My first August finish!

/ quiltinggail

This was a jelly roll mystery that we did at the guild.  I attempted to do Angela Walter’s “Swirl Chain” again.  (It’s a FMQ pattern that my cousin, Terry, recommended).  I tried, but in the end, I ended up doing my own thing.   But you know what? I’m totally fine with that and it’s DONE!!!  In the end, I like the echoed swirls and echoed teardrops – it gives it a nice texture.  (another UFO bites the dust!)

jelly-roll.jpg

Free Motion Quilting

When I first started FMQ, I had an ugly quilt – really really ugly and I used it to practice on.  It was great as I didn’t have to EVER take out a single stitch.  I could use any colour I wanted and I practiced away.  I still have that quilt … somewhere … and it could probably be re-purposed into absolutely nothing at all.

When I was with my sister last week, she mentioned that she wanted to start doing some FMQ.  I told her about my ugly quilt and how it was great to practice on.  She has only made one quilt and one bag – so she doesn’t have anything ugly.   THEN … I had a brilliant idea!  Oh yes … it’s brilliant!!  I have this super ugly quilt that I’ve sandwiched and attempted to quilt – but it’s ugly and I used the wrong colour of thread to boot!  And I don’t want to take the stitching out.  SEW …. I’m going to give it to my sister … she can hack it into 2 or 3 smaller quilts and practice her FMQ on it. And, sorry, it’s way too ugly to spend time taking a picture!

This is brilliant becauseImage result for cheesy smiley face

  1. It will give my sister something to practice on where it doesn’t matter if the quilting is bad, if a zillion eye-lashes appear on the back or whatever … a great practice piece
  2. This is the best part: I get rid of a UFO!  Sew, Lynn, I thank you very very much for taking a UFO off my hands!

Happy Quilting!
Gail

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18 thoughts on “My first August finish!”

  1. Pingback: Stash and Project Update | Quilting Gail

  5. Yay, a finish! Now you are one up on me. I have one close though.

    I think it is a great idea to pass off an ugly quilt to your sister for her to learn on. There is no way I would recommend for her to start on a quilt she loves. I messed up a ton when I started learning and picked a lot.

    Liked by 1 person

    • That’s OK … you’ll catch up~

      Practicing quilting on something that doesn’t matter makes it stress-free! And there is NO picking up or Unsewing or Ripping!!!

      Happy Quilting! 🙂

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  6. Hi Gail! Fabulous finish and a win/win with the quilt giveaway. Is it one on your UFO list? If so, that would be two ‘finishes’ for August. I hope Lynn sends you a picture when she is done practicing her FMQing on it! Happy Friday! ~smile~ Roseanne

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    • Ah Roseanne! I love your thinking …
      Both are on my UFO list … but unfortunately, I don’t consider a give-away as a finish … but it will decrease my overall UFO totals! And yes, that’s a win/win!!!
      If Lynn practices on the ugly like I did … a picture will make it even uglier! 🙂
      Happy Quilting! 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

  7. Ha! I wish I could see the ugly quilt too. Too ugly to even be worth a picture. Now, that’s ugly! So perfect that it’ll do for quilting practice, and that you have gotten rid of another UFO. Brilliant!

    Thanks for sharing this on Wednesday Wait Loss.

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  8. I think your fmq looks great Gail! Other people’s designs are just that – other people’s. And they are best borrowed for inspiration. Great job.
    As for the practising bit…I practise (still today) on scrap sandwiches. Left over trimmings from other quilts work well. I started off keeping them, thinking I would eventually put them into a reference book but that plan didn’t go far. Maybe someday…
    A couple of tips that I found helpful – leave the feed dogs up and set the stitch length to zero. I have fewer tension issues this way. And practise with paper and pen before the machine. My drawing never looks good, but somehow once the design is embedded in my head, it looks good on fabric.
    Good luck Gail and Lynn.
    Cheers
    Terry

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    • Thanks, Terry! You are so right! I have kept some of my little sandwiches from various classes. But I hardly look at them. However, a friend gave me a couple of fabric covered note books. I use one of them to jot down quilting ideas … it makes for a nice little reference and it’s easy to take when I go on retreats. However, I find that my quilting looks way way better than my drawings … and that’s OK – because that’s where I want it to look better!
      As for feed dogs … I leave them up when I forget to put them down. 🙂 I find that if the back is flannel, the quilt moves better with them down.
      I’m sure Lynn will do very well – you are a great inspiration for her!
      Happy Quilting, Cuz! 🙂

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  9. I don’t know why, but this quilt reminds me of a gingerbread house. Maybe I watched one too many Hallmark Chrismtas in July movies. I love the color combinations on this quilt.

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