FMQ Friday--stencils and fills practice

It's almost Friday and I know tomorrow and the weekend are going to be very busy, so I'm going to take a few minutes tonight to post my FMQ Friday update, linking to Leah Day's FMQ Project. I'm nearly done piecing the back of Cindy's comfort quilt. The plan is to pin it and the buffalo baby quilt tomorrow and have them ready to quilt this weekend.

For my FMQ this week, I worked on my Hugs & Kisses project, which will makes its appearance next Friday, Feb 15. I can hardly wait! It's been so fun to work on! After testing out a stencil for that project, I used the same practice square to do some McTavishing before attempting to add any more detail to my Express Your Love quilt. For a first try, it's not half bad!

I'm still figuring out how to shift from one cluster to another and not have them all going the same direction, but I'm getting there. Today Leah had some concentric circles and I gave that a shot as well, although, having just oiled my machine and getting ready to work on a big project, I did it in cream-on-white, so it doesn't show up quite as well.

I've been using this practice piece for a number of designs and just keep adding more layers and filling in more spaces. It's getting interesting, even for a simple practice piece!

The biggest project I worked on today, to take a break from piecing, was to get a jump start on the quilting on a friend's quilt. This quilt is huge and is taking all of my skill to manage it and keep going at a steady pace in the right direction. I'm working at my HQ Sweet Sixteen table model. All of the ditch work is complete, so I pulled out the stencil I had selected to fit in the 12" blocks and started to work on it. I'm using blue pounce to mark the blocks and only one at a time as I go. That way, the chalk doesn't brush off before I get to the next block.

I'm using a creamy Aurifil 50 on top and in the bobbin and it's coming out lovely! So far I have 8 blocks done, still a long way to go, plus something in the sashings and borders. Given that Jacob only slept for 10-15 minute mini-naps between crying jags with his teething today, it's a miracle I got any done!

I do feel like I'm gaining confidence and getting better at maintaining more consistent speed and stitch length. I don't use a stitch regulator at this point, although I did buy one to go with my machine. I may play with that later, but for now I'm good.

This weekend will be great fun. The local guild is holding a 3-day retreat here in town at a local church. We get to set up at 4pm Friday and sew to 10pm, return Saturday morning at 8am and sew until 10pm, and once again on Sunday from 8am to 4pm. There are about 30 quilters signed up and it's always great fun seeing what everyone has going. The guild holds these local retreats quarterly, so I get to escape my household duties fairly often for an entire weekend of quilting with my buddies! I have three projects to get ditched and hopefully quilted and bound during my weekend. If I can get that done, I'll be in great shape! Two gals who live about an hour from here stay with me, so it will be a nonstop weekend of fun.


More snippets from the sewing room soon,
Liz

Happy Friday FMQ & Small Blog Meet

Happy Friday Everyone! I dropped my car off for service bright and early this morning and it was a whopping 9 degrees out! With the light breeze, it felt more like -3. Yikes! I already miss those lovely 70s we had just a few days ago. At least there's hope... Forecast shows mild 50s for the next week, so the cold won't last long. In the meantime, Jacob is dressed warm in a cute fleece jacket and pants with his bear slippers on and I'm in my flannel lined jeans & long sleeves. We'll stay in and warm until my SIL comes to pick up Jacob and take me back to get my car.

My FMQ Friday sharing isn't what I had hoped because my main project is a secret for an upcoming blog hop, so it will have to wait for another day. I'm working on getting it done as there is a definite deadline for that one! It's been fun to work on, but has put my Express Your Love on hold for the moment. My second favorite FMQ this week was the Cookie Bowl advent calendar I made to hang in my own home this coming Christmas. It was simple outlining of the cookies and down the stripes on the printed panel, but still fun to practice making more uniform FMQ stitches. I find I'm doing more ditch work as FMQ instead of with the walking foot as I get more comfortable with it. This is a good thing because I also find I have fewer riffle problems with the FMQ than with the walking foot that, while great, can still push the fabric into approaching stitch lines going the other direction and cause little tucks. The FMQ allows more easing of the fabric across intersections which I like a lot better.

I'm also hooking up with the Small Blog Meet at Lily's Quilts to get to know more people out in blogland. I've only been at this a few weeks and definitely qualify for the "blogs with under 50 followers". I'm grateful to my three followers and hope to gain more.

I guess that's it for now. Jacob is in his bouncer and is getting antsy, so it's time to go downstairs where he can safely crawl around for a bit. Then lunch time.

