Lower Wings, Raise Flaps and keep the rudder steady....

Yes, I'm practicing my free motion quilting again.  My sampler from 2014 has been assembled for a while but not quilted.  While hand quilting would have been ok, it is after all called a "sampler".   First, I started with the walking foot.  A couple of my blocks look really neat.  However, doing straight lines can only hold one's attention for so long.  Thus, the FM journey began again!  This quilt is only 48" square - just a nice size.  After doing several Civil War commemorative quilts that range in 98" to 104", smaller quilts are now my favorite.  So how do these flight terms fit in.....free motion quilting rules number 1-100 all have to do with "relax", after that the remaining rules get quite technical.  When my wings(elbows)were out - bobbin thread showed; wings in but flaps slumping - bobbin thread showed and finally keeping the rudder(foot pedal) going at a reasonably rate (slow) gave the  stitching process better stitches.  After reminding myself of these rules, my mantra, the free motion looked pretty good....for me!

 I chose only 9 of the 12 blocks - keeping the size down.

 This center block ended being a grid design just by going with how the block angled.  I love the color and now I'm even impressed with  the quilting on this block.

 Well, then the FMQ!  The more I did it, over several days and many, many hours, my squiggles stretched and stretched!  Towards the end of this exercise hand quilting was appealing once again!

I may have shown this quilt earlier in the year as I used used dryer sheets as the base for the border rectangles.  At the first stage of FMQ, I was matching colors, well that got to be tedious with the scrappy rectangles!  So I just chose a color and went with it.  I'm showing the back as this is my missionary fabric.  I bought it because I liked the colors and it helped a school in Africa.  So what to do with a small quilt?  

 In the spring of 2003 I took my first quilting class, hand quilting.  The above quilt is my class project.  Everything was completed by hand....boy have I come a long way!

This quilt has been my lap quilt since completed in 2003!  My stitches are huge and oh my, the colors chosen.  The binding has been coming off for a long time now.  I put it on my lap even in the summer.    When my helpers come in from outside their wet paws go on it and my me.  It's time for it to retire, just like the owner.

My patient helpers! Is she done yet?  Dog days of summer....it's only 81 degrees up here!

Lemon Quilts has a great tutorial on how to sew Y seams!  Enjoy!