Some FMQ

I've been really wanting to try a bit more free motion quilting recently. I signed up for a couple of Angela Walters classes on Craftsy and I've been doodling designs to practice.

 Last week I was inspired by the lovely Laura to pull out the left overs from my Swoon Quilt and planned to make a couple of cushions, but after a bit of playing and a week look in the latest issue of Fat Quarterly I used Svetlana's beautiful pattern to make a baby quilt using the leftover HSTs I'd made as I stitched my Swoon. I added a couple of borders (more leftovers) and found a yard and a half of fabric (same line as most of my Swoon) that was the perfect fit for backing.

Last night I decided to just do it and try some different fmq. I'm pretty happy with how it looks and you can see it a bit batter on the back of the quilt.

Angela Walters is so reassuring in her classes and she makes it really clear that it doesn't matter if it's not perfect - and mine certainly isn't, but I think it's turned out okay, and it's given me lots of confidence to try out some more of the designs in her book.

The quilt is tumbling around in the dryer just now, so I'll maybe show how it looks after washing in my next post. I seem to have a bit of an obsession with orange binding at the moment!

Fiona x

I've been keeping a secret!

And now I get to share!

The lovely Jo is organising a quilt retreat in Edinburgh this summer!!!!!!!!

It's on Sunday 25th August and is a day-long extravaganza of quilty stitchy fun!

There are more details on Jo's blog or you can find out more and register your interest on the Stitch Gathering website.

I'm so very excited about it and am pretty much counting down the days! The beautiful city of Edinburgh is the perfect place for a retreat, and it's so easy to get to by plane, train or automobile.

So, can you make it? I really hope you can! :)

Have a great weekend!

Fiona x

Aaaaannd Relax.....

Phew! It's been a busy few weeks around here! I've been struggling to find a balance between my new course-work and general family life and work. There's been a lot of tail chasing but I have just submitted my first assignment and feel like I relax for a little while.

 In my last post I was trying to decide if I was strong enough to give away my precious scrappy blues quilt. Well it turns out that Sarah and Lynz were right and I am Gollum! I couldn't give it away!

My Sister in Law did have a baby boy, and I whipped up another quilt using some hoarded Stoey Boek by Birch and some other bits and bobs.

As it turns out, she loves it. Being organic, it's lovely and soft and apparently whales are really in fashion just now! - Who knew?!

Meanwhile the precious quilt is sitting folded up on my treadle sewing machine and I can stroke it every time I walk past :)

I've also been making Bee blocks, enjoying some new crafty books and online classes, and been playing with some very delicious Carnaby Street by Pat Bravo that got sent my way,  but I'll tell you about that another time.

For now I'm off to have a cuppa and give myself a pat on the back for getting my assignment submitted on time :)

Happy Wednesday!
Fiona x