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

Thursday, October 31, 2013

Bordering on Madness

aka  2013 FMQ Challenge #5
*Madness* because I have had several months to do this challenge but I left it to the last minute (always too many deadlines and things to sew-start-finish-dream about)
*Madness* because a tiny centre with many borders GROWS rather larger than you imagine
*Madness* resulting in the invention of a new mantra - say to self before doing ANYTHING - Think twice Sew once (actually it wasn't too bad but there was the occasional reverse sew at the corners)
*Madness* because it was a lot of fun
*Madness* because the moment I rinsed this out to remove the markings with the intention of hanging it in the 'gentle' breeze it started raining (yes, it was forecast and had been threatening all day)

It's all about Borders is the last challenge for me in the SewCalGal 2013 FMQ Challenge.
(These photos are all of a 'slightly damp' top - I guess it helps to show the stitching!!).
Design and make a quilt with 8-10 borders, all of them to be different. At least two of them need to be designs shared by Patsy Thompson in last year's border challenge
A few posts back I shared an EQ7 layout diagram of the quilt I was making for this challenge. I decided to make mine whole cloth style so I drew in all the borders before I got started.
I went back and studied the tutorial from last year. Patsy had used worms, spirals, loopy things and feathers. I saw/remembered how she had varied the motif size and style of each border so it contrasted with its neighbours.
I used these ideas and designs as a basis for my quilt.
In case you think you only see 7 borders, the first one is the Half Square
Triangles and worms around the central block.
My border widths went from 1'' through to 2" and the final border was 4". I inserted ½" 'empty' borders in between every second border. Of course these also increased the total size of the quilt so the last few borders seemed to take forever to get around!! The final size (at this stage) is 36" x 38". I may finish it off with some echo-ing around the outer feathers and then...??!
I also used this as an opportunity to try out some of Lori's tutorials; if you haven't visited her blog, you must, she has great quilting inspiration.
Here is the resulting top  —
The photos don't look very exciting sorry, I used a beige fabric which of course looks very washed out in the photos. But you get the idea at least.
So a final thankyou to SewCalGal for coming up with more fmq challenges for us this year. I have enjoyed extending my skills and using them in different ways.
Thank you for your visits and comments on my last few posts. My apologies to those of you who I haven't replied to or visited. I've been pretty focussed on getting this challenge completed. Normal transmission should return soon!
In the meantime,
Happy stitching,

23 comments:

  1. *Madness* because you are a little mad? :P
    just kidding, love you Mum..
    we can have sewing dates this summer :)

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  2. Wow, how amazing...great!!!!
    Hugs
    sigisart
    P.S.: please write me just a word, when something arrives from Germany...:-)))

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  3. You did an incredible job with the challenge! I am so impressed. Your feathers are lovely (do you draw and/or stitch the spine first?) and I see so many wonderful and well-executed designs here. Nicely done, Raewyn!!
    And thanks for the link to Lori's blog. I know I have been there before and been impressed, but for some unknown reason I failed to "follow" and I forgot about it. I am following now!!

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  4. your quilting is amazing and thanks for the link to Lori

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  5. fantastic... you have a good eye, very consistent in size and shape.... I hope I can achieve that too
    Hugz

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  6. Well, i am totally in awe of your cleverness. Looks amazing. All that playing and practising is certainly paying off. Well done my friend.x

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  7. I don't think the photos lack excitement with all that stitching! I like whole cloth quilts but have never gotten up the courage to try one.

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  8. Madness or not, your quilting is amazing!!! I've just had a look at some of Lori's tutorials and she makes it look simple, though I know it is not!! Sew inspiring....

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  9. Holy moly! Amazing quilt! Your borders ate perfectly quilted, and each one so unique. Congrats on meeting the challenge!

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  10. I've been reading your FMQ challenge posts and just been amazed at the results you have achieved. Often it is hard to imagine certain techniques or patterns being used in an actual quilt - and it's been great watching how you have approached each challenge.

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  11. I am in awe this is wonderful and so good to see close up photos too

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  12. You did really a great job with this.
    Love it thanks for the tip.
    I will try it too.

    Warm regards,
    Marga♥

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  13. Blimin' marvelous! I like your mini wholecloth, all the different designs creating different texures.

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  14. Wow Raewyn, that's amazing! You must feel very pleased with what you have accomplished.

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  15. Beautiful quilting and those hearts are awesome!!! I haven't seen that design before, love it!!!

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  16. Well done! You certainly used a variety of patterns.

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  17. Congratulations for Getting this done Raewyn... It may have been maddening for you but to me it looks spectacular ! Good for you... I also went back through your posts and your feathers in response to Joanne Threadhead's challenge was awesome! Just love your feathers! You go girl! Missed you while you were busy quilting... Hugs, Karen

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  18. Love this! Whole cloths are just the best. I'm hoping to have some time after the first of the year to sit down with my machine and experiment. I would love to be able to do this.

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  19. Well,your madness paid off because I see you won a prize for your fmq at sewcalgal. Congrats!

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  20. OMG Raewyn!!!
    That's incredible and so complex - exquisite stitching of the borders!
    You must have felt so proud when it finally all came together.

    I'm not good at numerous deadlines anymore - just can't take that stress - it's one thing at a time for me!

    I hope you're lounging around now with your feet up!

    hugs
    Shane

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