Free Motion Quilting Day 9 of 14 - creating a little sun!

Today my goal was to completely free motion without any pre-set design.

YLI see-through clear in the top

Sulky 40W rayon sunny yellow variegated thread in bobbin

I chose fabric with a design I could follow, then chose to continue to add thread in circles and swirls, for a 'sunshine' effect.  

My batting was white felt which would be appropriately flat for a mug rug.

It is such a dark, gray morning here (rain and snow) that it was quite challenging to take photos.

Now you can see why I'd like to create a little sun :-)

Junior Prom

Prom is tonight for my DD!  Crossing my fingers that there won't be a blizzard, even though we are currently in a blizzard warning.

God bless the families across the southeast who have faced such terrible destructive tornadoes this past week.   

Sending lots of loving thoughts and prayers your way!

**************

My very first guest blogger Linda will be featured here on RocknQuilts on Monday, May 2nd  - she designs her own beautiful quilt patterns and sent me three for give-away, which will be held May 16th!  Don't forget to come back and get in on this give-away and a chance to get to know the designer!!

Linda from www.b-bumble.com

FMQ Challenge Day 8 of 14 with MUCH better results!

Sew much more success with the right threads!
YLI on top
Mettler silk finish in bobbin
90/14 needle
muslin and Warm & Natural batting
tension 2
Baby Lock Quest Plus machine
"Heirloom Machine Quilting" pattern from Harriet Hargrave

I am VERY happy with this result!!

Please tell me what you think...

Free Motion Quilting Techniques Day 7 - half way point!

I slowed down considerably today and experienced more success.

The back of my project, however, using the Prescenia 60/3 again in top & bottom, presented some tension issues in places.  Still not exactly sure why?  I used warm & natural batting and began in the center of the project, which provided more stability.

I like combining Harriet Hargrave's suggested patterns from her book "Heirloom Machine Quilting".

I plan on watch the free youtube video from Sharon Schamber.  Thanks to Joan from Australia and her post at the FMQ Challenge website here:  http://fmqchallenge.blogspot.com/2011/04/fmq-challenge-day-5.html

(You will see the Joan does really beautiful work!)

http://sharonschambernetwork.com/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=62HwbEdz37s

Where do you obtain your pantograms or quilting patterns?

Do you prefer to machine quilt, send out to a long-armer, mid-arm it yourself on a frame or quilt by hand?

Links to Quilt Patterns

Free Quilt Patterns - Thousands of free Quilt patterns, listed by pattern.

FreeQuilt - Hundreds of free Quilting patterns.

About Quilting - Free Quilting pattern resource with 100s of free Quilting patterns.

The Quilters Cache - Huge resource of thousands of free Quilting patterns.

All Crafts - Huge resource with tons of free Quilting patterns.

Craft Town - Hundreds of free Quilting patterns sorted by category.

Lions Craft - Register for free to get access to over 1,000 free Quilting patterns.

Victorian Patterns - Free original Quilting patterns, by designers.

Quilt Bus - Quilting pattern resource with 100's of free Quilting patterns.

Quilting Information - Thousands of Quilting blocks and patterns.

E Quilt Patterns - Free, Paid, and Out of Print Quilting patterns organized by category.

E Quilters - Huge resource full of free Quilting patterns.

McCallys Quilting - Free Quilting patterns for all skill levels.

Free Quilting Online - Large resource of free Quilting patterns for all types of Quilters.

Baby Quilts - Free Baby Quilt patterns for all Quilters.

Quilters Cache - Online database with thousands of free Quilting patterns.

Old South Quilting - Free Quilting patterns from the south, or inspired by the south.

Straw.com - Huge Quilting and crafts resource with large database.

Diane's Crafts - Amazing resource full of Quilting patterns.

Quilt Quarters - Nice database full of Quilting patterns.

Country Style - Large database of country themed Quilting patterns.

Quilt Town USA - Brilliant resource for all Quilters. allot of USA inspired patterns.

Fat Quarter Quilts - Awesome free Quilting patterns with tons of neat designs.

