Monday 10 April 2017

Quilting Practice

A little bit of free time + a couple of really inspiring books = lots of quilting practice in the last several days.

My sewing group was recently treated to a visit to the home of one of our members, Kathy, who is an accomplished long-armer as well as all-over talented lady. She showed us her beautiful work as well as her extensive quilting library and stash, and to add to the impressions of the day, we got to try quilting on a long-arm machine - it was just overwhelming! So, in order to overcome the feeling of being totally useless as a quilter, I borrowed several book from Kathy and was determined to practice FMQ as soon as I have the time.

Last Wednesday we handed in the last projects in my Graphic Design course and got a two weeks' breather for Easter. Then I was able to turn my mind towards quilting. I got out some shibori samples from last year's fabric dying workshop and made them into little sandwiches.


They are about 30 cm square, just the right size for quilting on a domestic machine. I used a book by Angela Walters as my inspiration and reference and tried to follow the shibori pattern on the samples; this is what I have so far:




I wonder if you can recognize the original samples, they look so different when quilted. It's also amazing how light affects their appearance, in the photos below they look like they have at least three layers of batting inside ;)))



I'm not sure what I'm going to do with them - leave a sort of reference or connect the QAYG way into a sampler quilt. I've also been quilting a couple of little UFOs which I'll show you as soon as I do the binding (soon, soon...)

Linking up to Main Crush {Tuesday} at Cooking up Quilts 
Linky Tuesday at Freemotion by the River

8 comments:

  1. Wonderful work! You've inspired me to pull out my samples and use them to practise FMQ again, great idea!

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  2. Beautiful fabric and beautiful quilting!

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  3. These are absolutely fantastic!! The dahlia is my favorite! (which book did you use?) Please tell me you practiced before stitching these samples??

    Happy quilting ~ Tracy

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  4. Your little samples are so pretty! I really like that big flower. Those pointed petals are a good shape for me, my hand seems like to make that point. Are you finding that some of these patterns are easier than others for you?

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  5. You have done an excellent job on those samples! I need to work on my FMQ as well. It is inspiring to see others improving their skills, it makes me want to make some sandwiches and get started right now. :)

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  6. Hi Olina, your samples made with your dyed fabric are wonderful! It is amazing how the light affects the picture. That pink flower piece is stunning :-) Keep on practicing.

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  7. Hi Olina: Somehow I lost track of you and I was happy to see your name in the link up at Main Crush Tuesday. The samples are very beautiful, both the dyeing and the quilting. The three layers of batting really makes the quilting pop.

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