One More Block To Go........

So I have been working on the blocks for this Christmas quilt since March.  It is the pattern Merry Merry Snowmen from Bunny Hill Designs.  I have just one more block to do.  Then I can sew the blocks together and free motion quilt it.  Each block has the design appliqued on it and then adorned with buttons and/or embroidery. I hope to be finished with it by mid November so I can display it on a quilt rack for the Holidays.

Baby Isabelle in Her Bunting

So often we make gifts and know they are appreciated but never see them being used.  One of my favorite baby items to make are buntings to swaddle the child in.  Earlier I blogged about this gift http://juliannasjourney.blogspot.com/2012/06/gifts-for-baby-shower.html and just received a pic of baby Isabelle in her bunting.  Isn't she just beautiful and doesn't she look comfy!

Free Motion Quilted Pumpkin Runner

 

 

As I referred to in an earlier post, http://juliannasjourney.blogspot.com/2012/08/pumpkin-runner.html, I have been practicing free motion quilting and am really getting better at it.  I want to FMQ 2 quilts by Christmas so I need to get better at it.  With this in mind, I quilted the Pumpkin Runner shown above.  I used different patterns on the background, pumpkins and border.  Hopefully you can see my designs in the following pics.  The different patterns really added alot of dimension to the runner.

 

 

I did a circular design in the center of the pumpkins and a 2 way design between them.  On the right I used a graded long parallel stitch which looks great on it, although it is hard to see in the picture.

 

 

On the border I used a paisley design that I saw on Leah Day's site  Paisley  and it did come out fairly well for my first try.

 

A few things that have helped me with FMQ are Little Genie Magic Bobbin Washers http://www.daystyledesigns.com/magicgeniewashers.htm, the teflon oven liner http://juliannasjourney.blogspot.com/2012/09/fmq-and-teflon-slider.html that I made a slider out of for my machine and quilting gloves.  Along with these items, I have practiced FMQ for 15 minutes a day for weeks.  But I must say what finally made it click was a comment that I read, unsure of where I read it, that compared drawing with a pencil; when you draw you move the pencil around the paper but when you free motion quilt, you move the fabric around the needle.  For whatever reason, this radically changed how I envisioned the patterns and I have become better at FMQ.

 



FMQ and Teflon Slider

I am practicing free motion quilting and I read that one can make a substitute for the Supreme Slider (which is way too pricey for me) by using a teflon oven liner.  I found a teflon liner at an outlet store and cut a hole for the needle with an exacto knife.  Then I placed it on my extension table and used blue painter's tape to hold it in place.  It definitely makes the quilt sandwich easier to move around.  I will be using it to FMQ a Fall Runner later this week so I will display the results.