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Saturday 29 December 2012

2012 FMQ Challenge wrap up

I signed up for this challenge in May 2012 and am very impressed with the effort and expertise provided by SewCalGal and the expert tutors.  Sadly, this has now come to an end and here are my efforts for each month.  My confidence in quilting different FMQ designs has grown enormously during the challenge and I cannot thank SewCalGal enough.

January - Frances Moore taught an all over leaf design.  I used this in the border of a quilt for a friend.

February - Diane Gaudynski showed us how to create feathers.  Here is my sample which I used in the same friend's quilt.  My feathers have certainly changed from this sample - they were long and skinny but now they are great big fat things.  I'm better at turning corners as well.


March - This challenge was by Anne Fahl.  Unfortunately, it had been removed by the time I started the challenge, so I have substituted the August bonus tutorial by Susan Brubaker Knapp.  Susan showed us how to take photos of our environment and translate them to quilting.  This was fun.


April - Don Linn showed us how to transfer a motif using a fine mesh fabric and an embroidery hoop.  I've used this several times, but will pre-wash the mesh fabric in future, as the permanent marker transferred to the quilt top in a couple of places - it was a bit random where it came through.  I bought the e-book version of Sophisticated Stitches by Don, but no luck in printing the motifs.

May - Leah Day - the one who started me on my FMQ, taught two versions of stippling - I did the stippling on stippling option.  For my friend's quilt, I used a different design from Leah's website on almost every block - she has fantastic tutorials which I have watched and practiced many times.  I've also signed up for Leah's Craftsy course.

June - Cindy Needham taught us to divide and conquer space and then use different quilting styles in the sections.  While I love how this can look, I'm not sure that I want to quilt as densely as I mostly make bed or lap quilts.  I've signed up for Cindy's Craftsy course as I would like to use some of her ideas, but probably quilt more loosely.

July - Angela Walters was the tutor - lovely modern quilting.  Angela showed us how to quilt straight lines in the shape of overlapping tiles and use a quilting filler in the main area of the tile.  I tried two versions.  I've bought Angela's book on FMQ and will use her ideas when I make a modern quilt.


August - Wendy Sheppard taught us the fun, but often difficult Jester's hats.  I seemed to quilt this one better than I could draw it.  Wendy's site is fantastic and I have used her tutorials time and again.  I had already marked this one to try, so having it in the challenge was great.  I'll definitely be using it again.

September - Paula Reid challenged everyone to quilt a feathered stencil.  I used Don Linn's method to transfer the design.  I'm still not good at following the lines, but need to for my sister's quilt.

October - Teri Lucas asked us to stitch our name and then use different fillers to quilt a block.  I just love the nautilus shell design she showed us and will use it in future quilts.

November - Sarah Vedeler challenged participants to practice spirals - different sizes and all in a row.  I did this challenge on our first day back from overseas, and rushed it a bit.  I'll do this one again next year as I need to keep practicing my spirals to get them smooth and consistent.
 December - Pat Thompson showed us just how nice borders can look using multiple designs with some variation in the density.  This included instructions on how to create flowing feather borders.  I ran with this one a bit and changed borders mid-stream.
Feathers border

Roses border
Thanks very much SewCalGal.  It has been fun.

3 comments:

  1. All your quilts are lovely. I love the leaf on the bricks-Susan Brubaker Knapp bonus. WOW!! That is an awesome quilt!!!

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