BOM 28 - First Bouquet

The BOM this month is First Bouquet from Collection 28. It was interesting playing with designs based on the hexagon in the middle and it never ceased to amaze me how easily different designs would pop up as I sat in the garden drawing.

Don't forget that in each set of instructions not only is there the miniature pattern and templates but there is also the larger size. If you haven't tried it yet this is the perfect time to give it a go. You can make the blocks using EPP or just regular piecing.

Slower and Slower with Mary

Not a lot has been happening with Mary Prince in the last month. I have made a few of the flowers that will fill the next round but then I found the perfect place to store it and that's it...it's been stored. I am hoping to get back to it soon but the wedding quilt has really been taking a lot of my time.

Central Layout Plans

So today has been spent on the computer working out different layouts for the spaces surrounding the central ring. After spending ages surfing last night I had decided the way to go was a variation of split four patch for both the areas surrounding the central circle and the outer border. I even took out pen and graph paper last night and made a preliminary sketch which looked great! Don't you just love my understated opinion! I would show how great it was but it was just too good to keep and I was glad I only wasted my time and not my fabric as well.

My next idea was to extend the rings that form the inner circle and develop within these more spokes similar to those that I liked throughout the quilt. I hoped to carry the idea of a ring by using the same colours in all four segments, even though the ring was broken by overlapping blocks in places.

Worked it out and was very happy with it until I printed it out and went to lie it in place on the quilt. Slight problem... I had miscalculated the size of the spaces...... back to the drawing board. This time the task was a lot quicker and I now have worked out a design which at least fits the spaces. Yes I realise the above plan looks more balanced but... and this is a big but.... it doesn't fit in the space.

I have tried out a few fabrics and think these will look good. So tomorrow's task is to cut the fabrics and if I'm lucky sew the missing blocks also. If it looks good I might even make a spiked border. I have been tossing up,the idea for a while now. Sometimes think it will look great other times feel it might be over the top....we will see.

All Together Now

Well Carol has now finally finished her quilt and doesn't it look great! She has been working on it now for a little over two years showing that this quilt doesn't have to take six years like it did for me :-) 

When Carol showed it to her children and said they would have to fight for who received it when she passes on, her daughter replied that they would bury her in it as she had enjoyed making it so much. 

Carol's horrified look and threat to haunt them forever if that eventuated means that they will now flip a coin for it. 

It is amazing how our children sometimes don't see that we wish for them to keep the things we lovingly made rather than gift them to us for the afterlife like in ancient Egyptian times. 

So what's next? 

Another Option

Well I definitely wasn't happy with either of those two layouts, and I was even less happy with the unpicking. Thankfully it was only the hand stitching as frog stitching is a real pain with the shorter stitch length I prefer these days. As I now press my seams open where possible I have shortened my stitch length to add strength to the seam. Why am I now pressing seams open? Well it gives less bulky spots when machine quilting and while my machine quilting leaves a lot to be desired....one day it will be to dream for. Hey I dream about that now!

So after unpicking a number of seams I have worked out a third layout and it's looking OK. I still need to work out what to do in those spaces around the central block but that is tomorrow's problem.

Layouts for The Wedding Quilt

Well as you can see the wedding quilt is chugging along beautifully....says she with a totally biased viewpoint. I have now finished 55 of the needed 56 blocks. Will get onto the last one ...... soon.

My first plan was to make the quilt 6 x 8 and have a semicircle extending into the border on each side. However when I sat down and checked over my calculations it seemed as though this would leave the quilt just that little bit too narrow. Ok no problems I thought. 6 x 8 + 8 is the same as 7 x 8. See you can tell I was once a maths teacher... no need for that look!

Anyway the ahh ha moment  was soon an mmmmm? moment when I discovered that New York Beauties don't work that well in odd numbered settings. Actually it was a very long soon. You see I'm the kind of person who jumps in and sews things together as soon as an idea comes into my head and then I work out the finer steps.

So on a quick trial and error, taking only about an hour I decided I would make 12 circles and then use the leftover blocks to fill in the gaps. Two days later I have HAND stitched all of the blocks into pairs and have laid them out to check that they still look good. As you can see they don't look good at all. Phooey...will have to look into it further tomorrow!

