As usual I had fallen behind with Leah Day's Free Motion Quilt Along homework.  I don't know how you people manage to get everything done each week.  I am flat out trying to do this homework together with practicing Sew Cal Gal's challenges that I barely have any time to work on any of my other projects in progress.
The Olympics has me hooked and I can't drag myself away from the tv screen long enough to concentrate on practicing my free motion quilting.  Mind you, my hand piecing project is getting a work out while I watch.

Anyway, on to Leah Day's homework.  This morning I managed to complete the last 2 weeks homework.
First I started with Bare Branches which is quite straight forward in concept but the actual doing is a little trickier.  I started on a large scale and as you can see I am not too adept at travel stitching.

I have to learn to go a bit slower when travel stitching.  I am still trying to get my rhythm and when I tried it on a smaller scale l had a bit more success.  I call these chicken feet as that was my mantra as I stitched this.

Next it was on to tree roots which is the same design but with curved  lines.  I really enjoyed doing this one, my brain is so much more comfortable with swirly rather than straight lines.  In this sample I purposely did lots of travelling to get as much practice as I could.  I feel as though I have got the concept, I just need to slow down more when travel stitching and concentrate a little more on filling the spaces.

Overall, I am moderately happy with the results.  I think using a high contrasting thread on plain fabric really highlights the "oopsies".  When using this design on a 'real' quilt I think it will blend so much better giving a more pleasing result.

So whilst London sleeps, I am off to get in some more free motion quilting practice.

Sue

I have been really pushed for time this month which left little opportunity to work on my free motion quilting challenges.  I managed to squeeze in an hour or two today but I am not particularly happy with my efforts. I can't blame the poor results on the lack of time though.

I have been doodling all month whenever I have found a few minutes and I was happy with the drawings so I went into Angela's tiles challenge thinking it would be relatively simple. I was very wrong - it was  deceptively difficult to stitch.  The concept is not hard but I found that I lost my way a few times and had difficulty working out of corners where I often seemed to be stuck.

I took the easy way out and did stippling in my tiles but even the stipples are not very good.  This is actually what has disappointed me the most.  I thought I was pretty good at stipples but today I couldn't get a smooth rhythm which resulted in 'jumpy' stipples and pretty inconsistent spacing.


I really love the tiles design and after a bit more practicing I can't wait to fill the negative spaces of my modern quilt with it.  I think that when it is quilted using white thread on a white background the design will be far more subtle and blend so much better than this practice piece done in contrasting thread.

I have ordered Angela Walters new book and I can't wait for it to arrive.  And although I use a domestic sewing machine, I have signed up for Angela's online Machine Quilting Negative Space class with Craftsy.
I know that by the time I am finished I will see a vast improvement in my skills which makes it a bit easier to swallow the disappointing entry I am submitting to Sew Cal Gal's Free Motion Quilt Challenge this month.

Thank you so much Sew Cal Gal and Angela Walters for your great tutorial this month.

Sue

This month I have decided to combine my homework for the Sew Cal Gal Free Motion Quilt Challenge and Leah Day's Free Motion Quilting Project.  Leah's homework was to make a modern quilt top on which we are creating a zentangle of different quilting designs.  This is very similar to last months Sew Cal Gal project which I loved doing.  This month's tutor at Sew Cal Gal is Angela Walters who is an amazing quilter and has made a name for herself in relation to modern quilts.  This month she is teaching us a quilting design she calls Tiles.  This design lends itself perfectly to modern quilts as it is a great way to fill the negative space with great texture.
So in keeping with the theme I have designed my own modern quilt top.  I chose to go a different way than what was suggested by Leah Day.  I was not comfortable with the wonky squares that she demonstrated.  So I sat down with graph paper and pencils and came up with a design I liked.

This is the finished product.

I think it will do the trick.  There is enough negative space for the Tiles design we have to practice this month as well as having other areas to practice the different quilting designs we have learned to date.

I have never done anything 'modern' before but I think I could be a convert.  It was really quick to piece and I loved not having to match lots of seams.   I found the whole thing quite liberating actually.

Now to start practicing the free motion quilting designs for a few weeks before I attempt them on the quilt top.

I finally made the time to complete my June piece for the Free Motion Quilt Challenge with Sew Cal Gal.  Whilst not exactly the same, my finished piece does slightly resemble my initial drawing and I am pleased with the overall result.  I found that once I got starting l got into a rhythm and it was quite addictive.  Whenever I thought I was about done, I found myself filling in another space with another design then the same again.
I definitely need to keep practicing as there are quite a few whoopsi's but they blend in with the overall result pretty well.

What did I learn this month?

1. relax and enjoy the process
2. it doesn't have to be perfect
3. free form feathers are awesome
4. circles/pebbles are the enemy!

Here is a picture of my very busy but finished piece and a couple of close ups.

Thank you Cindy Needham.  I had to really stretch myself this month but your comprehensive notes and encouragement made this so much more attainable.
I feel as though I have turned a corner.  Whilst my fmq is not perfect, I have achieved far more than I thought I was capable of doing and that fills me with confidence moving forward.

