Just a bit overwhelmed

I decided to take a week practicing some random free motion quilting that I'm comfortable with, thinking that once I have the baby quilt I'm working on sandwiched and ready for quilting that I'll know  exactly  what I want to quilt and where.  Now more than before I am at a loss, I just cant decide.  Hopefully once I have it tucked underneath my machine I'll know exactly what I want to do..

At least the practicing turned, what would have been just another sample ending up in my drawer, into something pretty.  During the week I showed you how this little Dresden Plate was 'born' out of some scraps my Mom gave me from a quilt she made a few years ago.  The finished Dresden Plate sampler measures 20 x 17 inches.  

It is filled with lost of different fmq, I even tried to be creative with one of the feathers.  Admittedly I enjoy quilting feathers but I guess I should stick to what I know instead of trying to be fancy.  It came out fine I guess, but I prefer it being simple and curvy and not so dramatic.

I did have fun making this, my oldest Son even suggested I make another to hang beside it, we'll see, for now I have to get busy binding the baby quilt and seriously start planning out what I want to quilt.  Any suggestions?

Linking up to:  

Needle and Thread Thursday with My Quilt Infatuation.

FMQ Fridays with The Free Motion Quilting Project

Can I Get a Whoop Whoop with Confessions of a fabric addict

Happy quilting.

My Favorite Pass-time

Its no surprise that I enjoy free motion quilting.  To me its the most enjoyable part of making a quilt.  So yesterday afternoon I had a sudden urge to quilt something, so I cut a fat quarter large enough to get some decent practice.  

That's when my eye caught some dresden plate pieces that was between some of the fabrics my Mom gave me.  She had them left over from a quilt she made a few years ago.

So I quickly pieced half a dresden and placed it on the side and then added another piece of dresden in the one corner.  I wanted to have a large area of negative space to practice some free motion quilting.  So this is what I ended up with.

Just to add a bit more to the 'dresden' design I quilted a dresden on the opposite corner.  It also adds a bit of symmetry to the design.  Sure I had enough fabrics to make another piece of dresden, but I wanted to try something completely different.

I quilted whatever came to mind, I did not want to use the same design all over, so I varied between swirls, paisley, pebbles, a few echoing lines and of course some feathers. 

What was just going to be a practice sample will now be a small wall hanging with colour, texture and some dresden design.  I'm sure to finish it up tomorrow...

Linking up to WIP Wednesday over at Freshly Pieced.

Happy quilting.

Anything Goes Quilt 'n Sew #20 - May in review

When looking back at the month of May, what seemed like a 'not so productive month', have in fact turned out to be quite busy.  In between all of my sewing and quilting, I even had a week where I babysat a 7 month old baby girl.  

So, to recap, I started a baby quilt, played around crocheting butterflies, pieced my Lucky Stars BOM, free motion quilted a fabric postcard as part of a FMQ Postcard swap I joined on Facebook.  I started piecing and played around with hexies.  I also joined in a 'Feathers' Challenge along with others over at SewCalGal, and for fun I made a few Cathedral Window MINI key chains.

While I was busy sorting out photos on my camera I realized I never shared with you my Sugar Block Club BOM's for April and May.  So here they are:

April BOM - Sunny Days (Foundation paper piecing)

May - Signed-Sealed-Delivered BOM ... can you see the envelopes?

So all and all, I have quite a bit to show for this past month.

Sew 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.

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Happy quilting.

Postcard fun...

...we all need to have a quick and fun little project every now and then.  So I joined a group on facebook called 'FMQ Postcard fun and challenges'.  In this group, members each month make postcards and then post the card to an allocated partner, the cards are made of fabric only, there are no paper or card used in making them, and of course have some type of free motion quilting on it.

So I thought of sharing with you my swap for May 2013.  This month had no particular theme, and we could make whatever we felt like, we both had fmq feathers on our cards, only different types of course.  

'peacock feather' made by me

'fmq feather' made by Janet

The whole idea is to send the card 'naked', as you would a normal postcard and not inside an envelope.  I admit I was quite worried that my card would not reach its destination.  I was so scared the stamp would come off and it would just end up in some bin somewhere.  

Janet did however receive her card (all the way to the UK), although somewhere along its route someone used a piece of sellotape to secure the stamp.  

It was really nice going to the post office and finding my card.

Janet also has a two part tutorial on her blog on how to make fabric postcards, here is part one and part two for those interested in making some of their own.  Its not only fun to make, but even better getting one!

Linking up to FMQ Fridays with Leah Day at The Free Motion Quilting Project and can-I-get-a-whoop-whoop at Confessions of a Fabric Addict.

Happy quilting.

2013 FMQ Feathers Challenge #3

Remember last week I started with my practice pieces for the feathers challenge, hosted again this year by SewCalGal and I showed you a bit of my practice quilt sandwiches.  Well, I am done with my final piece that I'm submitting to the challenge.  I am happy and proud to show you some pictures.  I must say I am very pleased with what I've done.  