FMQE Success

So after two weeks of ditch stitching with my FMQ foot I can honestly say that Helen was right. With practise I am improving. When I concentrate and watch just what I will be quilting next, rather than later in the project, I find that I can be rather accurate. I was using my BSR initially but found that it seemed to stick and so I resorted to the old darning foot and although my stitch length needs working on I am improving on stitching in the ditch. I even managed to keep up the practise for ten days out of the fortnight so that is also pleasing.

The tools that I found most helpful were the extension table, but this goes without saying as it is impossible to manoeuvre a huge quilt without having some space to work on.

Also extensively used was the supreme slider. This is like a large Teflon type sheet that sticks to your extension table and then allows the quilt to be moved with less tension than usual. You can check it out here. If you decide to get one check out Judy's site everyday as January is her birthday month and she has a different special each day. In previous years she has offered a choose anything in the store and receive a discount. Discounts vary, depending on the product and the special she has going that day.

Another tool that I found very helpful are the Grip and Stitch quilting disks. These are also available on Judy's site here. They work similarly to the gloves with the rubber finger tips, except they are easier as when you want to use your bare hands you simply let go of them.

My target for the rest of the month is more of the same. I have several quilts that I can practise on and as I expect to be starting to quilt the wedding quilt sometime in February I have room for further improvement before that day.

Now off to see how others are going.

Back of Carol's QAYG

Oh for those interested here is a photo of the back of Carol's Quilt.... all lovely and tidy isn't it?

The Wedding Quilt

I have been very busy this past few months and the wedding quilt is going along great guns. I was actually starting to stress with it and had reached a stage where I was doing too much. to the point that RSI was starting to hurt so I had to slow down. 

Having slowed down it may not be finished by June but hopefully it will be close.

Here are nine of the blocks and in a totally biased opinion I think they don't look too bad. My plan is for 56 different blocks and I have planned and cut the fabric for 54 of them so it's on the way.

Another Way to Finish Backings

Well I don't think my photoshopping has shown this too clearly but here you have Carol's quilt in progress. Her method is different from mine and I thought people may like to see her way of doing things.

After completing the collections she quilted them with only the top and the wadding, no backing fabric.

Next she machine stitched her quilt backs together in two sections using the same colours as she'd used for the collection frames. Above left is the beginning of the joining process and to the right you can see half of the quilt. There is another section similar to the below one but without the middle row. 

The back hexagons are cut 1 1/8in larger than the quilted collections. The backs are then joined using 1in seam allowances. If you look closely at the photo below you can see the large seam allowances.

The quilted collections are next placed into the backs with the frames being the same colour as the backing and the extra backing fabric is folded over onto the front covering the outer edges of the collection. A small hem is folded and the extra backing fabric is folded over to meet where the outer border of the collection is joined to the collection centre. I made the picture larger so hopefully you can see her pins holding the backing in place on the front. Using the same colour backing as the frame means it is impossible to tell that you are looking at the back fabric framing all of the collections. 

Quite a clever bunny isn't she!

Quilting Extravaganza Suggestions

When I first mentioned the possibility of a quilting extravaganza several people posted their suggestions in the QDU forum so I have collected and posted these below.

Jacy Wong wrote 

The only thing to do is practice, both totally free and along a pre-drawn pattern (use a blue wash-out pencil or something of the sort). Gloves with rubber studs on the fingers and palms are a help. Jacqy Wong

Rosemary from Marrar wrote

I like this young lady's techniques and tips.  I've watched a number of her U Tube videos and my kids bought me one of her DVDs for Christmas last year.  It's great to watch it in the sewing room while I practise her tips.

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=leah+day

Susan Korrel suggested 

I found this blog, which looks like it might have good patterns and advice.

http://afewscraps.blogspot.com.au/p/free-motion-quilting.html

Helen Ducker suggests

I have been following Leah Day since the beginning of her 365 day challenge to invent a new FMQ pattern each day. Of course life got in the way and it took her more than one year to do it, but she did it  - and more - far more.

All her patterns and how to videos are available for free on her website. But I wanted to be able to print them out, so I have been collecting them on a series of Word.docs. As I use them, I draw them out many times first until my hand know what it is supposed to do  ... then I go to scrap sandwiches and have a go with the machine.   They are hardly ever right first time, but as I practice the pattern seems to develop my own personal quirks and suddenly it feels right (even if it looks nothing like hers)

This year I bought her book of patterns - and I LOVE it - but you don't have to.

