When I teach my “Beginning Machine Quilting” workshop, the best piece of advice that I give to new Free Motion Quilters is to Practice…..PRACTICE….. PRACTICE!!!!
Earlier this year, I decided that I wanted to “up my game” in the FMQ department so finally realized that I needed to follow my own advice!!!
I started this project back in May and first blogged about it HERE. As I had some free time on the week prior to the IQF show, I determined to get this project finished!!!!
I was pleased as I started using the rulers again and have found that this is my favorite one….
It has a straight line on one edge and a slight curve on the other and it is so versatile!!!
I enjoyed using one of the “petal” rulers to add some interest to this block….
And, for this block, I just played around with several rulers to see what type of design I could come up with…..
One of my favorite (and fastest) designs was this block…..
I started by marking alternating dots at specific intervals…..
….and then used the ruler to quilt back and forth between them (and this is a better photo of my favorite ruler)…..
Back in the summer, I purchased a set of circle rulers and this was my first try at using them. They were interesting and I think that they will be helpful, but I will definitely have to get used to how they feel!!! They are pie shapes with a small hole at the top of each one.
You place a thumbtack in the hole and then quilt around the circle…..
It worked well, but I had to really concentrate on how to hold the ruler and to remind myself that I didn’t have to press down on the thumbtack as that caused the quilt sandwich to stay in one place and not slide!!!
This is how the circle block ended up…..
….certainly not perfect, but something that I think I could learn to do!!!
Here is finished quilt…..
I truly enjoyed my practice sessions and hope that this quilt will find a good home thru our Guild’s charity work.
Now it is time to push myself and try something new (that I am scared of)!!!! Will I do that or will I go into displacement activity…..only time will tell.