Bring on the next challenge.

Sue

As well as taking the free motion pledge at SewCalGal, I am following along with Leah Day's Free Motion Quilting Project (click here for details).  I am absolutely loving this project.  Leah has taken us back to the basics of free motion quilting and every week we learn a new skill to practice.  I have been a bit behind in the project but thanks to Leah having the month of May off, I have managed to catch up.

Last week we were focusing on straight lines and sharp points with a design called circuit board.  I thought this would be relatively easy but I was very mistaken!  I found the straight lines quite hard and really had to concentrate to stop myself from rounding the corners.  My practice sample leaves a lot to be desired. I was concentrating so hard on trying to get square corners and watching my stitch length that I forgot about spacing and scale.

This week we worked on loopy lines which was much more in my comfort zone.  The loops just seem to flow better for me and I feel relaxed when stitching this one.  I think I prefer a smaller spaced design although it would also look great on a larger scale meandering over a quilt top.  I have a couple of flimsy's ready to be sandwiched up so I just might be brave enough to try this design on one of those.

Thanks so much for this wonderful project Leah.  Your relaxed style of teaching means I do not feel at all intimidated and my confidence to try new designs is growing each week.

Sue

The primary reason I struggle to call myself a quilter is because of the actual quilting of a quilt.  I am a piecer but not so much a quilter.  I am terrified of doing anything other than the most basic (usually straight line) quilting for fear of ruining a quilt.  I mean we spend so much time, effort and money putting a quilt together, who wants to ruin it with below average quilting?

In an effort to get over my fears I have taken a pledge to complete the 12 Month Free Motion Quilting Challenge over at SewCalGal (click here for details).  Each month a quilting expert guides us with new ideas and challenges and it is up to us to practice, practice, practice.  So far I have thoroughly enjoyed the challenges and have been reasonably pleased with my efforts. I can definitely see improvement with my quilting skills and with it my confidence is growing.

This month's  tutorial came from Cindy Needham who is an amazing quilter.  I was intimidated as I drooled over her incredible and very intricate quilting but thought to myself that she too was once a beginner and I am sure her quilting was far from perfect when she first began.  Cindy has challenged us to divide and conquer and our first task was to just doodle a zentangle.  It took me a while to get the courage to start doodling but once I got going I found I couldn't stop. It is quite addictive and also very therapeutic!  It was so much fun and as I doodled I found my fears fading.  Here is a picture of what I have doodled so far.

I am quite happy with it but now it is time to take the plunge and have a go with fabric and thread.

Yesterday I said that I do not consider myself a “quilter”.

I thought about this a bit and realised that maybe I am a quilter after all.  What lead me to this realisation? Well I have to explain something about me.  I have always been very fastidious when it comes to my house and in particular the housework.

Everything always had to be orderly, pristine and perfect.  I couldn’t even stand a coaster that was not lined up evenly with the corner of the coffee table!  I was so ‘anal’ that I had housework lists on the fridge.  Monday – sweep & mop floors, Tuesday – dust & polish, Wednesday – clean bathrooms & scrub kitchen cupboards.  You get the gist.  I know I am crazy but I actually enjoy doing housework.  I put on my favourite music and bounce around doing what has to be done and I love the feeling of satisfaction when it’s finished.

But something has changed….the quilting bug has firmly taken hold and suddenly the housework doesn’t seem important anymore.  Don’t get me wrong, my house is not a bomb site (well most of the time its not) but it certainly is not a patch on the showroom status it once enjoyed.  For me to ignore a dusty mantelpiece or not to sweep a floor that has a few specs on it or heaven forbid leave a bed unmade is a big deal.  But I am slowly coming to the realisation that it doesn’t matter.  I can clean like a maniac and it still needs doing a day later.  So instead of cleaning everyday, I am content with once a week or (gasp) even a bit longer if it means I have more time to sew.

It’s simple really - I would rather spend time in my little sewing room than doing anything else.  I don’t even need to be sewing – just being surrounded by my (albeit small) fabric stash and quilts in progress sooths my soul.  In fact quite often I can be found in there just enjoying a glass of wine and staring out the window.  It is my space, my haven – no boys allowed!    I fuss about, flick through books and move things from one place to another just so that I have an excuse to touch and play with the fabrics.  My new found love affair with scrappy quilts (thank you Bonnie Hunter) has also been a revelation.  For someone who liked everything so perfect, matchy and symmetrical, the fact that I love the sometimes disorder, chaos and mismatchiness of scrappy quilts is enlightening.  They just look so warm and welcoming which is just how my house is beginning to look now that it is not as clinical as it once was. I owe it all to quilting and you people out there in blog land. 


Yesterday I posted my very first picture on Facebook asking for some advice on borders for a quilt I am doing. I couldn't believe that so many wonderful people took the time out of their day to share their thoughts.  I received so many positive and flattering comments and I am humbled to the core. I love this new found online quilting community I have stumbled across.  

What a defining moment this is for me.  My secret is out – I feel like I am in therapy or at a meeting admitting my addiction.

 “Hi, my name is Sue and maybe, just maybe I am a quilter.”