My quilting thoughts and inspirations sprinkled with a glimpse of life down on the farm

Friday, November 30, 2012

Meeting a challenge deadline...

...with my Freemotion Quilting - whew - here in New Zealand it is the end of the month so I had to get busy and complete this month's work for the SewCalGal's  FMQ challenge.
Sarah Vedeler was this month's tutor. Sewcalgal showed us some beautiful photos of her work, so once again, we were lucky to have instruction from such a talented quilter.
Sarah talked to us about doing spirals. We needed to do them inside boxes and I must say it was easier said than done!
Keeping them nice and even was an issue for me, maybe the 15 minutes practise a day all month that Sarah recommended wouldn't have gone amiss!

When I looked at it all later, I came to the conclusion that I lost the plot. I seem to get sidetracked when doing repetitive things....(there's more than just spirals in there!!)

Here are pictures of the finished piece. I did four of the one inch spirals in the centre...
...and a border of the two-inch spirals around the outside edge of the block. And to give distraction from the 'awkward moments' I echoed around the outside of each group of spirals, and stippled in the remaining space.

We are nearly at the end of this challenge and my sampler quilt is filling up nicely. I am still finishing one block from a few lessons ago. Here I'm combining both Cindy Needham and Terri Lucas's ideas in one of my large rectangular blocks. A work in progress (and having fun playing!).

A special thank you to both Sarah and SewCalGal for stretching me again:-)


Some of you may remember the fruity quilt I made for Dad a little while ago. I visited my parents last week and was so pleased to see the quilt in use.
And just outside in the orchard a few minutes ago, I realised the Feijoas are in flower. These are the flowers I was trying to mimic on the quilt.


I think that is more than enough chatting and showing for tonight. This post has ended up twice as long as I'd imagined!
I hope you all have a wonderfully creative weekend!
Happy sewing,

17 comments:

  1. I think you mimicked that flower perfectly and I am sure the quilt is comforting your dad in many ways.

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  2. Isn't it the greatest when you see a quilt you've made used and loved!

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  3. Congrats on your FMQ, I totally forgot mine from months...:(

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  4. I think your spirals went very well. Clever way to fill the block with them.
    Looks like Dad loves his quilt. : )
    Very nice transfer of flower to fabric. Not a flower I am familiar with--very pretty!

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  5. You did an awesome job of mimicking that flower. Beautiful! Your quilting is really good. What a great talent to have.

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  6. I laughed when I read "I came to the conclusion that I lost the plot. I seem to get sidetracked when doing repetitive things..."
    - mm I can relate to this.
    But I like what you have done.
    Glad your dad is enjoying his quilt. Hope he is doing ok.
    Love Leanne

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  7. It's funny that feijoas are such a NZ sort of fruit (like even Australians don't even seem to know what they are) - and yet we take them for granted. I noticed yesterday that I have some flowers on my little trees, and their blossoms are just so beautifully constructed. Great to see your dad's quilt fits perfectly - and I can see one of those plaid shirts poking out the top!

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  8. Loved seeing photo of your Dad and the quilt

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  9. Hello Reawyn,
    I´d just read alle your latest blogposts, it was a pleasure, thanks for sharing!
    Your fmq looks great, I didn´t had the time to practise last month, not good.... -the time is running so fast these days.
    Glad to see, that your daddy is using his quilt.
    Liebe Grüße to you from Germany
    Bente

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  10. Hey you did very well for someone that lost the plot and got sidetracked!! Great to see Dad with the quilt. Hugs Kerry

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  11. Your quilting looks super - and I am glad to see someone else gets sidetracked sometimes too....LOL

    Lovely to see your Dad enjoying his quilt.....

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  12. Hey - I just found you here... I love the feet :) Lovely quit too ....

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  13. Your quilting looks fantastic and I love your feijoa flowers. It's nice to see your quilted ones beside the real thing. Nice photo of your dad too.

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  14. Perfect free quilting,you`re good!
    Love your quilt covering your
    dad:-)

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  15. Your quilting looks very nice!
    Good your Dad is using your quilt, wonderful photo of him, too! What a sweet flower, you represented it good!
    Greetings, Cisca

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  16. Good for you keeping up with your FMQ homework. Well done! Quilts look even better when they are in use! You did a great job mimicking the flower - I knew what you were showing before I read your text.

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