Progress

I realize it's been a while since I posted.

Not much exciting and picture worthy going on around here.

We're getting ready to put up a second pen for the chickens and ducks.

We have all the supplies but haven't actually started yet.

Hopefully this week we will start.

I have basted two quilts in preparation for quilting.

A close up of the exciting basting stitches.

It took me two to three days per quilt sandwich.

Lots of hours sitting on the floor and stitching.

I think we're all thankful to have the living room floor back.

:)

(From one of my practice sessions.)

This is the first big project I have attempted to stitch free motion quilting.

I have to be honest and say I'm a bit intimidated.

I spent nearly a week practicing.

It is easier than I thought and yet it's challenging at the same time.

There's a lot to think about and do.

It takes coordination to move the quilt with my hands while the sewing machine stitches.

Think of it as if someone was holding a pencil stationary while

you moved the paper to draw something.

It takes practice.

Move too slow and you have tiny stitches.

Move too fast and you have large stitches.

I can change the speed and stitch length of my machine.. but it has to be coordinated with how I sew.

I watched a lot of videos on Youtube.

Practice, practice, practice.

Feeling semi-confident, I dove right in.

I know it won't be perfect and there will be lots of mistakes.

I'm OK with that. I have to start somewhere.

This was about halfway through the first side.

I was really satisfied with my progress.

Ah...pride before a fall.

 

It was then that I realized the batting had folded over and I had quilted it into the back.

Oops.

The good news is that due to the way I'm working on this project, no one will see this side.

I wasn't about to rip out stitches and redo this area.

I simply cut as close to the stitching as possible and left it.

:)

As I got to the darker fabric it was nearly impossible to see my stitches.

I began marking a box to sew in.

This has helped to keep me from stitching over my previous area.

I'm about halfway through one of the quilts.

I might be quite proficient by the time I'm done with both of them.

OK maybe not, but I'll have the experience!

I'm also occasionally working on my confetti table runner.

I have two sides attached.

I'm getting closer to actually finishing this top. :)

Quilt Quack 12

I know this is neither a duck nor a quilt but it was a rather pretty rainbow.

The colors were really vivid just before I took this photo.

I'm about to embark on a new adventure in my quilting journey.

This is a 15 pound bag of poly pellets.

They are safe to wash and dry.

I'm attempting to make my first weighted quilt.

I'm a bit excited and nervous all at the same time.

It should be fun.

The young man to receive this blanket loves the movie Cars.

This will be the front.

I'm not cutting it up into fancy piecework.

I didn't want to cut into Lightening McQueen and his friends.

:)

The recipient also happens to love mustaches.

I also happened to find some fun mustache fabric for the back.

I bought my first bolt of batting!

I was price shopping and came across this deal.

It happens to be perfect for some of my projects.

I will try to take pictures as I venture my way into this uncharted territory (for me anyway).

It's supposed to rain all weekend.

We'll see how much I can get done. 

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Last but not least, here is a picture of my in-law's duck, Ducky.

He roosts with the chickens.

Silly duck.