I loaded up my sewing machine & stuff to head to the quilt shop on a rainy saturday morning. I took a free motion quilt class that was offered. I had watched a bunch of videos on YouTube about free motion quilting and it doesn't look that hard to watch someone else do it. Plus I actually FMQ'd the quilt I sent to Peter & Brandie for Sebastian last November. But I really wanted some hands on training to see if there were any tricks of the trade. :)
My zig zags were pretty awful at the beginning and I actually did some meandering...liked the loop de loops much better, especially the double loops...and was told that my loops could be hearts pretty easily...ooh what possibilities! I just have to practice, practice, practice! (Yeah right...probably right before I decide to FMQ the next quilt!)
I then headed to the needlepoint store around the corner and walls of thread, but I totally forgot to bring my inspiration fabric, so I was choosing colors based on my phone picture...not the best way to choose floss, but I guess I didn't do horribly.
The next time I am at the quilt shop, I will bring my fabric and take a gander to see if I missed anything. Most of these are pearle #5 with a few being hand-dyed, variagated floss.
Sunday, January 20
After seeing Becky's needlebook on facebook, I had to get crackin'...hers is so beautiful! It also made me think of the needlebook outside the box.
I love my little snap enclosure to hold the scissors in place. I also did the blanket stitching on the outside edges first when it was open faced and then did the running stitch. I learned the hard way that this was totally backwards.
Tuesday, Jan. 22
This one was totally Becky inspired. I loved her flower petals...I don't love mine as much, but I did figure out the whole running stitch/blanket stitch sequence. I also decided that I like the looks of embroidery floss much better than pearle #8 thread. I also used ribbon for the inside scissor snap closure. It laid much flatter than my scrap of fabric.
Wed., Jan. 23
Today was another ice skating lesson for Kari...she's getting much better at going backwards. She's showing me blue ice scraped from the rink. :)
I love reading your blog. :) Thanks for the shout outs! :) Thank you, also, for not only the gift of this handstitched camp, but also for the gift of working on something with you. I'm really enjoying the work and the creativity and the bonding experience. :) Thank you, so much, Sun Hee.
ReplyDeleteI love both of your needle books!
ReplyDeleteCan't wait to see more of your quilt.