FREEMOTION ADVENTURE

Has anyone experienced good weather this weekend? Well for the most part it’s been horrible here in the UK. Some of our southern counties are still experiencing flooding and the rain is set to carry on for another few days…… Perhaps February will bring drier weather.

I’ve had pretty productive weekend. I did loads of planning and plenty of Freemotion Quilting. It’s been brilliant bringing my doodles to life by stitching it on fabric. I think I can honestly say that I have surprised myself with what I was able to produce. I have been working on a Freemotion Quilting Sampler which I hope to teach beginners and intermediate quilt makers who want to learn how to do Freemotion Quilting using the quilt as you go method. Here’s a little sneaky peek …..

The fabric and wadding just happens to be scraps leftover from bigger projects. I have loads of Wonderfil 50wt thread and here you can see the simple tools I work with……

Now earlier today Pam asked me what kind of sewing machine I use for Freemotion Quilting. Well the short answer is that I prefer my Bernina 550 and 750 for Freemotion Quilting. However I can do FMQ with any machine with a bit of a warm up. When it comes to Freemotion Quilting practice is always your best friend.

You might have noticed that in amongst my simple tools is a needle. It’s an easy thread needle which I use for sewing in any loose threads. You will notice in this next close-up shot that the top V of the needle is open making it super easy to thread. This makes it so easy to get the job done.

It’s been a great weekend in happy longarm quilter land. I really enjoyed my extended Freemotion Quilting sessions. I did a little bit of drawing related to the quilting designs which I stitched. Tomorrow it’s back to longarm quilting. I loaded a quilt on Friday ready to get started on Monday morning. So I’ll have a good rest tonight and tomorrow I hope to meet the longarm quilting challenge.

I have a wee bit of progress to report on my latest my December “A” is for Appliqué block. All the components are ready and just need to be joined together and that’s me finished. My January block is ready for fine hand stitching.

So for this evening, this very happy longarm quilter will be doing some drawing and appliqué work while watching Call the Midwife. I hope you all have a super cosy evening doing something fantastic. Until you read me again,

Happy stitching. ♥ ♥

Read Full Post »

A BIT OF DOWNTIME FOR HAPPY LONGARM QUILTER

It’s been another brilliant day in happy quilter land. I finished longarm quilting the job I started yesterday and loaded tomorrow’s. Tomorrow’s job is a custom job. I don’t, as a rule, do custom jobs because I simply don’t have the time to devote to it. The longarm quilting waiting list doesn’t seem to be getting any shorter for some reason!

Between doing chores and hitting the supermarket I did manage to have a little bit of downtime to do a wee bit of this.

I thoroughly enjoyed playing with this Free Motion Quilting design this afternoon. There are hundreds of Free Motion Quilting designs that I have yet to try out. The more I play with my Bernina 550 the happier I am with it. The BSR function is so very responsive. It makes the job a breeze. I am a very lucky girl to have such nice tools. So I’m going to make the most of them. I used Wonderfil thread today. And once again I didn’t have any problems with shredding or breaking at all.

So that’s my report for today. I feel the need to unwind like these two.

Sarah sat two GCSEs today so Maisie decided to help her unwind. Three exams down two more to go.

So for this evening, this happy longarm quilter will be adding the binding to the little piece of Free Motion Quilting done today. Whatever you may be doing, I hope you get the chance to play like me. Until you read me again,

Happy stitching.

Read Full Post »

ANOTHER UFO FINISH

My Japanese Woven Appliqué is finished now. In fact I finished it a few days ago but I didn’t get around to taking photos until now. I have named it My Simple Indulgence. It’s a really simple to make quilt but like everything other project my time is split between longarm quilting, looking after my family and quilt making. So that’s why it’s taken me such a long time to complete the job I started back in the summer. Needless to say I’m really pleased with the finished result. Now that I have had a really good play with these woven fabrics I won’t hesitate to make other things using it. I have enough scraps left over so I purchased a zipper to make a bag using these woven fabrics. I haven’t planned it yet and my first thought is to keep it simple again. So if you’re thinking about having a go at making a primitive appliqué quilt using these fabrics, I have to say I highly recommend it. I enjoyed making mine and now that it’s finished I’m really happy with it.

I read the Cinderberry Stitches blog regularly. The latest post includes Natalie Lymer’s little girl. Here’s the link: http://cinderberrystitches.typepad.com/cinderberrystitches/2012/01/step-by-step-guide-to-patchwork.html Have a look at this lovely post. I really enjoyed it but then I’m an old softy!

It’s been a busy day but I managed to do some Free Motion Quilting using my new Bernina 550QE. I really enjoyed quilting my Wiscasset table runner. I need to sew in my threads and bind the piece yet. This piece was quilted using quite a funky design. It’s a bit out of my comfort zone but I decided to put different designs together to see what could come of it.

For this evening, this happy longarm quilter will be making a couple of quilt labels to attach to my latest finishes. I can actually cross something else off my UFO list. Whatever you may be doing, I hope you feel as pleased with yourself as I do this evening. Until you read me again,

Happy stitching.

Read Full Post »

FLOWERS, JELLY ROLLS, UFOs AND EVERYTHING NICE

I’ve got something exciting to try out. As you all know I have dozens of little quilts that I want to Free Motion Quilt. Well I have funky style to try on a simple quilt top. It was made using scraps from a Jelly Roll project from last summer.