For my final piece I used a fat quarter.  Before I started quilting, I marked the stem lightly using the tip of a knitting needle.  From there I just went with what felt right.  I preferred to add echo stitches all around the feathers.  That way they have a more 'finished' look instead of adding the background quilting right up against the feathers.

I tried to vary the feathers a bit, by keeping some plain without adding any fancy additions.  Some I stitched every second lobe/petal with swirls on the inside and also stitched wiggly lines inside of the others.  You'll also notice that one feather's stem I stitched pebbles/pearls inside and the other I kept plain.

The background I wanted to have a dense filler design to have the feather pop out a bit more and decided on pebbles.  Every now and then I made the pebbles a bit larger and added swirls to change it up a bit.  I do however think I should have done something else instead of the checkerboard design on the outside, since I stitched it out free hand without any markings the lines did not end up super straight, which in the end when you square up the quilt, it appears skew and wonky.

The finished size measures 17¼ inches by 22¼ inches

Below I've added pictures of my practice pieces, if you'd like to read up on the process of how I've decided what to quilt, you can find it all HERE.  Note these samples are all 9 inches by 10½ inches.

If you'd like to join in on this specific feathers challenge click on this LINK, there you'll find all the rules, tips and guidelines to help you along.  I will also be linking up this blog post to that link to submit my piece.  

SewCalGal is also hosting other challenges which you can find HERE. 

Linking up with FMQ Friday @ The Free Motion Quilting Project and Can-I-Get-a-Whoop-Whoop? with Confessions of a Fabric Addict.

Ps.  A big thank you to everyone who linked up to my 'Anything Goes' linky party this past week! 

Happy quilting.

FMQ Challenge - Feathers (WIP)

SewCalGal is again hosting a few challenges this year.  The one I was quite eager to try out is the feathers challenge.


I really enjoy quilting feathers, and after taking Angela Walters Free Motion Quilting with Feathers on Craftsy, I felt a lot more confident to try it out.  I love the motion of quilting feathers, and the look is so elegant and adds so much texture.


To find all the guidelines and tips for this challenge, click HERE.



So I started out by making a few quilt sandwiches cutting a fat quarter into four pieces.  

First I  quilted different styles of feathers, adding background fillers to fill in the sample.  Here I added swirly lobes to the feather, and inside the stem I quilted pebbles/pearls.   

This feather is quite curvy, and I find it very hard to add the petals/lobes of the feather on the inside curves, it never seem to work out the way it should.  So in my final quilt, I'll avoid adding curves that are too round.

This is the finished piece of the first feather sampler I made, note that these feathers are really small, the finished size of this mini quilt is 9 x 10½ inches.

My second sample I played around with a larger feather and concentrated a bit more on the background designs.

I really like the effect of the 'checker board' and the pebbles, so I'll definitely use that in my final quilt.

The next two samples  (same size as above)I still need to add binding, but I wanted to show you how I played around practicing my technique and getting into the motion of quilting feathers.

I've started quilting my final piece that I want to submit to the challenge, here is a sneak peak of what I've done so far.  

I really like quilting feathers, it is such a pretty design.  I sure hope to see more quilters joining in this challenge. This is so much FUN!

Linking up with FMQ Friday, @ The Free Motion Quilting Project and Can I get a whoop-whoop with Confessions of a fabric addict

Happy quilting.

FMQ Friday - Messing around

I'm sure many of you know that Sewcalgal has again come up with a few challenges for this year.  So I thought I'd join in, or rather at least give them ago.

So I have been playing around, seeing what I come up with.

The first challenge is Threadplay.  Now I've only tried it out, and this is what I've done so far.  I would like to make another piece with different colour threads.  

This little sampler measures 6 x 6 inches, it will not be the piece I'm going to 'hand in' as part of the challenge.  I want to practice a bit more of course and see if I can come up with something totally different using the same technique.  Do you think my thread buildup is too dense? 

Another challenge is Feathers.  I'm just playing around with feathers, and different types of FMQ designs, to get a feel of what works and what doesn't.  This looks like a HOT MESS!  Then again, it is only to see what will work good together.

Once I'm going to make the 'real' sampler, I will use thread that blends, clearly using a darker thread is not a good idea.

I'm linking up to FMQ Friday with Leah Day @ The Free Motion Quilting Project and with can-i-get-whoop-whoop @ Confessions of a fabric addict

Happy quilting.

Anything Goes - Quilt 'n Sew #11 - March in review

I have been quite busy this past month.  I actually cant believe how much I got done!  I have added links to each of the photo's I've posted below if you'd like to read more.

Made this photo mosaic with bighugelabs

I got to catch up quite a bit on my FMQ on Express Your Love - Goddess quilt, I made a  Picnic basket cover for a good friend.  I made a Table topper/wall hanging which was a bit of a flop, but overall turned out not too bad.   My March BOM Lucky Stars - Ninja Star was a good sewing day.  I also started and finished Kayleigh's Flannel baby quilt this month.  I played around making a few Cathedral window pincushions.  Loved FMQ my QAYG Sugar BOM - Snow Blossom and of course I had some time in between to make some more Hexies.

I would love to see what you've been up to!

Sew 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.

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Happy quilting.