More snippets from the sewing room soon,
Liz

NewFO Projects for January

Oh No!!! 2/28/13: I just posted my link for February to Barbara's 2013 NewFO Linky Party, but mistakenly put the link to last month's new starts (this page by mistake)! Go HERE to find my NewFOs for February. Sorry... 

Now back to last month's post... Oops! Liz

What a busy month it's been! I've got several NewFOs to share and am so excited to join in the fun! I'll be posting this on Cat Patches' January NewFO Linky Party where others will also be sharing NewFOs.

NewFO #1 -- Grocery Cart Cosy for my grandson Jacob

This project is one my daughter and I have been talking about, but I'd never gotten around to it. Well, the little stinker is over 20 pounds and nearing the end of his time in the baby carseat. As he advances to the big-boy seat, he won't go into the grocery store in his seat anymore. So, it was time for Mormor to get busy and make the cosy. I found this delightful monkey fabric on clearance at Charlotte's Sew Natural in Newton, KS. I love it and bought what was left of the bolt! It was just the perfect amount to make the cosy, along with the leaves on black fabric for the lining. Hopefully it will resist showing too much dirt! Ha! There were a few bloopers in assembly (I didn't read the directions fully and put the elastic in before finishing key elements that would have worked better with the whole thing flat), so I dug through my stash and found a couple of yards of Toy Story fabric and used the same lining to make a second one. Ali has the Toy Story cosy (it's much better made!) and I have the monkey one for my shopping trips with Jacob.

I'm afraid neither has been used quite yet. It's been so cold (we're expecting a whopping 5 degrees for tonight's low) that Ali has done her shopping before she picks Jacob up so he doesn't have to be out in the cold too much. It'll be balmy in the 50s by this weekend, so I'm sure it will get it's first trip to the store soon. I can't wait to see pictures of him sitting in them!

NewFO #2--Jacob's Baprons

Since I have Jacob full time during the week, he gets several meals with me. I found that the little teething bibs Ali had sent over were just not sufficient anymore as he was getting more into his food. So, I'd found a cute pattern for a bapron and was determined to try it out. I had enough gold fish fabric from that same clearance table at Charlotte's to make two, so he has one at home and one at Mormor's house. It turned out so cute!

And it does the job just perfectly, except for the moments when he decides to share his food with me and blows a mouthful of greenbeans at Mormor. Guess I need to make one for me to shield myself from those "Yuck! What are you feeding me!" moments. LOL!

NewFO #3--Buffalo Baby Quilt

This one is my favorite so far and an actual quilt project! My friend Lizzie is having her first baby, due the end of February. She's having a boy and wants everything camo. Well, I'm not into hunting and fishing and camo-wear, but compromised and am making a nature quilt for her. After a few stops and starts in design and assembly, it's finally come together.

It's all assembled and ready to be sandwiched and quilted. I have until Feb 23 to complete it as that's when I'm heading to Springfield, MO, to Lizzie's for her baby shower. I'm also taking along our family cradle that my father made for my first child (Jeni is now 35!) and has been shared with many friends and family, as well as all of my children and grandchildren. I look forward to getting pix of her little guy sleeping in the cradle like Jacob did just a few months ago.

NewFO #4--Cookie Bowl Advent Calendar

This project is made from a pre-printed panel kit that I purchased in California on a shop hop several years ago. I've made quilted Advent calendars for my daughters and for my niece and nephews for their children to enjoy each year, but I hadn't made one for myself! So, I found this one and fell in love with it. This month I got it done completely! It was fun to quilt around the cookies and down the strips, as well as along the squiggly lines of frosting printed between the number pockets. It's simple, but very cute and will be fun to have Jacob help me move the cookies from the bowl to the pockets (or pockets to bowl?) when December rolls around again.

NewFO#5--Embrace Your Love FMQ Challenge 2013

The most exciting NewFO for me this month is the Embrace Your Love FMQ Challenge that Leah Day is guiding us through. I have started and am enjoying the challenge.

Currently I'm stalled because I have an idea to applique green and blue silk onto the world, but can't find my silk buried in my stash. Maybe this weekend I'll find it and get busy again on the next part. It's a year-long project, so I don't expect to finish it anytime soon, but hope to maybe finish one version in time to enter it in either the county fair in June or the state fair in September. Time will tell...

It's been a very productive month! I had no idea I'd get this many projects started and am delighted that several are also finished! Looking forward to some fresh NewFO's for February. This weekend I'm heading out with Sharon to a big Super Bowl sale at a quilt shop in Alden, KS. Then, on Sunday, I'll be camped out in front of my TV for the Super Bowl, cheering on my San Francisco 49ers!!!!!

More snippets from the sewing room soon,
Liz