2016 Ultimate FMQ Challenge, Part 2, Quilt Shop Gal

It's been over a year since I've posted here. A lot has happened, most of it not at all related to quilting. I did get very involved in my local guild's quilt show in October 2015, which took up a lot of time. My first grandchild was born... I did make a quilt for him along with sewing several other things. But somehow, I just never found time to post anything.

When I saw a new FMQ Challenge from Darlene at Quilt Shop Gal, I really wanted to join in. Darlene and Cindy Needham got me started on this journey. You see, the first time I ever got up the courage to lower my feed dogs and attempt FMQ was in a Cindy Needham's Thread Bar Workshop. It might have ended there if it hadn't been for Darlene's first FMQ Challenge. It was a very slow journey for me, but I have come a long way, and now love FMQ. I'm just a little rusty, as I haven't been quilting so much lately. So I really wanted to jump in again and learn to use Cindy Needham's Ultimate Stencils.

Time was still scarce, though, and I've been spending most of my time on piecing, so I decided to do the drawing challenge (part 2), and try to do a mini quilt for part 3. Well, I did do a couple of drawings (in pencil) and prepared a mini, but today is the last day for the challenge and the mini isn't finished. So this is my part 2 (drawing) entry.

I did 2 drawings using the Ultimate Stencils and Background Stencils.

This was done first with the square Ultimate Stencil to set the square within a square. I used the circular version to add the arcs. The backgrounds use the background stencils. The feathers and other embellishments were then drawn in freehand.

The second drawing was a bit different.

Again, I used both of the Ultimate Stencils - square and circular, and the background stencils along with some freehand embellishment. I really liked using the stencils. There are diagonal, horizontal, and vertical marks to help you orient your design on the cloth or page and they make it easy to combine both stencils in one design. They also help you line up the background stencils. It's an easy to use system. I like to use the stencils as a starting point, then doodle in more details to add complexity.

I'm also going to show you my unfinished mini quilt, as I did use the stencils for the design. Here's a photo of the way I used the background stencil.

This is a very old handkerchief that I have had since I was in grade school. I decided to draw a poinsettia in the center, then use the background stencil to add some interest. I taped the handkerchief to the table, then aligned the stencil and taped it in place on the cloth. (I use blue painter's tape for this.) I then used my Sewline pencil to draw the lines for the background. I then removed the stencil and connected the lines to complete the background. I then take up the handkerchief and spray baste it to a background, in this case a fat quarter of red Kaufman Radiance. (Ooooh, shiny!)

I don't usually mark the embellishment lines - I just add them when I'm quilting. I'm not finished yet, but this is what I've done so far.

I think the central poinsettia needs more color. I'm thinking of using several colors of red and green threads to do some thread painting there. I do like the way the background has turned out, and the stencil made it really easy. The poinsettias in the border need a little more detail in the quilting, I think. And of course, I need to do some more quilting in the outer border. I'm thinking feathers and maybe a background grid. The handkerchief wasn't anywhere near square or even straight, so I'm thinking I need to de-emphasize the outline somehow. Not sure how just yet.

I am linking this up to Quilt Shop Gal's Ultimate FMQ Challenge. Thank you, Darlene, for setting this challenge and getting me back to quilting. And thank you, Cindy, for the wonderful stencils. I will be using them a lot more often.

April Entry - Quilt Shop Gal's FMQ Challenge

Time for the April entry in Darlene at Quilt Shop Gal's FMQ Challenge.

This month the expert was Christina Cameli. I chose to do Option 1 of the Challenge, using designs from Christina's Craftsy Class, The Secrets of Free Motion Quilting. 

Option 1 Pillow, April 2015 FMQ Challenge

The course was a lot of fun; I learned a lot about the ways designs are made and how that affects the way they fill the space. There were a lot of choices for designs to use. Christina groups the designs into families by the method to produce them. I chose to use designs from three of the families: nestled designs (pebbling), beads on a string, and the echo around family. Each of the families builds in a different way, and recognizing that helps you figure out where to go next. Since that's one of my big challenges with FMQ, I found this course very helpful, I have gone back to review the designs as I worked. It also helps you deconstruct other FMQ designs you see so that you can reproduce them or come up with new ones. Very informative!

  Here are the examples of the designs I used.

Nestled Design Family
Several styles of pebbling

Echo Around Family

Beads On A String Family

Be sure to check out the other April entries at Quilt Shop Gal. They're always fantastic.  And you can click through from her page to Craftsy. It is really worth looking at, if you haven't before.  I would highly recommend Craftsy courses in general, and Christina Cameli's course, The Secrets of Free Motion Quilting.

Have fun quilting. I'll see you next month!