Free Motion Quilting -- aka Drawing with a Sewing Machine

Okay, so where've I been this past month?  Truth is, I've been sewing nearly every single day.  Which has been awesome, even if it's only 10 or 15 minutes.  Some days, I've only had time to put the quilt markings on one square of the quilt (I'm doing straight parallel lines for my current quilt and I can't freehand them good enough to satisfy my perfectionist tendencies), and other days I've only had the time to stitch a single square of that quilt, and still other times, I've been able to mark and stitch and mark and stitch for hours at a time.  I'm not going to show the quilt I'm working on just yet.  I'll wait until it's finished.  But I will show you some of my practice squares. 

I was so excited when I first started free motion quilting.  It's like drawing with a sewing machine.  A little tricky to get the hang of, but such a fun process.  I like leaves, and flowers, and vines as decorative patterns and FMQ seems to be perfectly suited to just such artwork.  If I can get the hang of it.

My first try at feathers was a total disaster.  Just couldn't quite visualize what I wanted to do and translate that to the fabric.

My second try was little better.  They look more like ferns or leaves than feathers.  I spent a little time drawing with paper and pencil and I just couldn't get it. 

Then I spent some time looking at pictures and videos and finally it all clicked.  I suddenly, in a flash of insight, knew exactly what I'd been doing wrong.  I'd had leaves on the brain.  Or maybe my head is just stuffed with dried leaves.

I felt positively silly that it had taken me so long to figure it out.

I tried it with contrasting thread, too, so all the mistakes would show in glowing detail.

So, do I feel confident with my ability to FMQ feathers?  Nope. Ask me again in about two dozen more practice squares.  But I see hope on the horizon, and that's enough for me.

I did discover ( I love YouTube) a clever way to stitch all those practice squares together.  They're not exactly pretty, and the colors and patterns definitely don't go together, but it's such a shame to waste all that time and work and fabric and batting.  I think it'll make a fine quilt for keeping in the car trunk or using to move furniture or whatever.

I got this technique from Leah Day's You Tube tutorial  on joining quilt squares.

So, after I've showed you all my lame attempts at feathers, let me say that I love stippling and expect to use it often in the future. I could do this forever and not get tired of it.

This is a sneak peak at my current project.  The fabric is 108" wide backing fabric from JoAnn's.  I never used to like paisley, but when it's done in neutral tones like this, I really, really like it.  I got the blue, too, for a blue and white Crow's Feet (or Bear Paw) quilt that I have in my project list.  Which comes after the black/gray/white Irish Chain that is next up.

Yes, that's right.  I have my next two quilts planned even before I've finished the last one.  Daughter wants to help sew the squares on the next one which is why I chose Irish Chain, for it's delightful lack of bias seams.  But before that, or maybe concurrently, I want to join the PatternReview.com Fitted Blouse Contest.  Because I've had this great idea for shaping a blouse without darts for about six months now and no motivation to try it -- until now.