And I plan on using my new Bernina 550QE. I’ve had it since Christmas and apart from having a little test run on it I haven’t done anything else. That’s the trouble with concentrating on UFOs; you’re so set on finishing it that you don’t have time for anything else. Well now that I’m at the binding stage of my current UFO I will be able to play with other toys and projects. By the way have any of you made a list of UFOs you would like to finish in the next twelve months?

I had a lovely time this morning at my weekly morning sewing session at Just Quilting. I picked out the binding fabric for my current project and a gorgeous Jelly Roll by Blackbird Designs for Moda called Blueberry Crumb Cake.

This Jelly Roll is blue which I must admit my favourite colour for quilts but this blue is really rather nice. I’m going to save it for a simple block that shows off the fabrics such a simple log cabin variation with stitcheries in the centres. I have made one like not so long ago. I really didn’t need more fabrics but I thought I’d fill my boots while Blueberry Crumb Cake is still available. I’m a greedy girl but I promise to make something interesting with this Jelly Roll! ;o)

Yesterday I posted about the recently released Clover Flower Makers. Today I had a little test run. And this is the result. It looks pretty good to me and it was relatively easy to use. The instructions are quite clear and it’s enjoyable to watch the progress. So now I’m going to design a project that specifically uses these flowers. I’m really pleased with today’s effort.

It’s been a lovely good day. It feels really good to have been out amongst like-minded ladies. I look forward to doing it again next week but for this evening, this ambitious longarm quilter will be hand finishing the binding on a current UFO project. Whatever you may be doing, I hope it’s something relaxing and creative. Until you read me again,

Happy stitching.

Read Full Post »

ANYONE FOR A DARK BACKGROUND QUILT?

Well I think I will have a go at using a dark background. My plan is to make a quilt using a simple block such as the Dresden Plate or something as simple and appliqué it to a dark background and sashing. I think the dark fabric could be a mottled black. The Dresden Plate could be scrappy using whatever I have in the house. Here’s a diagram of what I have in mind. The background could also be a bright primary colour such as red for Valentine’s Day. The possibilities are endless. If anyone has any brilliant ideas please feel free to comment.

Now to continue my twelve days of Christmas; on the sixth day of Christmas my hubby gave to me a lovely scarf. And then on the seventh day of Christmas my hubby gave to a thumb ring. It’s been a very good year for silver. I’ll tell you about the eighth day next time.

It’s been another good productive day. I played with the longarm quilting system working on one of my own quilts which has been waiting for quilting for quite some time. I need to trim it to size and add the binding. I will post a photo when it’s done.

Tomorrow I’m hoping to do some Free Motion Quilting using my new Bernina 550QE sewing machine. I have a new FMQ tool to try out. I need some practice for the Free Motion Quilting workshops we will hold in the next few months. So for this evening, this ambitious happy longarm quilter will be trying to choose a block for the next new project using a dark background. Whatever you may be doing will hopefully reduce the UFOs on you To-Do List just like I’m doing. Until you read me again,

Happy stitching.

Read Full Post »

NEW YEAR HOPEFULLY NEW STUFF

Well I think I’ve got my feet well grounded in the New Year and I’m hopeful that I can entertain you with new stuff to participate in. There are a number of things I would like to do like perhaps another giveaway and some kind of a program we can all participate in together. I’m aiming to review new products arriving on the crafty market such as the new Go! Fabric Cutter dies which are released from time to time. I have a couple in my inventory ready to test; it’s just the time that’s missing to test them out. So I’m hoping to keep you amused with sewing tales from this happy longarm quilter.

I have been carrying on about the UFOs on my To-Do List which is growing daily, well here’s a link to a blog with just that in mind. http://sewitsfinished.blogspot.com/2012/01/take-two.html Go have a look and perhaps get some inspiration to finish your UFOs.

My plan for today was to work some more on my Japanese Woven Appliqué quilt and also load the next quilt in the longarm quilting system but the latter didn’t happen as the sashing work took a bit longer than I thought but the job is done now. I need to visit my local quilt shop to purchase some fabrics for inner and out borders, backing fabric and binding. Then I will be able to longarm quilt it. Speaking of longarm quilting, I bet you didn’t know that I have launched another blog covering just the longarm quilting side of my life. You can find it on my blogroll on the right of this page and just click on Maple Leaf Quilters Info Blog. There’s not much on it at the moment but I hope to post some interesting things sometime soon.

Now onto other things. Since I received a lovely Bernina 550QE sewing machine for Christmas I will be selling my Janome QXL605 which I purchased to take to workshops/classes. It’s a good little machine and I’ve had really good results using it but I need to de-clutter and make room for other things. After all how many sewing machines can I use at once? So if anyone, who lives in the Northeast of England is interested in purchasing a sewing machine for taking to workshops and such this is a great machine. This machine has very low mileage and just one careful owner. Please contact me if you would like more info.

So now to continue with the twelve days of Christmas; on the fifth day of Christmas my hubby gave to me a Ness teddy bear. I have named the bear Katie-Ness after my friend Kate of http://www.katesflossbox.blogspot.com/  Kate loves Ness stuff. I’ll tell you about the sixth day of Christmas next time.

For this evening, this ambitious happy longarm quilter will probably spend a couple more hours working on stitcheries again. Whatever you may be doing, I hope you’re also making progress on your UFOs. We can tally up finishes from our To-Do Lists later on in the year. Until you read me again,

Happy stitching.

Read Full Post »