Sunday, June 24, 2012

June's FMQ challenge



June's post by Cindy Needham was great!  Her idea is creative and fun, and you really get into your groove, what she calls the Hum-Purr of the machine.  I do really need to practice more, though.  I've been making other things this month, not doing as much quilting, so changing the foot and settings hasn't happened enough to improve my skills much.  Also, I usually use a Gypsy Fabric Gripper to help hold the fabric.  I had issues when I wanted to quilt right to the edge of something small, though.  I couldn't hold anything!  Everyone has been talking about Machinger's gloves, and I picked up a pair to try.  It does allow me to grip closer to the edge, but I really need to practice more, now, since I'm used to one version of the glide, and this is different.  I actually switched mid way through this sample.  Can you tell where??? lol

When I was a little girl, I loved coloring in the doodles.  I used to make a swirly scribble/doodle, and pick different colors for each section.  When I taught after-school daycare and my elementary classes, I used this trick, too.  It's a great time filler for students who finish early, or on rainy days when recess was inside.  I laughed when I saw Cindy's swirl, since it was so much like my old doodles! 

So, I grabbed an old piece of dusty rose fabric (probably poly/cotton broadcloth!) and some Warm & Natural batting scraps, and my dark brown Aurifil 50wt thread, and filled in the scribble with designs.  I drew a 1" graph area, too, and tried a variety of fills in each square.  As a practice, it was successful in some ways, but I laughed out loud when I goofed.  I'll just say I laughed quite a bit.  I may look worse because I really wanted the stitches to show.  When the thread coordinates better, I think I sew better.  Yeah, that's it!!  I'll stick with that idea!! ;)



I need more practice!!  I'm going to give my brain time to process this.  I did notice I was improving on backtracking, going over the same lines.  This will help me master feathers soon. 



2 comments:

QuiltinWayne said...

MaryEllen,, I do not think you did that badly... Gosh my first time was awful... Tried to write my name and it looked like I was back in Kindergarten... When I do free-motion quilting I wear a pair of Grabaroos Gloves and they are very comfortable... But they are a pain when snipped threads stick to them and you just can't get the little buggers in the trash without some effort... O Well You Can't Have Everything...

Quilting Babcia said...

Great job - and I especially love your flower on the left side. This month's challenge was really a Challenge but so worth it!