Today we are back to working with straight lines and block three is a challenge to quilt in one pass….with NO thread breaks.
……actually, I had one thread break but that was because I MESSED UP…..oh well!!
Enjoy the video and get to your machine!!!
I hope that you are enjoying the first three blocks in this challenge. I am sure having fun figuring out new designs to use!!
Come back next Friday for BLOCK FOUR…….
If you are enjoying this challenge, you might check into “MOVE IT—a Free Motion Quilting Bootcamp”……
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 clickingHERE
Last week was all straight lines and this week we switch over to a BUNCH of curvy ones!!
If you are interested in joining the challenge, either by making a quilt and quilting along or by printing out blocks and drawing along, you can find all of the resources on the “Quilt Challenges” tab at the top of this page, or by clicking HERE.
I hope that you enjoy this week’s video and start practicing your curvy lines…..
I am certainly happy with the first TWO blocks….
….now I just have to design the rest!!!!
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 problem here is that it was December 31st and I wanted to give this as a gift on New Year’s Day!!!
MUST….HURRY!!!
When it came down to it, I really didn’t have any ideas about how to quilt this design. I had recently purchased a roll of “Quilter’s Preview Paper” (which I will review in March),
and now quickly threw it down on the quilt top and started drawing.
After some stop-and-go planning, I had the basic idea that I wanted to quilt this pinwheel something like this…..
….and do the larger whirlwind like this…..
BUT, if I used those two designs, I ended up with the green triangles above being un-quilted and that wouldn’t do!!
As I played with it more, I realized that I could include those two triangles as part of the pinwheel quilting, resulting in something like this….
The entire inside of the quilt was done with rulers…. the “leaf” shapes in the whirlwind blocks were done with a Westalee ruler and the straight lines were done with a straight edge ruler. .
I was able to make a video of the quilting of the whirlwind block…..
But, I got in a hurry to finish and never filmed the pinwheel block….sorry!!
When it came to the borders, it was 7:oopm and I was seriously running out of time!!
I started out with a “ribbon candy” design in the purple border….
I have been working thru Angela Walters “Fabulous Feathers” challenge and decided to GO FOR IT!!
It was some fast and furious quilting, but I put the last stitch in the binding at 11:45pm on December 31st!!!
That gave me 15 minutes to do a quick clean of the studio and start 2022 ready to begin some new projects!!
I delivered the quilt on January 1st and was pleased with her excitement about the gift!! I pray that it will comfort her during this month of rest and recuperation.
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
Someone asked me why I continue to do challenges and mystery quilts and my answer is the same…..”I ALWAYS learn something!!!”
I have now finished Angela Walters’ “Quilting with Rulers Challenge” and, as you might guess, I learned SO much!!
Here is the finished quilt…..
…..and here are a few things that I learned……
Rulers can be used in other ways that don’t match their intended purpose. In this case, I used an oval ruler to quilt some longer curves…..
Use a matching thread….especially if you don’t know exactly what you are doing…..
Plan and measure borders so that they turn the corner well….
Larger areas can be made smaller by dividing them into sections…..
Adding some non-ruler quilting can make a boring design pop……
IF you want it to be exact, there are tools that you can use…….
Finally, even though you can use a ruler to quilt a filler design, it is easier to freehand it!!!
I bought a few new rulers at Houston this past month and am already having fun playing with them and figuring out exactly how I can use them!!
And, will I do another challenge???
You-bet-ya!!! I have the top for Angela’s new “Feather” challenge and I cannot wait to get started!!! I am horrible at feathers and know that this will push me forward.
Do you need something to PUSH you to get better????
If so, think about signing up for my FREE 10-week Free-Motion Quilting Challenge called “MOVE IT!!!”
Each week you will receive an email with a few new designs to try and a video with instructions, encouragement, and sometimes even some commiseration!!!
