Free Motion Filler fun

This week I was able to make a start on the Angela Walters “Free Motion Fillers Challenge“. Most of you know that I LOVE the way that Angela teaches, really appreciate her challenges and ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS learn something new!!

This first week was no different!!

The first week was all about Circle Filler designs…..

We started out with basic pebbles….

I have been quilting those for a long time so picked a small area to practice them on.

Next, came Bubbles….ie, pebbles that are different sizes…..

I love how this one looks but I have trouble spacing my larger pebbles evenly around the block. It might be good for me to mark those in before I start quilting!!

Then we switched to a design where you start with stipple quilting and then throw in a loop (pebble) every so often…..

I do another version of this design which I find a bit easier. Mine uses less stipple and more loops…..

One of the hardest variations for me was overlapped circles….

I found it REALLY hard to keep the circles a similar size!!

Again, I have a version that I call “Bad Hair Day”. It is less “standard” but gives a similar feel…..

Next was my FAVORITE design and one new to me….an Echoed Pebble…..

The idea here is that every so often you make an echo line inside the pebble. I found it an easy pattern to do!!

The hardest one for me (and probably the filler that I will NEVER use) was an oval design.

I found this one very hard to work thru and to keep even as I went. When Angela works this design, she “travels” around every one of the ovals but that was too much traveling for me. Instead, I rounded the corner and then backtracked to a good starting place for another oval.

AGAIN…..this version was NOT for me!!

I will post a review later, but I am enjoying using my new suspension system. It made a lot of difference to the “drag” associated with FMQ.

I finished this first lesson just in time to watch the next one…..WHEW!!!!

Are you in a rut with your machine quilting? Sure, you know HOW to do FMQ and you have 4 or 5 patterns that you do well. BUT, you are bored with those designs and need a push to try some new things. If so, please join “MOVE-IT…. a Free-Motion Quilting Boot Camp”!! I will take you on a FREE 10-week journey to learn new designs and become more comfortable with just MOVING IT!! You can sign up by clicking HERE. The two videos shown above are part of this video series.