Sew Cal Gal October FMQ Challenge

Well, I didn't get blown away last night with Sandy. For all of you (and your loved ones) that are in harms way, my thoughts and prayers are with you.

We haven't lost power (YET), which is a bit surprising, we normally lose power at the drop of a hat. I guess we were too prepared, we had the generator set up and ready to go. I took the opportunity to work on my Sew Cal Gal FMQ challenge for October.

 I really tried hard to reach outside of my comfort zone with this month's challenge. Teri Lucas challenged us to try different threads and different materials. I had a bit of wool batting, that I have never used, so I used it. I like it!

 I also tried a lot of different threads! I was pretty successful with all but one of them.

12wt cotton sulky

King Tut cotton (not sure of the weight, but heavier than I'm used to)

Yenmet Metallic (Humphrey is my dog. He said he needed a little attention)

Yenmet Metallic

Not sure what this thread is, the label is gone. It was heavier than the 12wt Sulky. This was the only thread I could not get to stitch without issues.

Isacord polyester

Silk thread

Transparent thread

A lot of these threads were older, many of them had been my mother's thread. They all performed well above my expectations. What surprised me the most was the silk thread, I really like how well that stitched.

Today I'm linking up with Sew Cal Gal for the October FMQ Challenge. Can't wait to check out what everyone else created this month!

Color Me Quilty!

Pat

UPDATE: The first meeting of the Ithaca Modern Quilt Guild, that was scheduled for tonight, has been move to 1:00 p.m. this Sunday (November 4th) at Quilters Corner.

WIP Wednesday: FMQ Scale

I had lots and lots of fun this week because I got to do lots of FMQ! Who would have thought that years of doodling would have a purpose??!! Leah Day's homework this week was stitching different scales of stippling. This was a great exercise and harder than I thought it would be. I think this is going to a valuable skill to have in my bag o'stitches (sew to speak)!

Attempted 4 different scales (the last two kind of blend together)

Small scale

Medium

Large

Extra large

 Things I learned this week: 1. I like quilting with Isacord thread better than Aurifil. With the cotton Aurifil, the thread broke constantly, even after lowering my tension. 2. Sitting at the right height while quilting, keeps you from getting a backache/sore neck and shoulders. 3. Having tools that help you, such as gloves and a supreme slider, make FMQ easier so you can focus on other aspects of your quilting 4. I really love FMQ (already knew that, but it was reconfirmed this week).

The only question I have for Leah this week is: When quilting with a good quality cotton such as Aurifil, is there a way to keep it from breaking? I always have to lower my tension considerable to FMQ. 4.0 is the default (I piece at this tension), to about 1.2 to FMQ with Isacord. The thread was new. Any suggestions, other than stick with Isacord?

First block quilted

Last block quilted

On to my WIP this week. I worked quite a bit on my Storybook quilt. I got all 20 blocks, sashed, sandwiched and quilted. Now I just need to square them up and join them together.

I also got the first four blocks for Quokka Quilts QAYGFMQQAL completed. 

So, my stats this week are:
In-process: (5)
Hip to be Square FMQ sampler (20 out of 30 blocks quilted)
Purple heart wall hanging ( needs borders, backing, quilting and binding)
Expanding Possibilities quilt (needs backing, quilting and binding)
Storybook quilt # 1 -  All blocks are quilted
Storybook quilt # 2 - All embroidery is done
Quokka Quilts QAYGFMQQAL quilt (First 4 blocks are quilted).

New projects in the cue to start: (4)
FLMQG solids challenge crib quilt (Not started)
New Wave quilt (not started)
Friend's baby quilt - fabric picked out!


Finished (0)

I'm linking up with Freshly Pieced for WIP Wednesday and The Free Motion Quilting Project for Quilt A Long Wednesday!

 






Color Me Quilty!


Pat

My Kingdom for Chrysanthemum {#1940}

Embroidery Library design

I have been wanting to finish up the embroidery for my storybook quilts, but I was running dangerously low on Mettler Poly Sheen Chrysanthemum #1940. Machine embroidery uses a huge amount of thread even for little projects.

Could not find it locally!!!!

Honest, I had to get a little more thread....Red Rock Threads have a $5 flat shipping fee.

 Sew now I have one more new embroidery design to stitch for the first storybook quilt, then 3 repeats for the second quilt. Then I'll at least be done with the embroidery for both quilts.

But before I do anything else, Humphrey really, really wants to go for a walk. It's supposed to be almost 50 F today!

Color Me Quilty!

Pat