About mid week, I thought about making a tote bag -- it's functional, and I'd get some use of it. I'm trying to get quilts out of my house, and I have no need for yet another mini. My plan was to make the tote bag on Saturday, but I was not excited or motivated by the thought of making it. So I procrastinated and worked on another project.
Time was running out. I finally decided on a simple strip quilt where I could practice my free-motion quilting. I sewed together ten 2.5-inch strips from my binding scrap box. The motifs are a combination of ones that I'm comfortable with and new ones. The challenge was fitting the motifs into the narrow 2-inch strip and trying new motifs.
First row - a mix of stipple and loops
Second row - wishbones
Third row - stars and loops
Fourth row - flowers and loops
Fifth row - boxy stipple
Sixth row - small and large elongated loops
Seventh row - square stipple (but don't make a box)
Eighth row - triangle stipple
Ninth row - sparkler/snowflake motif that I borrowed from Leanne @ Devoted Quilter
Tenth row - spirals
So now I have a 20 x 20 inch visual to help me decide on what quilting motif to use on quilts and to show me where I need to improve.
As much as I hate to "waste" supplies, this was a good exercise. I will definitely make a larger piece in the future and practice again.
I think having the visual to look at for quilting motifs will be a nice tool!
ReplyDeleteWhat a great practice piece! And pretty as well!
ReplyDeleteHappy Quilting! :-)
quiltinggail
Great motifs. I need to practice more. In a rush, I default to straight Line.
ReplyDeleteGreat visual! My favorite is the red strip with the cute flower and loop de loop. What's yours?
ReplyDeleteGreat idea! I have a sketch book from the dollar store where I try out ideas, but I like how yours are in one place.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great opportunity for practicting FMQ motifs, plus it will be a wonderful reference for when you are stuck on how to quilt future quilt tops!
ReplyDeleteThis was a great idea for practicing FMQ! You did a really good job!
ReplyDeleteThis was a great piece to practice your quilting motifs Anja!
ReplyDeleteIt is very inspiring ..... I’d like to make one too, this would definitely find a home on my sewing room wall as a great aide memoir (ooooh, I’m sure you don’t need an aide memoir, just saying I would ...... oops I’d better stop now! Tee hee!)
I love it and the colours!
Barbara x😊
Great idea for practicing FMQ designs. It's a much prettier way to do it than my usual plain quilt sandwiches that never become a finished piece.
ReplyDeletei love this so much! i love that you used this challenge to practice free motion quilting and you're not afraid of it! This is absolutely the most perfect place to do that!
ReplyDeleteThe title makes me snicker. (Because sometimes I'm a twelve year old boy ��) Smart to make an actual reference for your quilting!
ReplyDeleteHi Anja, I'm just going through your Project Quilting posts. Great projects! This one will be practical and let's face it, the more we practice our FMQ the better we get!
ReplyDelete