2012 Free Motion Quilting Challenge-August

Our teacher for our August challenge was Wendy Sheppard. She gave us a tutorial on one of her favorite machine quilting designs, Jester Hats!! I decided to make two large jester hats and surround them with little jesters, well, that is what they are supposed to be. I will admit, I did get lost now and then so the jester hats do not always resemble the intended design.

I began sketching the jester hats on August 10th when my husband and I were camping at Belknap Hot Springs. We were there for his 40th high school class reunion. Sketching next to the Mckenzie River was so very peaceful and I think my sketches are much better than the actual quilting. Maybe the sound of the river helped??!!

I taped the back of the little quilt down and then used the adhesive spray 505 to sandwich the layers together. It did work well but I am still not sure if I like it. It is very nice not having all those safety pins to remove and it did go together a lot faster. My needle gummed up just a little but didn't interfere with the machine quilting. I will probably use this method again, but I will also continue to use the safety pins.

The jester hats were drawn on freezer paper, then ironed onto the surface of the quilt sandwich. I then free motion stitched around the edges, it worked great!!!

If you look closely, you can see a bit of a sparkle. I added foiling to the edges of the jester hats to set accent them a bit. I was worried that they wouldn't show up well, so the foiling helped

I learned about the foil from Rhianon Taylor of The Nifty Stitcher, http://rhianontaylor.blogspot.com/ She did some foiling on a fish quilt and the results were so cool that I had to get some and try it on a quilt project!!! Thanks Rhianon!!!

This is the foil and glue I found at Dharma online

You can use the glue or you can use fusible like wonderunder. For this small area I chose to use the glue. You let it dry for 1-8 hours until tacky

Then you place the foil over and rub it. If you use the fusible you apply it to the piece, remove the paper and heat set. The foil stays anywhere there is a sticky surface.

It doesn't adhere to every part glued, but still gives the quilt a very neat appearance.

I decided to add a narrow edge to the quilt. It kind of resembles the foiled edges of the jester hats.

I first basted the edges on and then applied the binding

Binding on and all sewn down!!

Wow, I cannot believe I quilted this and posted it just hours before the deadline!!! Thank-goodness it is completed!!!!

Thank-you Wendy for you wonderful tutorial, it is so awesome to learn another free motion design!!! :^)
Take Care everyone, Happy Quilting and keep those needles sharp!! Martha

Six hours of machine quilting!!

I'm working on my quilt that needs to be in Colorado on Friday. Still lots of machine quilting to do. MUST get it done tonight!!! I can't show you the front until the publication is released. I have learned that circles are not easy!!

And here is my quilting companion, Maddie. She would prefer I go out and throw the ball to her :-)

Take care everyone, happy quilting and enjoy the day!! Martha

Quilt idea and what I have been doing lately!!!

Recently my husband and I went on a road trip to Enterprise Oregon. On the way home we passed this very cool barn outside of Fossil Oregon. I try to have my camera and phone ready to snap a picture if something catches my eye while traveling and this did!!! I love old barns and this one would make a fabulous quilt-someday! :^)

So lately I have not been doing much on my blog because so much of what I am doing is secret!! Several months ago I took up a challenge to test quilt blocks for Quiltmaker Magazine. One of my friends who has had a block accepted for their publication, 100 Blocks Volume 5, let us know on Facebook that they were looking for more block testers for the next publication-Volume 6. I applied and they accepted and I have been very busy since that time. I also accepted the challenge to make a quilt from one of the blocks that I tested. They gave us fabric to work with and we could choose what ever block we wanted.

I decided to make it really hard on myself and chose a line of fabric that was totally out of my comfort zone!!! Well, only one block that I have tested so far will work with this fabric and the quilt is due at the end of August. Completely done, quilted, and to arrive in Colorado at the end of this month!!! I am working on the borders now and will hopefully get it layered and pinned tonight. Then I will have one full week of machine quilting to do while working full time.

Sometimes I do wonder why I torture myself so intensely!!

I still have one more block to test for them and I am hoping that will be it. Today I must get that done also!!!

Once the publication becomes public, I will be able to share all the work I have been doing!!!

So until later, Happy Quilting, wish me luck!!, Take Care, and keep those needles sharp!! Martha

Row Round Robin for Santiam Scrappers Guild-Hexagons

I belong to the Santiam Scrappers Quilt Guild in Lebanon and several of us are participating in a row round robin. Each month we have a different theme. So far we have had a square, triangle, diamond, and last month was a hexagon.

I was so very pleased to find this hexagon star pattern!!! It is so lovely and not exactly what you would think of when contemplating hexagons!!!

I found the pattern on The Quilter's Cache.

I am not the best at paper piecing and end up wasting a lot of fabric!! I have found if I don't use large pieces I don't get the design covered properly. I get all turned around.  Still, it does turn out OK!!

And the finished row ready for our member Flo!! Hope she likes it!!!

Happy Quilting everyone, enjoy the moment and keep those needles sharp!!! Martha :^)