Here is my crazy/crumb quilt that will go to my son and his girlfriend for christmas....AND I went for it..and free motioned, what fun!! It only took two afternoons to do the meandering and another hour to do the border in a smaller stipple :D

There are a few 'hiccups' where panic set in when I realised I was getting too close to another line of stitching, but what the heck, it's my first real attempt and only my 4th quilt (the biggest!!), and as you will see it has been 'approved' by the quilt inspector!! :D

Great job and your quilt inspector is just waiting for you to leave the room so she can jump on it and get comfy! lol

Heres some close ups

Here's the quilt inspector at her best :D

Terri, Sasha is NEVER far away when there is a quilt around, she certainly likes her comfort...well don't we all :lol:

That turned out so beautifully! If this is a first try at freemotion you did a wonderful job. Love your colors. Now if I could just get up the courage to freemotion! I think that Sasha wants you to forget about giving it away. LOL I think that she has claimed it.

Debbie

Debbie, I think the knack, is just to go for it, and relax, I decided I could live with a few hiccups, and as everyone tells you, look at the overall effect, so go for it gal!! :D Sasha claims everything I am working on lol!!

Thanks for your lovely compliments, there is a tute on this technique under tutorials section if you want to know how I did it :D

I t looks great Izy!!!!! Sasha obviously loves it too! I have been playing around with free motion this weekend and it is just not going real well!!!!

Such bravery and talent Izy! You did a great job. I'm still at the practice stage. :roll:

Melissa, I have practised alot over the last six months, and have to say at first I never thought I would get the hang of it, I am lucky enough that my machine sits down in the table which has a very smooth surface, so I am sure it helps alot, it was still getting hung up, usually when I really should have stopped and repositioned my hands, but I get impatient..... :roll: I also found it difficult stopping and starting, as I was tending to get a little knot of thread on the back at first...then I learnt to move off quickly when startung to stop build up...just practice practice practice, and if your machine isn't set down, do you have one of those perspex surrounds to give you a bigger area around your machine??

That is the problem I have been having, told DH I have to get an extention table!!!!! I do think that will help tremendously! I hate having to reposition my hands too, just get going pretty good and then have too stop!!!! :evil: I think I just need a Longarm machine!!!!! :lol:

Look at her!! She is so cute putting her paw and face of approval on it! :)

You did a great job on the meandering! I just went for it the 1st time I did it too. :lol: It's fun, huh?

Great job on the stippling!

Melissa, I think you and I have to just accept that some people are free motion challenged, and that's you and me! I just CANNOT do this stuff! I'm saving for a machine with a bigger brain than I have, and hopefully that will let me at least do a machine quilting job that looks like it wasn't done by a second grader (with one broken arm)!

:lol: :lol: :lol: I think you are right!!!!! I like that term, "Free motion challenged" That is a lot kinder than what I have been saying!!! :lol: When you find the machine like that please let me know!!!!! :lol:

Yep I think everyone should have an extension table, it is nigh impossible without the space around you to move the quilt freely. I actually quilted this in two halves then joined them and filled in the gap.

Thanks everyone for your praise, I really appreciate it :D

Really nice work Izy! I wondered where you were! Working away at your free motioning, that's not a word I know. It works here though. All that practice worked!!!

Well it is so much quicker than stitching in the ditching or echo'ing Jan.

I have been doing some hand quilting too, but it is so slow :?

I think the quilt inspector likes it and so do I'l Great Job Izy...

:D

You did great! Your quilt is beautiful and your free motion looks like you're a pro!

My first attempts at free motion had alot of "eyelashes" until I got the hang of it. I love doing it now because it is so fun to doodle with the sewing machine.

Izy your quilt is beautiful & so is your quilting. I love the colors. What a lovely gift that will make. Great job!!

Oh Demshine, I know all about eyelashes, and I had to laugh last week at our guild meeting, we had a tutor show us all different stitching techniques...and guess what she showed us..yep how to make eyelashes, I said I can do that great on my free motion, its because your needle tension is too slack, so I discovered, I have to set my machine up to 7.0 to get the balance right top and bottom :roll: :lol:

Its all part of the learning, and crikey if you look closely you will see I have all different sizes of stitches and some pretty straight angles in places, but I decided to live with them :D

you did great! FMQ is so fun and like handwriting, everyone has their own unique signature :)

Well Babeegirl just like children we start by scribbling, and that's what if feels like, very liberating :lol:

Way to go Izy!!!

Do you have a long arm quilter or did you do this on your regular machine? I want to do this with a full size quilt too, but only have my regular Husqvarna machine.... It will be great for some scrappy quilts I have that I want to layer next year. I have a scrappy log cabin that I want to use when camping. It will be nice and warm to snuggle under during the cooler summer nights in the tent

Oh I WISH I could get a longarmer, but alas not much chance any time soon Aggi, I quilted it on my regular Janome 9000, but I left it in two halves, layered it up, quilted each triangle as it is 'on point' leaving an inch or so free at the centre line, then after quilting both sections, pieced the top together then joined the batting and handstitched the backing together and finished by meandering down the centre.

Just a tip...When meandering quilting in two halves try and leave an uneven area ranging from an inch minimum to two or three inches randomly,at the centre seam area, so that when you come back to quilt it after joining the two halves together it will blend in better with the original quilting :D

Love it! The colors and the fabrics. And I Love your Inspector too! What a darling dog. :lol: Lucky son!

This is amazing Izy, what a great job! Only two days? I always worry about getting started and then being so sick of it before I'm even part way through. :) It turned out just great.

Very very nice!!!

Kyia

Well I am not too sure how much my son Ryan will like it....He got to chose the lounge colours (brown and cream) and Jess chose Black and magenta for the bedroom...a bit girly for Ryan but Jess LOVES it, I have sent regular update piccies to her lol :lol: :D

Great job Izzy. You have given me inspiration. I have only free hand quilted one baby size quilt. I have several more to do. Maybe I should just "go for it" and not worry so much. Your quilt is so bright and cheery too! Love it!!

Gayle, by nature I am abit of a perfectionist, this is NOT a healthy trait, it has left me in the past with feelings of disappointment and failure...BUT I have realised we all need to enjoy the JOURNEY....that's the success!!!!!

I had great fun meandering and who really cares if I get too close to another line of stitching or end up with right angles or dog's hind leg shapes, so what if my stitches range from teeny tiny, to great big tacking stitches.....I swear I was meandering the shape of male genitals at one point :roll: It had me in fits :lol: :lol: :lol:

Beautiful, but I have come to expect nothing less from you. You do such lovely work on everything you do. I have to smile at your quilt inspector. It can't get better than that.

:D :D :D

omg Izy that's hilarious! tell Jess so she has loads of fun trying to find those shapes!

Babeegirl, I will look again at all the photo's I took to see if I can find an 'example' to show you lol!!! :shock: :lol:

I guess I lost the rhythm, like Sandpat I chant big head, little neck, big head, little neck, I guess my mind just started to 'meander' down the body abit :lol:

or maybe you were right on target?....omg I'm so awful :mrgreen:

oh that is a beautiful quilt. your quilting is wonderful. isn't it fun to free motion??

wicked girl :roll: :twisted: :lol: :shock: