WIP and QAL Wednesday!

Just when I thought that I was getting pretty good at FMQ, I found it was time for a little humility.  I found it quite challenging to go slow enough to stay on the lines and fast enough to have smooth curves. I also used high loft polyester batting, I think I might have been better off with a medium loft. Well, I guess that's why I'm linking up with Leah Day every week, to step out of my comfort zone and get better at FMQ. I still had lots of fun working on this.

Front

I really liked the look of going around the designs a couple of times.

Center of the design

I used both methods of creating feathers, travel back and bump bump.

The back

I used the same Isacord thread in the top and bobbin, same fabric front and back. I did stipple inside the hearts, since I broke thread to stitch the inner heart. I certainly now understand why breaking thread to stitch a different element is avoided at all cost, what a pain.

So my first question to Leah this week is about practicing. I know that you said to go slow to stay on the line, but I ended up just crawling. My lines, curves and stitch length got really wobbly. Is it better to practice with a little speed and work on precision or stay slow (and wobbly) and work to gain speed as you get more confident. (Am I asking a chicken and egg question?) My second question is about stitch length and travel stitching. If you travel stitch, it covers up your stitches, so that the single stitch looks totally different than the traveled stitches. If a piece has a lot of travel stitching, is it better to keep your stitches really small/short? What is an optimal stitch length for FMQ?

Thank you so much Leah for this wonderful QAL Wednesday and for pushing my skills!

I have a short list of other projects I worked on this week. I completed another row for Quokka Quilts QAYGFMQQAL.

And I also completed my Sew Cal Gal's March FMQ Challenge. Can you tell I grew up in the sixties and seventies???

Wait until you see what I did with this piece. I'll be showing that in tomorrow's post!

My stats this week are:
In-process: (11)
FLMQG solids challenge crib quilt (2 out of 9 Urban Nine Patch blocks done)
Purple heart wall hanging ( needs borders, backing, quilting and binding)
Expanding Possibilities quilt (basted, now to be quilted)
Storybook quilt # 1 -   Everything is together, just need a border and binding (QAYG )
Storybook quilt # 2 - All embroidery is done
Quokka Quilts QAYGFMQQAL quilt (18 blocks out of 30 quilted)
Sewing Machine Cover - FMQ complete, need binding and ties
Geneva Public Library quilt - join and quilt (maybe make a block or two to even it out)
iPad case (embroidered and started piecing and quilting)
Whole cloth quilt for QAL Wednesday
Sew Cal Gal's March FMQ Challenge - Embellishment (stay tuned)
New projects in the cue to start: (1)
New Wave quilt (not started)

Finished (0)

 
I'm linking up with Freshly Pieced for WIP Wednesday and The Free Motion Quilting Project for QAL Wednesday

Color Me Quilty!

Pat