Pages

Saturday, October 1, 2016

October, Already?


Another quick post.
My brain has been sewing,
not writing!

The winner of the Chunky Alphabet Give-away is:
#26, Carol, author of Beads and Birds.
Congratulations, Carol!
Carol is a new-to-me blogger
and we have enjoyed becoming acquainted.
I have met so many new bloggers this year!

Several of you commented that you've never made a zippered pouch.
I know it sounds intimidating,
but Patty at Elm Street Quilts
has a fantastic tutorial for a basic pouch
that you really must try!
She takes all the mystery out of the process
in easy to follow steps.
It's my "go to" tute!
As a matter of fact, I just whipped up another one.
I'll show you later.

Although my sewing machines have been humming,
I don't really have anything to show,
no finishes,
no 'in process' photos,
except.......




I decided it was time to try some graffiti quilting free motion doodling,
that it would be the best way to hone my skills.
How many samples can one make?
There is such a big difference between FMQing on a small square
and FMQing on a big quilt.




I decided to tackle my wonky churn dash Checkmark quilt.
It is a pretty bizarre design that, to be honest with you,
 I figure no one will really want,
even though it was lots of fun to make.
So, why not?
Maybe I'll keep a quilt for myself for a change!

I keep a FMQ journal,
log my time, and discuss with myself
what works, what doesn't.
I'm mostly practicing control and travelling.
On this quilt, I am using Aurifil 50 weight white thread,
and sometimes its difficult to see where I have already stitched.
I love my Janome with a passion,
but there isn't a lot of visibility,
so it's a double whammy.

And blinking!  I forget to blink,
so I'm practicing that, too!

And that's about all from
my little corner of the world!


Be sure to click on the picture to see it better!


Here's a little Tern feather
that was floating by on the surface of the water
last time I was out in my kayak.
Won't be many paddling days remaining.

Happy October!

XO

27 comments:

Miriam said...

Your quilting is amazing!!!

Abby and Stephanie said...

Congratulations to your winner. Your FMQing is amazing. This piece looks like you've been doing it for years. I hunch my shoulder terribly. LOL I haven't done any free motion in years but I could never get these amazing swirls and feathers like you're achieving. Awesome you!!!

Patty said...

Your quilting looks awesome!

Anonymous said...

Hi Karen,congrats to Carol and wow your quilting is amazing ,i love it ,hope your day is a good one.

Missy Shay said...

Your quilting looks great.

Sondra said...

It is lovely!! You got SKILZ!!
Great idea to keep a Journal of what works, and what doesn't!

Maria said...

Amazing quilting Karen.....

Karen said...

FABULOUS quilting, Karen! It's been ages since I've done any, I am quite envious looking at yours.
I'm not organized enough to keep a journal; I can see me making fastidious notes and then losing the book :)

Needled Mom said...

Your quilting is really beautiful. I lie the graffiti idea as it all comes together beautifully.

Louise said...

I hope you'll share more of your FMQ process. I learn so much from reading about other's experiences. Successes, failures, finishes...it's all good!

Your Wonky Churn Dash quilt will be even better with this fabulous graffiti quilting :)

I'm off to read Carol's blog now.

Julie Cefalu said...

Oh my goodness, Karen. Your graffiti quilting is fabulous! I'm a little jealous.... Julie@TheCraftyQuilter.com

Lin said...

Your quilting is beautiful! FMQ is not something I have mastered so I am always in awe of any one who can. Love the gorgeous feather. xx

Createology said...

Congratulations to your lucky winners. You are very smart to keep a journal of your quilting experiences. I think your quilting is amazing. Yes, October already and I am feeling the crush of how busy the next three months will be. Fall Colors are Calling...

Judy said...

Whoa, that is some AWESOME quilting!! You are rocking that machine quilting, my dear. That sounds just right, keep the quilt for yourself and put it somewhere you can see it each day :-)
Have a great weekend,
Judy

BillieBee (billiemick) said...

Gorgeous quilting...wow!

Kate @ Smiles From Kate said...

Your quilting is really good Karen, I think you have been hiding your light under a bushel.

Carol- Beads and Birds said...

FMQ scares me to death. I can only hope that as I learn to quilt, I'll give it a try. Your piece is amazing!

I was so happy to have one your drawing. I love a quilt with words and I am sure that I'll be using the pattern in the future.
xx, Carol

Tish Stemple said...

Your graffiti quilting made me smile. It looks GREAT! I love using matching thread when quilting but I agree, it can make it quite difficult to see what you are doing.

Jeanna said...

Your quilting is so pretty. I do not do any FMQ, I just don't seem to have the flow and artistic eye for it. So I guess I'm a piecer and binder...LOL.

Anonymous said...

Your quilting is so gorgeous. I can't believe you haven't been doing this for years. If I practiced 10 years, I couldn't do so well on my little machine! I am only a longarmer, and I have no machine for that now. So it's just the walking foot for me. Beautiful, beautiful quilting. Thank you for making the pictures able to be enlarged.

Anonymous said...

Your practice is really paying off but you're right, there is a big difference between a smaller square and a big quilt. However, practice makes the transition easier.....ask me how I know...lol...not enough practice.

Raewyn said...

Your graffiti quilting looks great!! And I agree, it's quite a different matter to quilt on a large quilt compared to a practise sandwich :-) Love your last photo!

Chookyblue...... said...

well done with the quilting.........

Vickie said...

You are so right about the difference between working on a little quilt and a big one ! I struggle with anything over 36". You're right about the blinking and for me the breathing too. But let me say Karen, your quilting looks awesome !

krislovesfabric said...

What beautiful quilting!!!

Afton Warrick said...

The graffiti quilting is beautiful. I have trouble seeing my thread sometimes too. I'm not sure how to alleviate the trouble with white on white, but it looks so pristine. I got a chuckle out of you having a staring contest with your quilt.

Paula, the quilter said...

I've been doing a bit of graffiti quilting too, but on an applique quilt. It has a central medallion surrounded by 12 applique blocks then a border and then an applique border. I have the center done and all the ditch work around the applique blocks. Some feathers have been added in areas and now it's time to start more graffiti.