Saturday, October 27, 2012

October's FMQ Challenge



October's almost over!  I'm getting prepared for the Frankenstorm aka Sandy to hit between Sunday and Wednesday, so I need to get this post filed before, in case I lose power.  This is the 10th month of the FMQ challenge, and I can see real progress in my stitching and in my comfort zone, as well as the challenge of new designs. 

This month, Teri Lucas encouraged us to play.  Change the fabric, batting, threads, and spacial designs. 

So, I gathered some purple satin, and some polyester batting, layered that over some muslin and cotton batting, and grabbed an assortment of threads, including King Tut by Superior, and Aurifil 40wt and 50wt.  I used my regular quilting needle.  I was a little afraid of what would happen to the satin, but it was really cool to use.  I could see the thread easily (picked contrasting colors) and the shine of the fabric made it easier to stitch.  The biggest challenge was drawing some designs.  My usual favorite SewLine pencils didn't work well on satin, although I've used them to mark sewing dots on the wrong side and they work well for that.  I ended up finding a chalk pencil that gave enough of a mark for me to plan. 

So, I stitched my name, swirled, added a feather, some shells (really cool! New design for me, and I loved making them), and tried that sweet concentric circle thing (need way more practice) and some scrolls.  Added a few pebbles for traveling and filling in.  I played!  It was fun.  It didn't take long, but gave me some ideas for other designs and quilts.  It inspired me.  Sometimes finding inspiration is difficult, and we get stuck (like writer's block, only for quilters.)  This was a great challenge because it offered a chance to play. 

 
 
So, thanks again SewCal Gal and Teri!  This was wonderful! 

No comments: