirely new and different is a bit confusing to me.  What makes it YOURS?

Here are two examples of quilts I've made, one from a single block tutorial, the other my own applique blocks, and sampler blocks.

1.  My Purple Diamond quilt was made using a single block tutorial.  Obviously the block itself is not my design, but the layout of this quilt was not done using a pattern.  The fabric and colour placement was my own, so the question is, can I write a pattern, slap my name on it and sell it?

Purple Diamond Quilt

2.  Gone Golfing - Back Maybe was inspired by my Dad's love of golfing.  Three of the blocks I had made was from a book called 'The Essential Sampler Quilt Book' by Lynne Edwards.  The HST (half square triangle) block I made up as I went along.  The rest of the quilt blocks are done using applique and are from what I have drawn up myself.  So again the question is, 'Is this quilt my own design, can I write a pattern and sell it'?

Gone Golfing - Back Maybe

Here is another example of a Half Square Triange BOM by Jenny Baker she had in 2012.  At the time while participating in the BOM she posted free tutorials every month.  Now you can buy the pattern for that quilt and is available on her blog.

I need to get this question answered, 'When can I write a pattern for a quilt or quilt block and sell it?'

Another reason I'm asking this, is that I've come up with a quilt block that I've designed myself, the inspiration was from craft paper.  I have not copied the design exactly and have changed the layout just a bit.  I want to write a pattern for this block but want to know the do's and don't first.

Your input will be very helpful, please share your experience and advice!

I am linking up to WIP Wednesdays @ Freshly Pieced.

Happy quilting.

Anything Goes - Quilt 'n Sew #10 - Picnic basket cover

I had some fun making this picnic basket cover for a very good friend of mine.  The biggest obstacle making this cover was that I'm NOT used to working with other types of fabric other than cotton.

The red fabric is a poly-cotton blend and checked print fabric is polyester, and I am not used to fabric having so much stretch to it, so it was really tricky for me to work with.  

You'll notice that I've used some of these fabrics before.  Here is that table topper I made where I was not happy with how it ended up.  At first I wanted the quilted block to be the lid of the basket, but changed my mind on the last minute, so kept it more traditional.

Making the cover was really not that hard, I used the internet for a lot of ideas and inspiration.  One other first for me was making prairie points, there are quite a few tutorials out there and it's much easier than expected. 

But now it's time for this week's linky party

It's Monday and a new week, so let’s all share some of our projects, please link up any current projects you've been working on, anything at all...  This link is open for a week and will run every Monday.  Remember to come back next week, or follow my blog to get regular updates.

If you wish feel free to add any other blog posts you write during the week, since this linky stays open for a full week, I think its a great idea to share and keep sharing.

All I ask is that you either add the 'Anything Goes' blog button to your sidebar or add a text link to your blog post, and comment on a few of the other links too, share the love and make this weekly link party a fun way to connect.

<div align="center"><a href="http://marelize-ries.blogspot.com/" title="Stitch by Stitch"><img src="http://i1269.photobucket.com/albums/jj592/MarelizeR/LinkyButton2_zps83805f35.jpg" alt="Stitch by Stitch" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

Happy quilting.

Lucky Stars BOM - March "Ninja Star"

This month's Lucky Stars BOM with Elizabeth at Don't Call Me Betsy is called 'Ninja Star'.

I was honestly surprised at how easy this block came together.  I liked the fabrics of the block on the pattern so much that I tried to match my own fabrics to the colours as closely as I could, except for the background fabric, mine is all black.

So with all my pieces cut I jumped right in.  My biggest concern was matching the seams since there is no real guide.  So when it came to piecing the blocks together, I matched the ¼ inch line which should in at the edge of the block, marked on the paper (left picture) and hoped that it will be a good enough guide.  To make sure it worked I changed the stitch length to three and sewn just to the right (right picture) of the stitch line.

The picture below clearly shows the larger stitches, if I had to rip them out, it would not be too difficult, if I made a mistake and I kept my stitches so small, it would be much harder.

It worked perfectly.  So I just went back and sewn on that same line with a smaller stitch to secure it properly.

I had again used the scraps from the large 12½ inch block to make the smaller 6½ inch block.  Unfortunately my seams did not match up as neatly as with he large block.  I did rip out quite a few times, but that was as close as I could get it.

Here is a LINK to my other blocks I've made so far.

If you'd like to see hundreds of other beautiful blocks, visit the flickr group.

Happy quilting.

WIP Wednesday - Bring back my MOJO!

I have been having one of those weeks, where everything that can go wrong, does!

We were planning on going on holiday, but because of a wages strike at my husband's work, his leave got cancelled, grrr!  Now he's sort of on permanent standby, so our plans to go to the coast had to be cancelled.  The kids are even more disappointed, they have been really looking forward to it.

