I wish I had more progress to report on my WIP week, but everything always takes longer that it should. (Right?) At
least I have gained some focus.....I'll take it!
I hand quilted about 10 rectangles with perle cotton randomly in the background of this piece, then I started to machine quilt it with my free motion foot. I'm working on forgiving myself for a few wavy lines. (Yes, I'm tightly wound! I so wish I could change that.) Starting is always the hardest part! It's getting much easier as I go.
The mix of textures is super fun! I've been using my hera marker to mark each section, then I have been filling in the sections free hand (mostly) as I go. I have no big master plan, I'm just focusing on one section at a time, building upon the last one. With each section I get a little less nervous that I'm going to mess it up completely.
I do love challenging myself to try new things. This has been a fun experiment! I decided to quilt the inside pieces at the end, when I'm all warmed up. :)
Over the past few weeks (since quilt market) I've been spending a lot of time on the couch working on hand quilting. It's been a good distraction while trying to recover from this nasty cold. I've enjoyed hand quilting much more than I thought I ever would. What a nice surprise!
Even the back is looking pretty!
This quilt has been scrunched and bunched so much, it should be properly broken in when I get finished. I only have 49 stars left to hand quilt! (And then the borders, of course.) I thought this would be a good winter project, but it turns out to be a pretty good spring project instead. And I've decided that I'm going to actually USE this quilt. All. The. Time. :)
Up next, I think I'm going to work on
my orange quilt!
It's looking good, Amanda Jean! Love your machine stitching, too - wavy lines work!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful stitching! The fmq looks fabulous and I always think quilts look better when they are not completely perfect, it proves a machine didn't make them! The hand quilting is gorgeous too, the stars are so pretty :)
ReplyDeleteSuch beautiful quilting--both hand and machine.
ReplyDeletethat is actually what I should be doing right now--stitching! YOu spur me on to progress! Thanks!
ReplyDeleteYou have discovered the best part about hand quilting. It is sooo soothing!
ReplyDeleteStory! Mother and I were the first one there for our quilting group. We sit down opposite each other, looked into each others eyes and said, "If you don't talk to me, I won't talk to you." We spent about an hour before the others got there just quilting in silence. By the time the others got there we were both able to have a pleasant time with our group.
Love the therapeutic power of hand quilting!
Ooh, I love the texture in that quilt! You're so right, starting is always the hardest part. I think because there are so many darn possibilities, it's like it's hard to commit to one and rule the others out. Not to mention worrying it won't look right! Oh, but it looks awesome.
ReplyDeleteLove the variety of textures with your machine quilting! I wouldn't look at them as crooked lines, they are 'organic', right? ;) Both WIP's look great, keep up the awesome work!
ReplyDeleteLovely! Wish I had something to hand quilt, says the longarmmer! Seriously, need to create some hand work. TV is boring without it!
ReplyDeleteThe "imperfections" are what give the quilt its heart and soul.
ReplyDeleteYah for hand quilting... so glad you are enjoying it :)
ReplyDeleteI think you've made great progress! Thanks for giving us an update. I love the texture in your CF quilt as well as the stars with the hand quilting.
ReplyDeletethis is so cute! love all the variety of fabrics, and your hand quilting is beautiful.
ReplyDeleteI have something small to quilt and I'm frozen. That's why I like hanging out here. Your example always motivates me to just get busy.
ReplyDeleteLove the star quilt you are hand quilting. I am looking for a pattern like that, is this pattern on your site that is available?
ReplyDeletethanks Myra