Mar
05
13
My time to FMQ over the last couple of months has been very fragmented but I got some really nice blocks of time to quilt last week and it really made me fall in love again with FMQ! I’m still plugging away on that blue floral quilt and I wanted to do something different in the centers of the large 4-patch blocks. I began by tracing arcs in the center sections like this:
…and then I used a different edge to trace an inner arc inside each melon shape:
I then stitched the traced lines in a light orange thread:
In truth, I’m not wildly happy with these stitched lines (notice the wobbliness, especially in the bottom lines) but that will come with more practice. I’m not so great at following traced lines and I clearly need some work! Next up, I filled the horizontal internal mellon shapes with an undulating inch worm-kind of design:
…and then I added the same design in the vertical internal melons:
I was really wanting to quilt that narrow yellow border, so I did that section next. Look at the cool texture it created:
Here’s a closeup of that yellow border design. It looks complex but is very quick/easy to do. You stitch that undulating inch worm design in one direction and then just turn around and stitch it in the opposite direction:
And last but not least, I went in and did a background fill design inside the large blue blocks. (I had done all the stitch in the ditch quilting and stitching around the perimeter of the applique shapes before I did anything else.) You can see the marvelous texture developing here:
These pictures don’t do the colors of the quilt justice as I had to shoot them all without lighting in order to show the texture. All I can say is that I am really liking this quilt better the more time I’m spending with it!
Sooooo, you may be wondering what this exciting news is….I had told myself that I wouldn’t put anything about this on my blog until it was all ready to go, but Nikki, Ernie and I have been busy creating a really nice classroom at PTD headquarters! It’s taking longer than planned because we keep moving things around and we’re still moving things! It’s become such an incredible space to learn, be inspired by color/shape/design whatever, that I can’t keep this secret any longer! I am promising myself to snap some pictures this week, even though it may get re-arranged again! For now, know that this will be a wonderfully comfortable space to learn/be stimulated/meet quilting buddies and we will hopefully begin classes next month. If you’re anywhere near northwest OH, please think of spending some time with us. Pictures to follow, hopefully by the end of the week…
canada meds
Filed under Machine Embroidered Applique.
Oh shucks, I don’t think I can convince my hubby to move to OH. Lovely work, Patsy.
I can always spot your quilts from a mile away! This is just lovely.
I have been waiting for to schedule a vacation and going to NW Ohio to quilt with you couldn’t be more perfect! Can’t wait to see your schedule.
Patsy,
I live in Arizona, but my mom lives very close to where you are located. I hope that next time I am “back home” that I can stop by and maybe take a class while I am there!
~June in AZ
What exciting news. I really would love to stop by, but I live in Virginia. Oh well, maybe some day. Still, I love to hear about this. Good wishes for your new classroom adventure. Lovely quilting, by the way.