Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Practice, practice

My ten minutes a day practice turned into more than an hour or two and now I think my eyes feel like the owls in this fabric. I must remember to blink occasionally.
Opal owl by Tina Givens because you might need to know.
And it came wrapped up in this lovely tissue paper, like a present. That would be a present from me to me along with some background fabric. I tell you that they have some good priced Kaffes at that shop.
Onto the free motion quilting practice. I even tried some hyper quilting on this one. I like it.
I've been trying out some background fillers.
Really, I wanted to be able to do some casual quilting, you know where you can take a scrap quilt and do something informal? Nothing that would end up like a cardboard quilt.
I got a bit keen on the feather again, they're just so addictive. A light variagted thread made this one a bit fun but the quilting is a bit dense for my liking  but this would be nice on other projects and you can change the scale. The blue washout pen on the spine is all the marking required.
And the back looks cool too. I do believe I'm having a good time and loosening up, why I might even say I've graduated from beginners and into the intermediate stage, a good place to be. Oh happy days at the machine and I love you Patsy Thompson DVD's.

47 comments:

Nat Palaskas said...

Practice makes perfect Janet and you seem to be doing just that. If you haven't already seen Ivoryspring you shoud visit to have a look at her great machine quilting. Here is Wendy's blog: http://ivoryspring.wordpress.com/
I love the fabric for the top - Hugs Nat

Darlene said...

I love your practice piece, Janet.

Terry said...

Holy cow Janet...your quilting is amazing!! I bow to your skill and talent! Seriously!! :0)

Cathy said...

Looks like practice makes perfect! Your quilting looks very good to me, like you are ready to try a real quilt.

Cheryl said...

Wow, what gorgeous free motion quilting! You had a great teacher, obviously. Wish I could do that!

Crispy said...

Oh Janet, you have taken to machine quilting like a duck to water. It's just beautiful!!

Crispy

Gillian King said...

It's looking great!

Have you seen this book by Dijanne Cevaal? It is called "72 ways not to meander or stipple". Her blog is here...http://origidij.blogspot.com/

Sandy said...

WOW! You are really progressing here...this is lovely- one more push to get me started LOL- I don't know why I drag my feet about this...preoccupied with "projects"- but no excuses- will have to get started. These samples are terrific- Sandy

Barb said...

Cute owls - who who
and your machine quilts is looking really great!

SewCalGal said...

I agree practice, practice, practice. And it is amazing how just a little bit each day can make a difference. I too love Patsy Thompson's DVDs. They are wonderful!

SewCalGal
www.sewcalgal.blogspot.com

Betsy said...

Janet it looks beautiful.

Ginny Worden said...

Janet, what beautiful work, I aspire to do as well. Thanks for the inspiration.

Mimi said...

Have you used ALL those DVDs because I am impressed with your machine quilting.

Elisabeth said...

Thie is soooo gooood!!!
You are fantastic!!

oh.... wonder when I get time to practic like you do...

Elisabeth

ria vogelzang said...

That looks just gorgeous!! Now wonder you did much more then the 10 minutes....... And:....don't forget to blink once in a while..... ;0))
Enjoy!!

Barb said...

Oh my goodness, you are doing a fabulous job...I would say you graduated...gotta get me that Cd.

Cathy @ CabbageQuilts said...

No, I would say you are getting to the advanced stage pretty quickly. Your stitches are amazing Janet. xo

Munaiba said...

I'd say you left intermediate behind already. Janet that is just so accomplished! Well done. I must go and try my practice out now. lol

Abby and Stephanie said...

Soon you'll be teaching machine quilting classes! Really fantastic and definitely way beyond intermediate. LOVE the blue/green owls.

Una said...

Janet, you are a NATURAL!! Please keep practicing so we get to see your soothing photos - they are so, so beautiful! It's been a while since my last efforts, but your posts make me yearn to use some quality time in front of a hummung machine:) Thank you!

Anonymous said...

Absolutely WONDERFUL quilting, Janet. Thank you for the gentle reminder...I have fmq'ed in some time and I NEED to. : )

Sue-Anne said...

The owl fabric is so cute! Your machine quilting is amazing Janet!!!

Vivian said...

I love the first blue quilting with the flowers. I would love to copy it on a quilt.

Meredith said...

I am glad you are enjoying your practice. I agree with you on cardboard quilts. I had not heard anyone else use that term before.

alobsiger said...

Your quilting is GORGEOUS, Janet! LOVE the Patsy Thompson DVDs! They really make it look do-able and give just the right guidance! You're going gangbusters! As you may know, I love the close type of quilting you're practicing. I was concerned recently about a quilting ending up too stiff but when I was done it was the drape-iest thing EVER! Soft and cushy. I think the cardboard effect may come down to the type of batting combined with heavy stitching and thread type? LOVE what you're doing!

Lori said...

I'll say it looks like you have graduated!! Very lovely.
I love the dense quilting but it does tend to make the quilt a bit stiff.
I'd like to try some silk thread for machine quilting.

Janet said...

You think you just graduated to intermediate!? I think you've been there a long time already! Your practice looks great - I especially like the flowers :0) That tissue paper is beautiful!

Alice said...

Wow, great quilting! Thanks for the tip about the fabric shop - I am always on the lookout for new on-line fabric stores. They have an interesting selection, and great prices.

elizabeth said...

I just placed an order with Delta Patchworks this morning! Two Hello Betty Retro honey buns for $10 apiece!

Love your free motion quilting. I'm working up to that!

Brandie said...

WOW, we should all practice an hour a day.

Kim D. said...

Fantastic quilting, looks like you have advanced to intermediate, you go girl. Love your feathers, so beautiful.

catielee said...

Oh my! You're quilting is wonderful, You are definately up to intermediate. I think I'll be buying those DVD's. Thanks for sharing the photos.

Anonymous said...

I'll second the 'holy cow, you're quilting is amazing'. Very nice work.
cindy

Thimbleanna said...

Wow Janet! It's looking AWESOME!!!

Kaaren said...

Wow! And that's only your practice piece!

Amazing work, Janet.

Lisa said...

Seriously Janet, your quilting is amazing! I think you can stop calling it "practice" now!

Janet said...

Janet, Looks like you have perfected the quilting. Beautiful.
Janet

Stina Blomgren said...

*SMILE* you are doing so good.. it looks wonderful.. I really really need to practise more.. but I find it tough to use up fabric to do my practising on..lol.. Cant find the right word for it in english... could it be... penurious.. well I dont know... ;o))

Sonja♥ said...

WaoW! it's AMAZING how you progress so fast!!!
Congrats:)

Rachaeldaisy said...

You're quilting is amazing!!! Proof that practise makes perfect!!

Ann Champion said...

Wow! I'd say practice makes perfect? Well done you! :)

Robin said...

Gorgeous! I may have to get myself that DVD. I aspire to such loveliness. Clearly, I need to start practicing!

Unknown said...

Your FMQ is really coming on - I've just started to dabble and am finding that I should have been less afraid and am now having a blast - here's hoping I get up to the same skill level as you before the end of the year.

Karen said...

I'd say that you are getting the hang of the machine quilting. I just can't make mine look good like that.

The owl fabric is a hoot!

Carrie P. said...

Wow, great job. Love that feather.

lesley said...

Can you enlighten me about the bird fabric - not the owls - it
looks like robyn red breasts fabric
please. I am about to start a quilt that need birds that can be
made into 6" blocks. Lesley

Janet said...

Sorry I couldn't reply Leslie, I don't have your contact details but the birds are actually tissue paper, it would be nice if it was fabric.