FMQ Friday

Unfortunately, sewing and blogging have had to take a back seat lately. My job has been a bit hectic, three new (major) software programs to learn. Now, I will say that the new software is amazing and definitely needed, it has been a bit overwhelming to get them all at once. So I apologize to all that have commented that I have not answered - I have read every comment - Thank you. Anyway, enough whining, on to the quilting!

Last night was the first time I got to try out my newly serviced machine, Miss Frances (Pfaff QE 4.0). She is SEW much better! Not a skipped stitch or shredded/broken thread!

 I even tried to push it, filling the space by stitching backwards - kind of like Leah did in the video. Normally, that would have shredded my thread in a heartbeat.

 I really like how the stacked flame stitch turned out.

I also filled one of the "rays" with sharp stipple.

I will say that I'm in awe of Leah Day for stitching on such a tiny scale, really pretty amazing to make it look as good as she does. Oh well, now that Miss Frances doesn't seem to be fighting me, maybe I will practice a little more!

Linking up with Leah Day for FMQ Fridays at the Free Motion Quilting Project!

Color Me Quilty!

Pat

Prince William is Gone...

...And Miss Frances is back. Miss Frances is my Pfaff Quilters Expression 4.0 that has been in for service. Prince William was the loaner machine from the store's classroom.

I haven't even had a chance to set Miss Frances back up!

But there is a new Royal in the house; meet the Queen of Hearts!

Urban Threads has a whole series of Alice in Wonderland machine embroidery designs. I love them all and have been looking for a place to use them.

I'm going to use a pattern I made up quite a while ago and I've made several purses using it. I'm modifying it a bit this time with an outside cell phone pocket. I think this will be a fun purse for spring, and I am so ready for spring!

I did get a bit of FMQ done on the Navy panel of my Elephant quilt, but other than that it has been a slow sewing week. Hopefully it will be better with Miss Frances back home.












Here are this weeks stats:
In-process: (3)
Elephant quilt
Express Your Love
Layers quilt

New projects: (1)
Queen of Hearts Purse

Finished (0)


I'm linking up with  Freshly Pieced for WIP Wednesday

 

Color Me Quilty!

 

Pat

Starry Night Update

A couple of weeks ago, I shared a block I did for our quilt guilds Art Grid Project. Quick recap: we took van Gogh's famous Starry Night painting and divided it up into 24 pieces. Each participating guild member got a square to recreate into a quilt block.

This was my creation

This is a combination of the blocks to date

AMAZING!

I can't wait to see all of them next month!

Color Me Quilty!

Pat

Teaching Old Dogs New Tricks

Sometimes you can teach an old dog new tricks. I have my quilt guild meeting today and I'm doing a mini tutorial on how to make my Gothic Windows block.

I designed this block about a year ago and did a tutorial for it (check out my Tutorial page), but I've always wanted to condense it down into a short, printable, downloadable document. I finally took the time to learn how to do that! Voila! Gothic Windows download PDF  I have also linked it under the online tutorial.

I have also been working on my Elephant quilt. There is a LOT of quilting on a queen size quilt. The navy panel is three yards (108") X  WOF (42").

3 yards of navy!

Detail of the quilting

Back of the panel

I'll be linking up with UFO Sunday over at the Free Motion Project!

Color Me Quilty!

Pat

A Month of Starts

In February I started several new quilts, worked on an older quilt, but didn't finish much. With that said, I did make some good progress on several projects.

Front and center, I started working on my "Express Your Love" Goddess quilt. The panel is designed by Leah Day, purchased through Spoonflower. I got it backed, basted, outline quilted and my words quilted. I am amazed how much this quilt has touched me.

The bottom left hand corner is a block for my guild (IMQG) for our Art Grid Quilt. I'm quite pleased with how much it looks like the original.

The one and only finish I had this month was this little tote that I made at my LQS, Quilters Corner. They set up a See it/Try it day, complete with a project that you could put together using several of their newest line of machines. I even got to use their new Babylock Tiara, a sitdown long arm (I'm still drooling).

I started an other new project (bottom right), my layers quilt. This is just a sneak peak.

The main project I worked on this month was my Elephant quilt. I have basically broken it down into 3 panels that I'm quilting, then I will put it together with a QAYG method. Most of the "Elephant" panel is quilted and I've started on the navy panel.

I'm dividing the panel up with long wiggly lines running the length of the panel. Then I'm filling each section.

The back of the navy panel.

I'm linking up with Lynne at Lily's Quilts for Fresh Sewing Day and Leah at The Free Motion Quilting Project for FMQ Fridays

Color Me Quilty!

Pat

Detecting Foot Problems.

To those who regularly read my this blog know that I have had a love/hate relationship with my Pfaff Quilters Expression 4.0. It likes to break and shred thread when I FMQ. It has been driving me crazy. So I have taken it to the shop and have the exact same machine on loan. The first night I got the loaner machine I played around on a scrap quilt sandwich and nary a skipped stitch. Hope was springing that they could find and fix the problem with my machine. Last night I decided to do a sample quilt sandwich for my Elephant quilt.

Long skipped stitch while going backwards

Skipped stitches in almost the identical spot on the next time around the flower.

What did I change from the previous night??? The FOOT!

The closed toe foot is the standard foot that comes with the machine. The open toe is optional.

 The first night I had left on the standard closed toe foot. Last night, I wanted to be more precise in my stitches, I put on the open toe. That's when the problems started.

 While the closed toe foot is better, because it doesn't seem to skip stitches, the visibility with foot is not great.

The open toe offers great visibility, but skipped stitches. I can't seem to win! When I purchased this machine, the closed toe was a deal breaker. Then they told me about the open toe, I was sold. I think this may be a piece of POOR German engineering. Maybe there is a fix. I would sure love it if there was.

I did have a little fun FMQ last night.

Color Me Quilty!

Pat

My Prince Has Come!

Well, I'd like to tell you that I have been super productive and gotten lots done this week, but no THAT didn't happen. First off I needed to take Ms. Frances (my Pfaff QE 4.0) in for service. I'm tired of fighting with her when I FMQ. She shreds or breaks thread every time I go backwards, very frustrating. The good news is I have a fabulous dealer (Quilters Corner) that will fix her AND give me a loaner while I'm waiting. Meet Prince William....

How cool is it that the shop names their machines??!!

Since the Prince is the same model as mine, it fits perfectly in my table AND he will FMQ backwards!

While I was out and about yesterday, I did stop by Golden Lane Fabric shop. The place was hopping, they were having their annual 15% off everything sale. Their prices are always good, but 15% off is just crazy.  They carry a lot of Moda, including some solids. So I decided to stock up with some neutrals.

The solids ended up being $5.10/yd, the 10 FQ were under $20 and the 5 pack of blades were about $17. Can't beat that with a stick! Of course good ol' NY puts over 8% back with sales tax.

When I was up visiting my dad this weekend, I stopped at Ivy Thimble to have a look around and came away with these...

Nope, no plans, just loved them.

I also ordered some thread. Aurifil is hard to come by in my neck of the woods, so I tend to order it. Since it's flat $5 for shipping, I decided to stock up!

The purple one behind the two midnights in front is incorrect. I'm hoping to get the correct thread soon.

I did get another panel of my Elephant quilt basted. Not really exciting, it's just a plain navy panel, but work is work.

I also finished all of the wording on my Express your Love quilt. I'm really happy with how my Goddess is turning out.

Here are this weeks stats:
In-process: (3)
Elephant quilt
Express Your Love
Layers quilt

New projects: (0)

Finished (0)


I'm linking up with  Freshly Pieced for WIP Wednesday

 

Color Me Quilty!

 

Pat