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.