Christine Cameli from

http://afewscraps.blogspot.com.au/p/free-motion-quilting.html

is doing what I did when I was beginning FMQ - develop a series of "Things on Strings" that are simple to remember AND to quilt. For complete beginners, her patterns might be more friendly than some of Leah's.    Why ? Leah's patterns seem to have lots of spots where you need to go over the same line twice. This is great for learning how to develop absolute control, but its Very demoralising if you are just starting.

How did I learn ? I learned because I had a Desperate Need to draw winter trees with thread. [I'm an art quilter and we have these urges/needs to do strange things from time to time]  Winter trees have no leaves - so focus is on the trunk, branches and twigs.   I raged around going backwards and forwards on the trunks, layers and layers of thread and no one could see if the stitches were even or crossed - easy. Then branches I did the same but slower  and when I felt ready I slipped in some twigs - up and back - tricky.    Having raged with the trees I then had to put on a false back and quilt the background .....hmmmmmmmm     so I took a poem about silence and wrote the poem in thread the same colour as the background.   

Discovered the poem is a good lurk, as people always want to read the words which takes attention from the deficits in the tree quilting !!!

Have added a photograph of one of my trees on snow - though strangely not one with the writing - to our photos.    Aim was to get effect of shadows on the snow    - numerous attempts but was never quite happy with the effect.  BUT it did teach me not to be scared of using my bouncy free motion foot.

Hugz Helen from Hobart

PS The only way to really master it is to practise - 5-10 minutes a day will do it... and don't care too much about what it looks like  - the cat or dog will still sit on it and be happy.

Collection 26 - Where Did That Name Come From?

Collection 26	Have you ever stood on a bridge watching as petals float below in the flowing water? Isn't it the perfect way to spend those hours?	C26 Petals in the Stream
In Oxford Penny Lane is just down the road from where my son lives. Delightful name isn't it?	C26 Up or Down?	Up or Down? absolutely no idea where this name came from. It must have just felt right at the time.
C26 Penny Lane	Consternation I felt a triangular centre would be a good alternative but then unsure as it seemed unbalanced placed on the flat rather than on point	C26 Consternation
Debutante Ball... do you remember your first ball? How you felt everyone was watching as you and the other girls danced? It was fun and we were young.	C26 Castle Keeper	The old castles had a guard's post, known as a keep, at each corner whilst in the middle was the treasure.... the royals.
C26 Debutante Ball	Spring Blossoms, yes I realise that blossoms are usually pink or white and the surrounding sky is blue but this still seemed right when I named it.	C26 Spring Blossoms

FMQE Target

Well today is one day that I can fulfill all of the required steps for the FMQE.... listing my target for the next two/four weeks. Hopefully I can manage a fortnightly post. 

After reading all of the hints that were given through the QDU forum I have decided that I can manage ten minutes a day. I will set my target at seven days a week but will be happy with five. I started this quilt a few years ago and will work on it.

As I am in the process of making a wedding quilt for PJ and Khanam which will need a lot of ditch stitching I am going to practise free motion ditch stitching for these two weeks.

Anyone else want to join up simply click the click to enter button on the right to add your blog addy.

BOM 26 - Consternation

Consternation or concern ..... will I use it or discard it? When making this block and several others I didn't realise that the triangular middle would mean that the block would sit better on point. However in Raconteur the individual blocks are actually sitting flat. When I  first realised this I had already made about ten or so blocks as so had to decide replace them or leave them ...... I was feeling lazy at the time and so they remained.
The new BOM is uploaded on 2nd January here and remember to use the code BOM4me.

BOM 26 - Consternation

Consternation or concern..will I use it or discard it? When making this block and several others I didn't realise that the triangular middle would mean that the block would sit better on point. However in Raconteur the individual blocks are actually sitting flat. when I at first realised this I had already made about ten or so blocks as so had to decide replace them or leave them...... I was feeling lazy at the time and so they remained.

FMQE Group Photo Album

Rosemary has set up an album in the QDU website for anyone not having their own blog. Anyone can add their photos to the album as they complete their free motion quilting targets.

Click here to go directly to the FMQE photo album.

