Wednesday, April 11, 2012

April Free Motion Quilting Challenge

Don Linn presented the Free Motion Quilting Challenge this month. I'm used to finishing my quilts by meandering and not following any sort of line. I was a bit nervous! I watched his tutorial which was mainly geared towards marking the pattern. I made this design twice. I encountered problems with my thread and needle the first time. The thread kept breaking and I noticed my needle looked sort of crooked. I changed the needle and everything became so much easier!

I used Fons and Porter fabric pencil to mark the design. It's just dark enough to see and very easy to remove. It practically removes itself while you sew it. I also used Aurifil Mako 50 weight and Bottom Line in the bobbin. I had no problems with tension at all. I would definitely use this method again. I was thinking of using this on the quilt I am machine quilting. I have the center all quilted but I now have 12 blocks left to quilt. It would be great if I could use this idea to finish up that quilt. I'll have to look through my book collection and internet for some patterns I would be able to use. It's so nice to add some variety to my machine quilting. This is exactly why I wanted to try this challenge. So grateful for SewCal Gal for making this available.

10 comments:

  1. Rosemary! You did an excellent job!!!

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  2. Hi Rosemary, Your April piece looks great. Bravo..well done!

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  3. That's such a pretty pattern - you're doing great!

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  4. Hi Rosemary! It's been interesting clicking through the people who have finished the April FMQ...they either love this technique or absolutely hate it! I for one really liked it as an easy method to transfer designs from paper. Your sample came out lovely!

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  5. Hello Rosemary! You did a great job with this month's FMQ technique. Thanks for all the additional information! I purchased bottom thread for a large quilt that I was going to quilt - just haven't gotten to it. Anyways, love your motif and Happy Quilting!

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  6. This is an awesome technique. I love it. You did a great job. It's beautiful.

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  7. Lovely! I've never heard of your bobbin thread before - can you please let us know where you purchased it?

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  8. @Mary Ann
    Superior Threads makes a very fine polyester thread called 'Bottom Line.' It can be used as the top thread, too, but it was originally designed for the bobbin. Sign up for Superior Threads' monthly newsletter ('from Mother Superior') to learn many new things about thread. Bottom Line comes in a lot of colors and it's terrific. My machines handle it well. (I also love Aurifil.)

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