I don't even want to talk about what's been going on in my sewing room.  I am making silly mistakes!  I accidental stitched over the backing fabric.  Its luckily not a large area, so I had to rip out those stitches.

Not to mention the mistakes I've made fmq inside the red rectangle areas.  Lets see if you can pick up the directions of those feathers, the first few pictures does not show the errors, but its clearly visible on the last shot, oh boy...  

I just left it as it is.  I should have ripped those out too, but I feel so low and discouraged that I just don't have the strength to fix it.

Breath... breath... b r e a t h ! ! !

I'm linking up to WIP Wednesday @ Freshly Pieced.

Happy quilting.

Anything Goes - Quilt 'n Sew #9 - Useful Links

Some days most days I want to kick myself for staying up late at night surfing the internet.  Not just because I wake up tired, but mostly because of all the beautiful things I see that makes my "I want to make this" list grow even longer.

But I was quite happy when I stumbled upon a few links that I think you might find useful if you enjoy english paper piecing. 

I am currently paper piecing hexagons from scraps, and I came across this useful cutting guide, explaining exactly what size fabric squares you'll need for a specific size hexie, and of course how much hexies you'll get from strips, FQ's, quarter yard or half yard fabric.  You can download it HERE.

Here is another useful link if you want to create your own downloadable and printable PDFs, creating the exact size hexies you want.

You can also use this LINK for other types of graph paper like circles and squares.

So I suppose in the end, going to bed in the midnight hours is not all that bad, except for having far to many midnight snacks.  With winter around the corner it is NOT a good thing, since I love my comfort foods... LOL.

But now it's time for this week's linky party

It's Monday and a new week, so lets all share some of our projects, please link up any current projects you've been working on, anything at all...  This link is open for a week and will run every Monday.  Remember to come back next week, or follow my blog to get regular updates.

If you wish feel free to add any other blog posts you write during the week, since this linky stays open for a full week, I think its a great idea to share and keep sharing.

All I ask is that you either add the 'Anything Goes' blog button to your sidebar or add a text link to your blog post, and comment on a few of the other links too, share the love and make this weekly link party a fun way to connect.

<div align="center"><a href="http://marelize-ries.blogspot.com/" title="Stitch by Stitch"><img src="http://i1269.photobucket.com/albums/jj592/MarelizeR/LinkyButton2_zps83805f35.jpg" alt="Stitch by Stitch" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

Happy quilting.

Can I brag a bit?

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There is really not a lot I can say about this quilt, except that I loved every second I spent free motion quilting it.  If you'd like to read up on the process of how I made this little baby quilt, you can read about it here, here and here.

I quilted feathers and swirls free hand without any markings.  I had so much fun.  I'm most proud of this quilt, not because of the piecing or fabric, but the quilting.  It's probably NOT perfect, but hey, this is the first I've tried quilting feathers without any pre-marking and I really like the result.

I did cheat a bit, I didn't make binding for this quilt, instead I folded over the backing fabric and blanket stitched it instead of hand sewing it down.

I know the pictures are a lot, but I am still amazed that I DID IT, so I have to show off a bit, LOL...

♥ Kayleigh already cuddling with her quilt ♥

I'm linking up to FMQ Friday with Leah Day @ The Free Motion Quilting Project.

Happy quilting.

100 Followers Giveaway - WINNER!

Thanks to everyone who entered my giveaway, oh and by the way, YES I made this little bag myself :-)

I really enjoyed reading all of your comments, it was really interesting learning how each of you got started.  I'm glad the bug bit me, and there's not a moment I think of quitting.. 

I had a total of 33 entries...

The winner is KT who said:  

Congratulations KT, I will contact you shortly to send you your bag.  

Remember to have a look at the pattern, it is really easy to make and definitely handy for going to classes, on the road or even moving around the house.

Happy quilting.

WIP Wednesday - In love with feathers!

Kayleigh's quilt is coming along really nicely.  I am in love with quilting feathers, it is so much fun and it looks soooo pretty!  I've been trying to let the feathers go in different directions to not have them all point in one way, so at some places there are quite a few swirls to fill the space.

I have also found that quilting the feather towards me (starting the 'stem' at the top, stitching the point of the feather to me) that my feather ends up more 'rounded' and the loops of the feather are bigger too.  Depending of the bulk inside the throat of my machine, I now try to stitch it that way.  I like when the feather appears 'fat' rather than 'skinny', LOL.

I have a little space space left then its just the binding and I'll be done.  This little quilt came along surprisingly fast. 

I am also working on my hexies these past few nights.  I now have 248 hexies pieced.  I'm still not sure what I'm going to make with these, except that it feels good using up all my scraps.  

Remember, today is your last day to enter for my giveaway, I have reached a 100 followers, yee-ha.

I am linking up to WIP Wednesday @ Freshly Pieced.

Happy quilting.