Leaving it to the Last Minute...

I am not usually a person to leave things to the last  minute but spring is in the air and March flew by so quickly. As I looked at the calendar this morning I realized  it was the last day to get my FMQ challenge done and posted. I had lots of inspiration this month. I was flipping through some old Fons and Porter magazines and noticed that there are lots of ideas for free motion quilting and a section devoted to it! What a great resource...

This month was all about playing with the thread and the design and learning from that play. I used Mettler Quilting thread for this sample but I tried 3 different bobbin threads. What a great way to learn to play with your tension. Every bobbin thread needed some adjustment.

I really just let myself go. I  loved the spirals that I did. They were easy and so much fun. I think they will become a regular design for me. Thanks Ann Fahl for the great tutorial and inspiration.

I also discovered that I really like flowers. I tried lots of different ones and I think I will have to play a bit with a sketch pad. And of course you can't have a flower without a leaf or two, so I had better practice with those too.

Here is another section of the quilting I had fun with- just simple stars and loops.

I often do quilting that isn't really tight together so I played a bit with that as well. I found the smaller designs I will need to practice a bit because I needed to change my speed of the machine a bit to get slightly smaller stitches. 

This is such a great challenge!

Happy Stitching!

It's Time for Bed!

I love my ugly bed socks! Not everyone thinks they are ugly though...my Dad said they weren't that bad. I wondered, "If they fit him, would I have to fight him for them?" Luckily his feet are slightly larger than my big feet so I didn't have to worry about that!

The best thing is they slip off really easily so they are perfect for sleeping.

I have also been busy sewing my Wild Goose Chase blocks.

5 more done...

I am up to 13 blocks- that is more than 1/2 done (not including the sashing).

I have been using one of my favourite gadgets for this project- a sandpaper board.

While I am marking my lines, it helps to keep the fabric from moving.

 My Dad made this one for me. Pretty great Dad, eh?

Maybe I'll be making a pair of socks for him next!

Happy Stitching!

Still Quilting...

My hexagons are slowly getting quilted but I find I have spent so many hours working on it already that I can only quilt for an hour and a half or so and I need to do something else.

So I have a couple of something else's I have been doing.

First I finished another pair of socks. Can a person have too many hand knit socks? These were the Spring Forward socks from the Summer 2008 Knitty. And yes, I did make 2 of them!

When I finished them I went into my yarn box and discovered many small scrap balls of sock yarn. I have been wanting to make another pair of bed socks so what better to use...

And here is the first ugly sock all done and the next sock started. They are going to be easy to take off in the middle of the night when my feet get too hot! And the best thing is that I'll only see how ugly they are when I put them on.

And yes, I needed to start a new quilt. I had been eyeing this Wild Geese Quilt from the Bloomin Workshop and then saw a couple similar quilts in a magazine and online somewhere (of course I couldn't find it again!). I figured it was meant to be! I love the setting. The wild goose chase block is so often set on the diagonal and that's ok too, but I really like this setting.

So far 8 blocks are done - many geese left to make including all the sashing!

And 2 are on my little design wall that is behind my sewing machine.

I'll be making 25 blocks set 5x5 and it is going to be perfect on my bed!

While I am asking questions, how many bed quilts is too many? Is it ok to make one for every month?

Happy Stitching!

A Little of This...a Little of That...

It's been a while! Now that my quilt is in the quilting frame most of my free time has been devoted to big stitching it! So far, I'm loving it!

I'm using 1/4" masking tape and quilting just beside it on each side. It is coming along slowly, but it is a satisfying process. The downside is that I don't have much else to show!

This weekend I did go to my local quilting retreat. Remember those hand dyed fabrics from long ago? Well I used them all up this weekend sewing log cabin blocks.

There are 2 of each color combination. I had 30 colors in all. My mission for the weekend was to piece all 30 blocks and I did! Yeah!

It will take me some time to figure out the best way to lay them out, but that is the fun part!

I wasn't very smart this weekend though because I forgot all about my camera until I was home and there was lots of show and tell! Next time...

Thanks ladies for the fun and productive weekend.

Some of you may have noticed I didn't get around to doing the Free Motion Quilting Challenge this month. I'm afraid that for part of the month my sewing machine was behind boxes of my belongings while we put new flooring down in my bedroom.

It is so much nicer than the carpet that used to be there and so much easier to keep clean. My bedroom is just through a doorway from my sewing room and I had a lot of threads tracked in. Now a quick Swiffer and it's all clean! Well worth missing a Free Motion Quilting Challenge. I`ll make it up though!

Happy Stitching!