Quilting Works - Free Quilting patterns and instructions.

Crafting Freebies - Tons of free Quilting patterns.

Quilt Hawaii - Small resource of Hawaiian inspired Quilt designs.

Jinny Buyer Studios - Personal studio with tons of free Quilting designs.

Jeanes Quilting - Beautiful Quilting designs in a nice neat database.

Block Central - Terrific searchable Quilt database.

E Z Quilt - Huge resource for Quilts, in a categorized database.

Stitching Post - Nice resource for various free Quilting patterns.

Quilt.com - Huge Quilting resource with tons of free Quilting patterns.

Love to Know Crafts - Large Quilt database full of free patterns.

Effie Elements - Large searchable free Quilting resource.

Cloth Peddler - Small Quilting pattern database.

Latest Update (New Resources and Sites of Note):

Free Quilting Patterns 
NEW! PC Quilter Classroom in a BOX! Subscribe & Save! NEW - Pattern CDS. ORIGINAL QUILTING PATTERNS. FREE. Quilting Patterns. Area.
www.Quiltrecipes.com/freepatterns.htm

Free Quilting Patterns 
Free Quilting Patterns and Quilt Block Design originals Free Quilting Pattern Downloads! Click Image to download.irectory of sites that offer patterns.

www.freeQuiltpatterns.info

Free Quilters Nuggets
Quiwww.storesonline.com/site/1295880/page/532308

Free Quilt Patterns 

Dlting patterns, mystery Quilts, Quilting.
www.straw.com/Quilting

Free Patterns and/or Blocks 
Quick/Easy Projects by QP. Quilting Passion Patterns.
Quiltingpassion.com/freepats.html

Free Quilting Newsletter 
Free Quilting Newsletter. Always on the lookout for more tips, techniques, and patterns? hundreds of great Quilting resources and free patterns.
www.Quiltedparadise.com

EZ Quilting® - Patterns 
EZ Quilting offers many free Quilting patterns for you to enjoy. Free Patterns. Circle Dance (12 1/2" Square) Apple Core Table Runner (15" x 30") Heart Blocks.www.ezQuilt.com/patterns/patterns.htm

Quilters Holiday Gift Tags - About.com
Printable color holiday gift tags featuring Quilting designs.
Quilting.about.com/index.htm

Free Quilting patterns and blocks. 
Free Quilting patterns, blocks, Quilt projects, Quilting lessons, tips and resources available at Craftown. Learning Center. Free Patterns. Contribute. Links.www.craftown.com/Quilt.htm

FreePatterns.com
If you want free Quilting Patterns, FreePatterns.com is really one of the very best sites on the net. One of the best we've ever seen! You'll love this site. Free crochet, cross-stitch, Quilting, crafts, plastic canvas, and knitting patterns.
www.freepatterns.com

Free Quilting Patterns
Free Quilting Patterns, free crochet lessons, resources, tips and so much more at Craftown. Free Quilting Patterns.
www.craftown.com/crochet.htm

Simply Crochet: Free Quilting Patterns, Free Filet Crochet Charts & More!
Simply Crochet for hundreds of Free Quilting Patterns for every crochet easy free patterns. Browse Quilting Patterns for baby afghans, or free crochet afghan patterns for gifts.
www.simplycrochet.com

Free Quilting Patterns - Art of Tangle
Free Quilting Patterns by Art of Tangle until it's down to its last threads; remember it with fondness, then crochet it again. Free Quilting Patterns Free Quilting Patterns. Running Stitch Eyeglass Case. Free Quilting Patterns.
www.artoftangle.com/free_patterns.htm

Crochet Free Patterns and Filet Charts Plus How-To Tutorials
If you're looking for Free Quilting Patterns for those, this list can help Links to Free Quilting Patterns for various types of baskets, from mini size to large.
crochet.about.com

Free Quilting Patterns - Many to choose from 
Collection of beautiful crochet clothing and accessories. Buy a pattern or let us crochet for you. Here you can find free patterns for your private use However, you can post a link to them. I'll be adding new patterns whenever I crochet something new.
www.angelfire.com/art/bubamara/free/freepatterns.html

