Sunday, September 30, 2012

An Embarrassment of Stitches

 September has been a busy month, so I haven't had a lot of time to devote to the Free Motion Challenge.  I did a little practicing last week and today I spent a few hours working on the challenge from this month's teacher, Paula Reid.   And it was indeed a challenge!  Following a pattern is not easy, and this circular feather required a lot of backtracking too.  I didn't even contemplate filling the center or the outside areas--I was too focused on the feather and the corners.
 

I really missed having arrows on the pattern to indicate the order of quilting, so I looked at some YouTube videos and searched for other similar motifs to see how to move from one area to the next.  Quite frankly, I didn't find much help.  The hardest part was moving from one corner to the next.






Finally I gave up on the corner motifs and concentrated on the feather circle.  Better.  Not perfect, but better.
  
 


But after nine months of challenges, I am much more comfortable free motion quilting;  my stitches are getting more consistent, lines are getting smoother.  And I have learned that frequent practice is important. 

Tomorrow is Straighten Up the Sewing Room Day.  And after that, more FMQ!

Thank you Paula Reid.  And thank you, SewCalGal!


3 comments:

  1. Your feather wreath is looking really good. Bravo well done!

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  2. Wow! your practice is going so well, you don't need a class with Bethany.
    Maybe I should take a class with you!!

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  3. I love your blocks your doing amazing! I am so impressed!!!!
    what kind of a machine do you have????
    this is a goal of mine to learn how to machine quilt better.
    thanks for sharing its inspiring.
    Kathie

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