Oh just thought you need to be a member of QDU to access the photos and to post. If you're not yet a member you may participate through here but you will miss the chatter etc which comes through the yahoo group. A simple solution is to join QDU. I think this link will take you to the sign on page. If not then google yahoo groups and QuiltersDownUnder, all one word with no spaces, capitals are optional. It may take a day or two before you are approved as it is now the Xmas break so don't think you are being ignored.

FMQE

So what does FMQE stand for?
One of the online forums to which I belong is QDU, which is short for Quilters Down Under. This is a Aussie based quilting group on Yahoo. A few days ago talk came up about free motion quilting, so there you have the FMQ bit.

Well a few of us decided we couldn't continue ignoring FMQ in the hope that
1.  it would disappear, or
2. we would win lotto and so be able to afford  a long armer to complete all of our quilts or
3. even more unlikely than that lotto win was the possibility that one morning we would wake up and miraculously we'd be fantastic free motion quilters....definitely in everyone's dreams!

So in the hope of increasing the likelihood of option number three we have decided to join a FMQE, or a Free Motion Quilting Extravaganza. So how does it work.

There are a few things you  need to do .... do as few or as many of these as you wish.... It is totally your journey..... it's just a few of us want to tag along.

1. on the 1st and/or 15th of each month you decide what you want to do to help option 3 eventuate. It is only a target for what you wish to accomplish in the next two weeks or month.

2. Write a post on your blog saying what your target is. Set it up so it appears on the 1st and/or 15th of the month. If you don't have a blog you can always write your target in the comments or email them to me and I will post them here for you... hopefully also with some photos of your fantastic work.

3. Post a photo of what you have made of your previous targets in the post

4. In your blog post tell us what source you used so if people want to follow it up they can. If it was on the web plz provide a link to it.

5. Give any hints you've worked out to make it easy for the next person.

6. Add a link to your post in the widget box on my blog so others can quickly find your post. I will clear out old links a day or two before the next posting day. This gives people a central location for checking all of the FMQE. You can add the linky list to your blog by clicking on the blog hop link and copying the code.

7. Enjoy yourself...remember to improve you need to do a bit regularly .... Remember when you first started writing. You had to keep practising and thinking about it. Now it's automatic.

How easy is it to write your name......using your non-dominant hand ....... upside down......and back to front? I can manage the first three of those tasks without thinking but the last is not so easy.... I need to practise.

Hexagons Finished... Straight Begins

Well I know that the final border still needs attaching but thought you might like to see how Little Sister is going. 

This blue hexagon is the final hexagonal borders next one is where I straighten it out and make it into a rectangle. Hope that is easier in real life than on the computer. 

Funny some things the computer does quicker but it can't show me the real life colour version. 

I'm finding it interesting just how much I'm learning as I join the bits and pieces. Did you realise that it is easier to have diagonal joins rather than long straight joins? Neither did I til the third time round ... yes sometimes I am a slower learner. Mind you working out what goes where for the floaters is easier to do if I am planning on having straight joins. I suppose you can't have everything.

Mary sometimes good and other times?

OK so now you can see why I thought the previous pale blue border was OK. It makes a superb buffer between the two brown layers don't you agree. Well success and now to move along to the next blue border. Everyone likes success.

Mary Progressing

Well I have had a few busy days and am now totally fed up with making new borders. Well in truth it's not the making new borders that is the pain. It's the removing the original border which took several days to attach. It takes about three days to then sew on the new border. This is my third attempt at the brown border. It's a good thing that I like the individual flowers :-)

Anyway here is Mary with the second last hexagonal border., only one more to go and then it's onto the straight borders.

Mary Undecided?

Well it looks like Mary is one flighty lady with yet another change of outfit. Although this one looks quite drab in the digital world in real life it looks good. It was time for a success

Moving Along Again

So what has Mary Prince been doing lately? Not a lot as you can see. 

I finished the centre and then redid the first blue border changing the pale blue floaters for dark maroon and olive green. Although before attaching the blue border to the new middle I felt they were great floaters I'm no longer so sure of that. 

I wish I had remained with the scrappy look. This colour coordinated isn't as easy as it looks.

Collection 25 - Where Did That Name Come From?

Collection 25	It's so long since I made these blocks that some are hard to remember where the names came from..oops. Let's see how we go.	C25 Fairy on a Stick
Kimberley Gem - the name came from the diamond shape although I doubt very much that pink diamonds are found in that area.	C25 Kimberley Gem	Fairy on a Stick - doesn't the ring of triangles remind you of the windmill behind the fairies on a stick we used to treasure from our country shows.
C25 Occidental	The fabrics in Occidental simply suggested the name here. Just like the sparrows in your garden those in Sparrow's Flight too are going every which way but straight.	C25 Sparrow's Flight Too
Space Invaders - do you remember those table top machines with all of the little aliens marching along as you spent an absolute fortune trying to shoot them?	C25 Kanuka	Kanuka - I have absolutely no idea on this one. The word means nothing to me. Nice colours though.
C25 Space Invaders	Well the yellow bubbles reminded me of the dried bushes that fly through the desert and the pointed arrows of windmill arms in Windmills of Dust.	C25 Windmills of Dust

BOM 25 - Space Invaders

Space Invaders that mindless game that stole many hours from me. I loved this game and played it incessantly when I had time to fill, in a place I didn't want to be.

Paul wondered why I was so good at it when we met :-)

BOM 25 - Space Invaders

Space Invaders that mindless game that stole many hours from me. I loved this game and played it incessantly when I had time to fill in a place I didn't want to be

Paul wondered why I was so good at it when we met :)

New Middle Completed

Well here it is the latest middle. I know you will probably find this easy to believe but I did actually make up both of the middles from my previous post and neither was quite right. A few more trials... oh if only the sewing could be as qick as the photographing... mind you I don't always have a charged camera with which to take a photo so you have missed out on seeing several of my trials. I think I have more time than sense as they say.

I bet if I went up to a 50c piece it would dominate the photograph.

The Joys of Plane Trips

Well have finally returned from Houston. Fantastic quilt show and a definite must if you ever have the opportunity. Will upload some photos when I get the chance but tonight just thought I would tell you abut our flight home.

Paul had figured that two days would be enough and so we flew into Houston Wednesday evening, spent two days at the show and then went off on a cruise around the Caribbean. If you ever want to pick up a cheap cruise leave your booking until a week before it departs.. we scored over 80% discount which isn't to be sneezed at.

At the end of the cruise all that was left was the long haul flight home. Paul has these over to counter antihistamines which they say sometimes may make one drowsy. Well they totally zonk me out. Anyway as we had to fly from LA to Sydney I decided that I may as well have one and get some sleep. 

Don't know how long I'd been asleep but I semi woke up when I tried to get a 'comfortable' position. Lights are all on rather than dimmed as per usual but I think little of this and go back to sleep. I repeat this again sometime later and as I move Paul tells me that we are going to have an emergency landing. 

As I roll over I think, 'Thanks, just what I want to know when I can't swim. We are going down and I'm going to drown!' I then promptly fall asleep again. I told you these tablets are lethal. 

Sometime later I again wake as I roll over, plane seats in economy have never been known for their comfort. Paul says we have landed in Hawaii. This wasn't on our flight plan last time I'd looked but I figured at least I hadn't had to swim. I roll over and go back to sleep.

Well after we arrive back in Sydney, two hours late but alive and not wet, I complain to Paul about his unsettling news. 'Like how was I expected to get decent sleep with the thought that the plane was going down in the middle of the Pacific.'

He doesn't believe the bit about not getting any sleep as I managed to sleep almost the entire 18 hour flight... it was supposed to be 14 hour flight. 

As it turned out there had been a medical emergency. Announcements had been made regularly over the intercom, first asking for any doctor on board and then informing passengers of the emergency and need for the diversion.  This forced them to divert to Hawaii where paramedics came racing down the plane and carried this little old lady out. She was seated about five rows in front of us.

After which we had to wait for the plane to be refuelled and then continued to Australia.

I'd missed the whole thing. Instead I had the occasional thought that perhaps it wouldn't hurt if I knew what part of the plane was on fire or had fallen off... in between sleeping that is :-)

The joys of flying.

Another Day...another colour change.

	As they say another day another colour change. I have decided that perhaps my problem lies in the middle of my block so am trying some new middles.  Hey I have already redone both the first blue and first brown border three times so it's time to try changing the middle. Boy am I glad this is only a miniature!
Anyway which one do you prefer?  In real life they look quite different to this digital image but sorry that is all you will see as even if you lived nearby the chances are quite high that I will have changed it before you could drive over to have a real look :)