Free Quilting Patterns - Great list 
Comprehensive list of Free Quilting Patterns on the Internet.
www.afghansnmore.com/free-crochet-patterns

Free Original Patterns Designed by Guide Sandi Marshall
Free Quilting Patterns designed by Sandi Marshall, afghans, towel toppers, teddy bear outfits, sachet bag, charts for filet crochet and for cross-stitch, plus much more. Crochet. Free Original Quilting Patterns Designed by Sandi Marshall, Crochet Guide A - Z Links to Free Quilting Patterns Around the Web, From Crochet at About.com.
crochet.about.com/library/blfreepatts2.htm

Free Quilting Patterns, afghans, clothing and more from CrochetKim.com
Professional Quilting Pattern designer now offers Free Quilting Patterns directly to you. See all published works, specialty techniques of Tunisian crochet, broomstick lac you looking for great contemporary crochet designs? My website contains the contemporary crochet some complimentary Quilting Patterns. Please feel free to use these patterns.
http://www.crochetkim.com

Free Quilting Patterns - Grafton's 
Grafton Fibers. 60 Gib Lockerby Rd. Grafton, VT 05146. 802-843-1103. visit our studio: 37 Main Street. Saxtons River, VT 05154. 802-869-1880. open 10-2 tue-sat. Wednesday nights come in and spin, knit, crochet, etc 6-8 pm FREE counter and Web statistics from sitetracker.com - I use single crochet as I feel it makes a any pattern here.
www.graftonfibers.com/socks.htm

Crochet "N" More - Free Quilting Patterns & Free Newsletter 
Crochet 'N' More = Free Quilting Patterns, FREE Crochet Newsletter Subscription, Bible Trivia & More. Come in and Crochet a Spell.
www.crochetnmore.com/

Smart Crochet - Free Quilting Patterns 
Quilting Patterns to download, Free Quilting Patterns, filet crochet tutorial.
www.smartcrochet.com/

Free Quilting Patterns - Craft Town 
Free Quilting Patterns, free crochet lessons, resources, tips and so much more at Craftown.
www.craftown.com/crochet.htm

Free Quilting Patterns - free knitting patterns! 
Free easy Quilting Patterns and free knitting patterns for beginners or the experienced. Crochet poncho patterns, patterns for babies, table topper
www.craftfreebies.com/crochetandknitting.html

Bev's Country Cottage - Free Knitting & Quilting Patterns 
Free knitting, crochet and cross stitch patterns for projects to donate to various charities. Includes armed forces and projects for premature
www.bevscountrycottage.com/

Day 6 FMQ Challenge Results

Day six was very stiff at first with the small circular feathers to start; then better...practiced going left with l's and e's which, by the end was quite smooth.  This would be the perfect warm-up to do for 20 minutes before beginning a quilt.  Harriet Hargrave recommends a 20 minute warm-up on a practice piece before beginning the actual quilt.  That seems like a solid recommendation.

Prescencia thread 60w/3 ply top and bottom

muslin squares

warm & natural batting

tension set to 2

Baby Lock Quest Plus

The machine stopped part way through because the bobbin thread had a small knot!  This was the first time I'd ever had that experience.

The Aerofil Madeira used yesterday flowed more smoothly for quilting; whereas the Prescenia 60/3 is just wonderful for piecing.

Above is where the bobbin started acting up.

The following youtube video is one of the most uplifting stories I've ever heard before...it's about a quilter from Texas who is blind, but that doesn't stop her!  I found it while blog hopping today.  Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=7lfaSmDxVZQ

Free Motion Quilting Challenge Day 5 - real progress - I finished a quilt!

Real progress today I believe...

I relaxed...

I chose a larger project 16x17"

I switched to Aerofil Madeira thread in top and bottom to match the fabric

I used my open toe quilting foot

I didn't "fear" or "hesitate", I went forth with gusto - and did circles all over

because that's what I felt confident to do

Here it is - my very first ever machine quilted quilt!  Thank you for your encouragement everyone!!!

