I'm quite enjoying this machine quilting lark but I still have to schedule time for it otherwise it's just not going to happen. Ok, free motion Fridays are hard to keep up with but a regular play is still needed to keep practicing. After seeing
this post by
Jenny Bowker, I decided to run with the idea, killing two birds with one stone, I could make a good sampler piece that I could turn into a cushion. Jenny is teaching a class at Houston for her idea and demonstrated this in Australia at the quilt shows for Bernina. With her permission I am able to share this.
I had loads of fun playing around with different motifs as well as some background fillers.
The texture looks so good in the photos, I just need to wash it and turn it into a really useful item.
The next thing I want to get a grip of is to pay attention to the regularity of the gaps between the stitched lines. I still have to force myself to stop at certain points so I don't lose control of what I'm doing . I also have issues with deciding where to go next and how to get in and out of spots, for me this is the hardest of all.
I've been reading these two books authored by
Diane Gaudynski and learning a lot. I didn't pay a lot of attention to my varied stitch lengths when I started practicing and as I've done more, it has improved enormously. It wasn't easy to learn to drive a car and this is similar, I find myself listening to the sound of the motor and adjusting the speed of my hands and the foot on the pedal. Co-ordinating them all takes time.
Just for fun, I thought I'd share my Grandaughter's fifth birthday cake story. All the kids get to choose their birthday cake and Sophie asked for a list of must haves.
1. A princess.
2. Some sheep.
3. A dog.
Then it got even more specific, the princess had to have a hat and be standing behind the sheep. The dog had to be chasing the sheep. The dog had to be black. This is while the decorating was in full swing. My daughter is a Mum that rocks! By the way, the sheep are made of cupcakes. Jeez, I only ever asked for a banana cake.
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72 comments:
I just LOVE your quilting...great cake too :)
I'm so glad to see your gorgeous quilting.;-)
Love the cake.
Your quilting is stunning...you should see my practice piece...LOL! Such a cute cake too!
Your quilting is absolutely awe inspiring! I can only hope I get as good as you when I get time to practise.
Your quilting is superb. And that cakes looks wonderful!
Your quilting is amazing.
Your quilting is stunning!! It looks like you had fun with it, all those different fillers, love the flowers!! The cake story is a classic! I'm impressed that your daughter was able to accomplish what was asked!
I would certainly say that you are getting the hang of quilting, in a BIG way!! It is beautiful!! I admire those who can do it on their home machine, as I can't. Yes, I can only do it on the long arm. It seems just backwards for me to move the fabric around. Love the texture and fill. Boy that birthday cake is wonderful! I am sure your granddaughter is tickled!
This quilting is wonderful! ... very inspiring, and those cakes are so cute! Thanks for posting!! Sandy
You do such beautiful work!
No surprise your daughter can be so creative with a mother like you! Congratulations to both of you for your amazing abilities.
If this is just for practice I can't wait to see what you do for real! Absolutely beautiful.
Grandchildren to come up with the most wonderful ideas.
Your quilting looks wonderful! Love the cake too! Gotta love little sheep! :0)
Janet, you are a pro. I can't tell your quilting from the professionals! A question for you. What machine do you use? I'm planning to get a new machine that I can use for machine quilting too. Love your GD birthday cake, cute! Hugs Nat
Wow, Janet!!! You quilting is amazing!
Love those cakes! Well done to your daughter....and Happy Birthday to your Grand daughter!
WOW your quilting has come on leaps and bounds - are you marking it out before quilting or going completely 'free'
I've just done my first major piece of quilting away from simple wandering lines - McTavishing along the 2 side panels on a table runner, and I'm chuffed to bits with the result (and how I got on - ended up being able to quilt 100m of thread in about 45-50 minutes) and now looking forward to my next project.
I'm so impressed at how you have mastered the machine quilting - you look expert level.
What a cute cake, and love the cupcakes.
I'm amazed and mesmerized at your quilting. Gorgeous. Darling cake.
WOW Janet your quilting is AWESOME!! I love the shadow play too.
We would always ask for a 3 tier cake and the birthday person always got the top tier LOL. Sophie's cake is wonderful, your daughter certainly does ROCK!!
Crispy
I'd say your daughter rocks too! Wow, what a fantastic cake!!
Your practice piece is really wonderful Janet. I love Jenny's idea to extend the fabric with quilting. Woo-Hoo! It looks really good!!
Simply amazing, Janet!! Your quilting is breathtaking! I've never really been able to just practice quilting for practice's sake -- always have to have a final use in mind or my motivation to practice goes out the proverbial window. Fabulous! What a great cake story -- bravo to your daughter for having the patience and a sense of humor!
Your quilting is divine!!! Thank you for including the link to Jenny B.
Hi Jannet.
This is so beautiful quilting! Wich I lived near by you so you could give me some inspiration :-)
The cookies are so cooool !!!!
Elisabeth
Hi Jannet.
This is so beautiful quilting! Wich I lived near by you so you could give me some inspiration :-)
The cookies are so cooool !!!!
Elisabeth
I have to tell you that your quilting is just AMAZING! Love it...absolutely love it!!
I have enjoyed all your posts about your machine quilting journey and I find them inspiring. By the way your machine quilting really is fabulous. Love the cute cake!
Look at that so cute a cake! :) I love it.
I am really enjoying watching you commit to and evolve with this aspect of the Quilting Art. I find it really fascinating that, as with any art, one needs to practice (a lot) in order to build a rhythm. As you find yourself listening to the machine and becoming one with all aspects of it - that's what I thought of mostly. Just as a pianist must become one with the piano and the music, so too it seems the quilter must become one with the machine in order to really create!
Amazing, Janet.
I think you must have been at the front of the line when HE was handing out patience, creativity and perfection when it comes to sewing and needlework.
And I think your daughter is definitely a chip off the old block, huh? That birthday cake is something else!
Your quilting is so amazing! Absolutely beautiful. And the cake is just darling...what a great daughter you have.
You've really perfected your free motion quilting in a short period of time. And you're experiencing exactly the same challenges as me... feeling that occasionally my machine quilting "runs away with me," and unsure how to avoid getting into tight spots. I'd add one more issue: how in the world do I quilt this!? It's so difficult to know what the "right" quilting design is for a particular quilt. It's intimidating enough that I haven't started the quilt, though it has been pin-basted for weeks! I'm lacking confidence there, but hope to find that, and some inspiration at the American Quilters Society National Quilt Show here in Des Moines, Iowa this week.
I have Diane's book too. She's my idol!
That is so cool to see the stitching extending from the printed flowers. Do you have to be so good at everything??? I love seeing it all.
The cake is terrific! Kids have to end to what they can visualize and all the confidence that it can be done!
It doesn't look like you have any problems at all with your machine quilting - your "sampler" is jaw dropping gorgeous!!
That cake is pretty special too. Around here all I do is ice the cake and throw a box of Smarties over it :0)
Wow Janet, you are getting to be very proficient at machine quilting. It looks gorgeous....absolutely love the "cakes"!!
Wow! And yesterday I was blogging to celebrate the fact that I could sew a straight seam! sheesh!
Beautiful quilting - we are not worthy, we are not worthy!
Wow...that is beautiful machine quilting. I'm so impressed. Mmmmm...cake sounds really good, especially such a cute one as that!
Oh My Goodness!! Such detail to your practice piece !! I love it !!
I need to get busy and start practing too ! But I bet it never gets as good as yours !! Great Job!!
Love the cake idea too.
Your quilting is gorgeous! Great work! I really need to get going and set my mind to practicing!
Your quilting looks fantastic! You've really taken to it?
It's surprising the things Moms try to do to make their kids happy? They make us push our boundaries...and your Daughter did a fabulous job! This story will have to be written down with a pic... as a memento? ;)
I am just stunned at how graceful and fluid your lines are. I would NEVER believe that work was done by someone without a ton of experience!
Your blog has encouraged me to try free motion quilting again. I've taken half a dozen classes and just given myself up as hopeless. But I'm giving it a whirl again.
One thing that I find helpful is to set my Bernina "on" and just let it run at a constant speed without having to think about my foot. I can just concentrate on my hands keeping the fabric moving at a (I could hope) more or less constant rate. I also have to draw my motifs out with an air-soluable pen so I know where I'm going.
No chance at a continuous design yet. I have to start, finish a motif and then start over in a different spot.
You give me encouragement.
rainey
Gorgeous. Obivously practice makes perfect. It is amazing.
Your daughter is a 'chip off the old block' meaning you, not the old part though. The cake is such great fun and I am sure your grand
daughter really enjoyed it. Wonder,
did she cut it?
Cheers. Janet
Well, I am having a hard time picking my jaw up off the floor. Your quilting is ...is....I don't think there is a word for it, but awesome just doesn't seem to cover it. As for the cake.... I have to laugh at how specific she is. Kids are so imaginative. It turned out really cute. Guess it pays to be very detail oriented. LOL
You're doing such a wonderful job Janet! I have that bigger Diane Gaudinski book too -- I think I should crack it open.
This is beautiful quilting--and inspiring quilting. Hmmmmmmmm, thinking,thinking......
Your quilting is absolutely amazing! I will NEVER be able to machine quilt like that! Congratulations!
You never cease to amaze me! Your blog gives so much inspiration to so many people!
Hugs - Lurline♥
Janet I am in love with your quilting, I have just spend five days in Adelaide at the Australian MQF and did a class with Rachelle Denneny ( she has just won a big prize in Houston and they are flying her there). She only uses a DSM and her quilting is amazing. I too will now practise and practise on my DSM, the largest quilt she has done was 102 inches square.
cheers
Christine
Oh you are for sure a natural with that quilting. It is wonderful! I"ve taken 3 classes with Diane Gaudynski and they were wonderful, but boy I don't have the talent you have for it. And that birthday cake is absolutely adorable!
I don't find the words to say how amazing your machine quilting looks like!!!
Janet you're progressing at the light speed:)
Your daughter has had the greatest of tutors in life. The machine quilting looks fanastic Janet and I am in awe of your determination to master something out of your comfort zone.
Love Shirley.
Really loved seeing this.
Debbie
I love, love, love it!
Can't say much that isn't already said here so I just say "Wow!...I'm speechless!". Sooooo beautiful ! Warm wishes to you from Tokyo!
My gosh that is so beautiful. It really is amazing what machine quilting can do. Cute cake too.
To all of you lovely people that left such lovely comments in regards to the cake - thanks for all your lovely comment after a particularly crappy week they really gave me a boost! For the person who asked - yes Sophie cut the cake/s and dished them up for us to eat.
This is beautiful quilting--and inspiring quilting.
Janet..your an inspiration to us all...I love all your work.
Julia ♥
Janet, I don't know what's sweeter, that cake or your quilting!
Wow, your quilting is fantastic, goes to show you practice make perfect. That cake is super cute.
That cake is phenomenal. I'm gobsmacked. It makes me wonder what my daughter is going to dream up when she gets older! And your quilting is just beautiful. Wow.
I love your quilting it is inspiring but I almost appreciate your tips and suggestions moreso. Thanks for encouraging those of us who are just starting this quilting journey. I'm almost afraid to admit it but I have started hand piecing a double wedding ring which I plan to hand quilt. So far the piecing isn't going so bad. wish me luck. I love the machine quilting that I've seen and I plan to start practicing that as well. Keep inspiring us.
Breathtaking Janet!! This is a good idea!! I think if I had something pieced together...like a table runner...have it handy...I think I would actually do more practicing...'cause practice is what it takes!!
I'm confused... do you think you're having problems with your machine quilting? That sampler is unbelievable!! Did you have a pattern or did you just doodle? You are very talented!
Brilliant, Janet!!! I SEW want to SEW with YOU some day!!! : )
I wonder where your daughter learned to be such a terrific Mum...?!
xo!
I am simply amazed by your quilting. Your pillow will be a masterpiece:)
Awesome quilting, Janet.
Just Awesome. When I have tried machine quilting I have trouble figuring out how to get out of a corner too.
Cute cake. So glad she got her wish.
You are getting to be an expert machine quilter - its just lovely and you should be so proud of yourself! Your grandaughter's birthday cake and request are just adorable.
Wow-your quilting is awesome - Love the shadow quilting :o)
Your grandaughters birdthay cake idea is so funny.
LOVELY machine quilting. Unfortunately, one does have to practice. If you ever have the chance to take a class with Diane Gaudynski, do - she is WONderful and you would learn a lot. She talks about the dreaded "lagoon of puff" - that extra poofiness you get when the stitching lines aren't spaced quite right. :)
GORGEOUS!!!!! INSPIRING!
Janet,
You are an absolutely pro at this!!! You need to enter your work in Quilt Shows!
Hi Janet - haven't been around much lately so just catching up on the who's doing what - OMG have you been doing the what! I cannot believe how great your machine quilting is! If you ever decide to make it your business, I'm your number one customer please - it's gorgeous!
Janet, your machine quilting is stunning. I could study those pictures for hours. I really like how you are using different designs to cover the whole surface: it creates a contemporary look based in very traditional designs: awesome! I have read this before, about needing to learn to really listen to your machine and adjust your movements accordingly: fascinating. I would love to have more time, one day, to really spend time practicing this. You give me courage that this could be in my future. :)
and WHAT A CAKE!!! LOL
Those sheep are so cute, but the dog steals the show: Congratulations, Sophie!
Don't know how i missed this post! Wow!!! Glad I found it. Your quilting is amazing!
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