Free Motion Quilting challenge

I worked on a few things Saturday.  My Free Motion quilting was one of the things I started....

I am participating in SewCalGal's Free Motion Quilting challenge this year. I put a sandwich of fabric together and started working on my homework for this month's challenge. I started out using Robison-Anton thread on top and the bobbin. I then changed to a bobbin thread in the bobbin case. That worked a little better. I slowed my machine down too and that helped also. I went to the quilt shop and purchased some King Tut thread and some top stitching needles. I changed those out and started playing again. I could tell a difference right off. The stitches looked alot better on the front and back. I have bobbin thread in the bobbin case but it's old thread. It kept breaking so I changed back to regular thread in my bobbin. I found some Coat's and Clark bobbin thread Sunday afternoon at Joann's and I'll be trying that out next. I've heard about some bobbin thread called Bottom Line that they say is good but I can't find that locally. I'm going to order some of that and play with it too. Here's my sample of the leaves we are supposed to do this month.   It was hard for me to change directions with this but I finally got that down.  I'm pleased with the way the different threads made my stitches look and I  feel like I have more control now since I slowed my machine speed down a little.  I know it's going to just take practice and more practice to get it right.  But, here's my start:

soscrappy: Rainbow Scrap Challenge 2012 and SewCalGal Free Motion Challenge

Happy New Year!   I hope your Christmas or holiday was wonderful and you got to spend time with the ones you love. 

I don't know about you but I'm ready to get busy again.  I decided I didn't want to overwhelm myself right off but I do want to challenge myself to get things done. I know I always do better with deadlines so I decided to take stock and see what I wanted to accomplish this year. One thing I want to do is to use up some of my scrap stash, so I turned my attention to Angela.  She had a rainbow scrap challenge last year and is at it again this year.   I've been organizing today and I didn't do too much with my colored scraps last year but I'm willing to try again.  I love seeing what everyone does with their scraps and I want to use up alot of mine too.  Angela is way more organized with her colors than I am but I can always pull mine out as I go.  She's already started the month off and decided on reds.  I'm going to incorporate this challenge this month with another.  My group is doing a Mug Rug a month.  This month is a house mug rug.  I'm going to use my red scraps to make some house mug rugs.  So, to that end, I'll go pull out my reds and get busy.  Here's a link to Angela's Scrap Challenge, go check her out.soscrappy: Rainbow Scrap Challenge 2012

 But before I go, I want to tell you about the other challenge I decided to do this year.  I'm always trying to finish my own projects.  I like to be able to work on my quilts from start to finish.  I love to hand quilt and do still hand quilt occasionally but I'm not a fast quilter and I want to see my quilts finished in my life time.  I used to work in quilt shops (I worked in three different shops over a ten year period) and I did alot of samples.  These samples did not have to be quilted at the time.  So, I have several of those hanging around and I have several other tops finished waiting to be quilted.  I like to machine quilt but I don't like to quilt big quilts on my sewing machine.  I have quilted a king size quilt in the past and did not enjoy it at all.  I will quilt up to a full size but I don't like it to be bigger than that.  I am an ok machine quilter but want to improve my skills,  so to that end, I have decided to participate in the Free Motion Quilting challenge  over on SewCalGal's site. She's having 12 different teachers, one each month and she's giving away prizes too.  So, I think that's a win-win combination. 

  There is a link on the sidebar of my blog for more info. Or, you can click here: http://sewcalgal.blogspot.com/p/free-motion-quilt-challenge.html

Ok, I'm getting off now so I can get busy.   Until next time, happy sewing!

My Christmas Quilts

I wanted to show you my Christmas quilts. I try to make a quilt or ornaments every year.  SewCalGal is having a Christmas quilt show and these are mine for the show.  These have all been done in the past few years.  I haven't done a Christmas quilt this year but I am working on the snowman quilt...I did do a small banner and Christmas card holder but no full size quilt. I want to make a big Christmas quilt but just haven't taken the time.  These are all wallhangings or tabletoppers....I hope you enjoy seeing them.

                        My Christmas Stars-all the stars are different and the quilt is all hand quilted.

This is called Texas Christmas.  My brother in law loves this quilt. I guess I'll have to either give it to him or make him one like it.

I made this several years ago. This is an Eleanor Burns pattern.  It was alot of fun.  I made 3 of these and gave two as gifts and kept one for myself.

I made this one along with a friend of mine.  This is from Country Woman magazine many years ago.  I was teaching my friend how to sew and make this little wallhanging at the same time.  We had alot of fun together doing it.

I made this one last year.  My sewing group all made items using the red work embroidery. I made this little wallhanging.  Others made bags,ornaments or little purses.  It was fun to see what non-quilters did with their sewing.

I did this one several years ago at the quilt shop I used to work at.  We had a lock in at the quilt shop and we brought food and all worked on this little quilt.  We all had a quilt by the next morning. 

These are little candle mats.   I put red or green candles in the middle of these on my coffee table.  I'll be decorating with these this week....

You just saw these a few weeks ago but I wanted to put them here too along with all my other Christmas quilts.  I finished these the last few months ago...

My little Joy banner.

This one is a Christmas card holder.

Ok, now you can go to  SewCalGal's site and look at everybody else's....have fun and enjoy the show.

  Click here to go to see everyone else's Christmas quilts.  Merry Christmas!

SewCalGal is hosting a Christmas Quilt Show and Free Motion Quilting Challenge for next year.

Darlene over at SewCalGal is hosting her annual Christmas Quilt Show.  There's a button on my side bar and you can get there quickly by clicking on it.  I will be posting my Christmas quilts tomorrow but I wanted you to know about her quilt show ahead of time so you can go look at everybody else's Christmas quilts too.  She is also hosting a Free motion quilting challenge for next year.  She will be having guest teachers giving hints about free motion quilting each month.  I don't want to start any big projects because I want to quilt the tops I have laying around first.  I do want to start some new projects soon but these have been on my mind for awhile and I really want to quilt these myself as much as I can.  I enjoy the whole process and I love seeing the finished products.  I haven't finished enough this year so I am picking up the challenge and honing my machine quilting skills to finish my quilts...If you want to join in the fun, there is a badge on the sidebar you can click on and sign up on her blog too.