I actually LOVE the results on the back!

I feel very encouraged...both by my results and your comments and suggestions!

Thank you, FMQers!!

It's kind of funny that my Dachshund will receive the very first machine quilted quilt I ever made!!  :-)

Shhh...don't tell my kids, OK?

:-)

Then, I got so excited that I actually completed something, that I even pinned on the binding and plan to sew it on tonight!  Little Gunnar should have a lovely, warm place to sleep now.

I'm thinking about making the directions for this little quilt available to everyone for free...

but first I'd like to know if you or your friends might be interested if I went to the trouble of writing them up and creating a free PDF file link for downloading?

I used my Ellageo embroidery machine with Dakota Collectibles embroidery for the Dachshund design and his name.  I chose contrasting fabrics with stripes running in two directions equally around the dog in the center and this is done all in flannel.  

My next quilt is a larger, full size with a unique Jacob's Ladder top, also in flannel.

Please let me know if you're interested in these easy, quick quilt patterns - thank you!

What's a girl to do with a day off from work?

Had the day off today and my 80 year old Singer 99 was all fixed, oiled and ready to roll...

so, what's a girl to do?

Why, piece and quilt, of course!

After trying the first 48 HST called for in the April Civil War Chronicles BOM on Triangle Paper, I cut out the other 48 HST's with my AccuQuilt Go! with a little help from my DS...

(My apologies this is sideways!)

With the windows in the dining room and living room open, a slight breeze, sunshine warming my back, chain stitching was a pleasure!  The notches on the ends of each HST makes it EASY to create perfect HST's that are square right away.

Good 'ol Bessie (that's her name) was humming away!

I have my two piles of separate colors - the light upside down and the dark face up, laying the light on top of the dark, right sides together...

(Oops again!  This time, my DS's allowance is in the pic - sorry!)

Here's two sets of HST...can you tell which ones are AccuQuilt and which ones are Triangle Paper?

Look for curved, pointy edges and

look for notched edges....

Can you see the difference now?

Even though the triangle paper HST's went together faster initially, I now have to cut the notches off both edges - that's 98 cuts with a rotary cutter.  Normally, no problemo, right?  It is, unfortunately with an injured right thumb muscle like mine...so the AccuQuilt that are ready to go are my choice...it's on the right:

AccuQuilt HST result:

Here's how I press to get a good result, using Harriet Hargrave's advice:

Place the light color up and spray with starch (I'm using Mary Ellen's Best Press and Harriet Hargrave recommends Faultless Spray Starch)  I like to spray with my left hand to 'save' my right hand for other tasks.

With your left hand, pull the starched light colored fabric to the left while you press.  I use the German-made Rowenta iron.

Here are my AccuQuilt Go! HST's:

Here are the Triangle Paper HST's - they've no notches

and I've used cream thread so you can easily see the difference.

A bit curvy after having used the "pinch and pull" technique...

These are more challenging to press for me:

Oh, dear...this is a wonky one!

After trimming:

Now for our April Civil War Chronicles BOM...

Square in a square is challenging for me...I'm not sure why...flying geese are fine....?

The trick to it is to make sure the you open your first corner before placing the new 2 1/2" square down upon your darker 4 1/2" square....

I marked carefully with disappearing blue marker designed esp. for fabric...

I trimmed 1/4" carefully from the edge...

Short on one side and long on the other is my result...hmmmm....

Here's the other side...

and these are the pieces for the left side only of one of the eight blocks for this month...

I really love the colors of these fabrics being used together.

Best of all, Mother tried out the eighty year old Singer 99 today...and....

...she loved it!

She was able to repair my DS's rain jacket.

Nice Mom, eh?  :-)

She said it was just like her Grandma Block's Singer, except that this is electric and 

Grandma Block's was a treadle.  She was able to thread it and work the machine immediately - Mother said it was like riding a bike!  Once you've done it, you never forget!  :-)

Happy biking and sewing!!!

We appreciate all your comments and would love for you to take a peek at the 

newest recipe on our sister blog, 

http://rocknrecipes-rocknquilts.blogspot.com