Free Motion Friday - Double

So sorry I missed last Friday's block post, I bit of technical trouble. I wasn't feeling well and I just couldn't get my machine to cooperate. Sometimes it's best just to walk away and try again another day. When I came back to it, it was working smoothly. Can sewing machines feel our energy?

Sew today I will post two blocks to get you going. Please link up if you want to show off some of your work. I know I would love to see your FMQ.

My first block is very organic and whimsical. I started with the center, stitching two curved lines from end to end and echoing each of them. Then I filled in between the two lines with Leah Day's Spiral Matrix (click here for her video). I think Spiral Matrix is one of my favorite designs. It really doesn't have to be perfect to look great. Personally, I like when it's not perfect, proves I'm not a computer guided robot. Continuing on, within the orange block I just stitched straight lined back and forth. I think the straight lines give your eyes a place to rest and lets the cool Spiral Matrix pop. Around the outside, I just stitched wavy lines that randomly intersect. This is a great example that if your fabric is printed/busy, it doesn't really matter what you quilt because your can't hardly see it.

 I really love how you can see the stitching on the back. Fleece is so much fun to quilt.

This is the next block I decided to quilt. Remember, this project is about trying out some new fillers and putting them together to see how they look. Have fun with this.

Again, I started with stitching some random wiggly lines and echoed them. I filled them in with Pointy Paisley (another Leah Day filler). On the outside of this shape, my lines are now at a 45 degree angle. On the printed boarder, I just did back and forth lines. On the outer most stripe, I stitched a foundation line of back and forth triangles, I didn't mark them. I finished it off with straight back and forth lines to fill in the top half of the triangles.

Let your imaginations run wild, just stitch something. The take away from this week is: If it isn't working, you're tired or don't feel well, walk away and come back another day. Enjoy your quilting.

Color Me Quilty!

Pat

Rules: Share your FMQ, be nice to one another.

Free Motion Friday Quilt-a-Long

It time to show you the second quilted block and have you link up and show what you were able to accomplish  this week. Remember, you can follow my blocks or create your own.

 I wanted to mix it up, so I just did some wiggly lines and filled it in with some paisley, click here to see Leah Day's video on how to do paisley.

Don't  worry about perfection, it will be lovely no matter what. In the border of the block I did various sized circles and on the other stripes just followed the wiggles. The most important  thing is to have fun.

Here is my quilt. 

This is the block from last week.

You can link up here. RULES: Go visit the link ups, play nice, leave kind comments, show your Free motion quilting. If you don't have a blog to link up, feel free to post a picture of you quilting on Color Me Quilty's Facebook page.







Color Me Quilty!

Pat

Carefully Lined and Zipped!

My lovely and talented stepdaughter likes to knit and felt, but when it comes to sewing, not so much. She knit and felted two bags recently and asked if I would line them and add a zipper to one of them. Yikes, I'm not a huge fan of this type of sewing, especially zippers, but this stepdaughter keeps me stocked in homemade canned stock. How in the world could I say no?  So I said sure!

We dug through my stash and found some fabric (what a surprise) that was fun and went with the bags. There was an open sew at my local quilt shop (Quilters Corner) and I thought that this was the perfect project to do - nothing like having a little moral support!

The first bag just needed a lining - I even lined the top flap.

And of course added interior pockets.

The second bag was a little harder. I added a two-way purse zipper and a lining.

 Again, lots of interior pockets.

I was able to give them to her yesterday for Easter. I think this must have been a record turn-around time, she only gave them to me last weekend or so.

Well, I'm off to work. I have to pay for this hobby some how!

Color Me Quilty!

Pat

Free Motion Friday - The Start of a New Quilt

Okay, so it has taken some time to get this quilt-a-long started. I have all of the blocks pieced and backed, ready to quilt. Remember: you can choose to follow this quilt OR design your own quilt. It can be an alternate grid like this OR a more traditional layout. The most important part is quilting.

This quilt was created with various sized pieces of solid fabric and a number of different strips from a Alison Glass jelly roll (2 1/2" wide by the width of the fabric)

Here are the blocks. Some will need to be trimmed, but since this is a quilt-as-you-go project, I saw no reason to do that now.

The blue outline shows the three columns of how the blocks will be assembled

I started quilting this small block as a warm-up to larger, more complicated FMQ blocks.

The FMQ on this block: started with stitching in the ditch, then a square spiral to the center of each colored block, echo lines (free-hand) on the white pieces between each spiral. On the outer strips, random jagged "teeth". I used Aurifil 50wt white thread in both the top and the bottom.

This will get you started on the first column, if you choose to follow this pattern.

Next week you can link up your work on next week's blog post or post it on ColorMeQuilty's Facebook page.

The very best part of doing a project together is the community spirit and learning. Remember Angela Walters saying - "A finished quilt is ALWAYS better than a perfect quilt."

Feel free to ask AND answer and questions in the comments here or on the Facebook page.

Color Me Quilty!

Pat