Showing posts with label FMQ. Show all posts
Showing posts with label FMQ. Show all posts

Saturday, March 3, 2012

The Fastest Layer Cake Quilt Ever: Salt Air Tears

I am one that takes three or four months to make a quilt, typically (except for the aberration at Christmas-time when I made two matching throw quilts for my parents in three weeks.)  I enjoy a little piecing here, a little quilting there...  it's in three or four hour chunks, but I don't do it every day.  This one took three days.

However, a very dear friend of mine just experienced the heart-wrenching loss of her child.  There's nothing I can do for her but to offer love and support - and one of the ways I do that is through quilts.  I wanted to make her something that wasn't childish at all - this wasn't in remembrance of her daughter, it was for her.  Since I was aiming for super-fast, I simply took a layer cake of Salt Air, laid it out in a 6x7 pattern and sewed it up!  I backed it with Kona Gray and bound it with Kona Cheddar - which really gave it a cheery feel.  These fabrics were just lovely - I kept changing my mind as to which was my favorite!

The quilting is a free-motion loop pattern.  (And it counts as my March entry into SewCalGal's FMQ, since I did the loop and twist!)  I hadn't ever tried that much free motion quilting - this was a great chance to work on my technique!  I found that I need my tension all the way to 9, my pedal all the way down, and my hands need to move way slower than I think they should.  This is obviously just my personal style, since everyone needs to find what works for them, but I'm fighting the constant battle of wanting to go too quickly.  When I slow down, though, my stitches are a better length and my curves are more natural.  To further challenge myself, I quilted an inspirational word onto each square of the quilt.  Words like "faith," "hope," "friendship," etc.  Here's a picture of the whole thing and a close-up of the word "future."  I hope that she wraps herself in it, and knows she is loved...

Tuesday, January 31, 2012

FMQ: January's Leaves

Ugh.  I guess the lesson I learned in January is that I didn't make enough time to practice, so I didn't get better.  I only took 4 15 minute sessions during the whole month - I sketched leaves the first time, then FMQed them the other three times.  There wasn't much improvement, although the third time, I gave myself the freedom to do whatever I wanted...  I wrote my name, I did some squiggles, I even tried some pebbling.

The whole time, it was difficult for me...  I felt like I was wasting fabric and batting...  I tried to conserve my space.  Of course, that's ridiculous - I was using ugly old fat quarters that I'd bought (super cheap) for a project a while back and never used.  Probably because they were ugly...  And I was using a batting scrap, so that was free as well.  I think for February, I'm going to make a whole pile of sandwiches, and if I use them all up, FINE!

I'm glad that I didn't make sandwiches for my final sampler quilt yet...  I would be really frustrated that I couldn't do January's square yet.  I think my plan is to practice more in February, and if I get confident with the new pattern, then I'll try the leaves again.  I need to master my pace (and what the heck - I've never had back thread issues until this month...) before I work on a final project!

Here's some pictures...  the color variation is simply flash vs. no flash.  I think I need to work on my photography.  =)