Project Quilting 9.3 - Bold and Brave

I survived the third week of Project Quilting hosted by Kim @ Persimon Dreams.  This week's theme was Bold and Brave.  Only three more challenges to go.

I struggled with ideas, but then remembered I was taking a workshop through my guild with Andrea @ 3rd Story Workshop -- appliqué maps.

We spent a lot of time cutting out the maps.  I choose not to be precise (because it was too fiddly), so maybe a few small islands might have disappeared.  Artistic license...that's my story, and I'm sticking to it.  😉

I also took artistic license and decided some of the parks didn't exist because they were too small to cut out.

Steam a Seam was used to adhere the map to the background.  I always thought Steam a Seam and Wonder Under (fusible interfacing) were the same.  I learned a lot, and I like that you can reposition Steam a Seam.

The Magdalen Islands turned into one island, and I may have ripped Cape Breton (part of Nova Scotia) in half.  Oops.  Artistic license I say.

The parks were then ironed on.  I used Kona Deep Blue for the background; White for the maps; and Mint for the provinces.

Rough free motion quilting around the map to keep it in place.  My free motion ocean currents are a little wonky, but I'm saying the seas were rough that day.  😉

We also free motioned the highways in each province.  More artistic license.  This finishes at 12.5 inches.

And if that wasn't enough bold and brave for one day, I decided to try a faced binding.  I found a great video tutorial and just went for it.  Here's the back.  Ignore the messy quilting -- my Singer doesn't like free motion quilting.

Nova Scotia is on the east coast of Canada.  New Brunswick (far left), Prince Edward Island (attached to New Brunswick by bridge and reachable from Nova Scotia by ferry), and Nova Scotia are considered the Maritime Provinces.  If the map were bigger, Newfoundland and Labrador would be in the upper right-hand corner, and the four provinces are considered the Atlantic Provinces.

This was a good learning experience.  I tried some new things, even though I was hesitant.

You can vote for your favourite project here.

#Brave Quilter - Paper Piecing Conquered!

Riding a bit of a high from Glamp Stitchalot and feeling cocky about my paper piecing skills, I decided to set paper piecing as my #BraveQuilter June goal.

I jumped right in and finished off my Carolyn Friedlander row.  Woo hoo!!  And then I saw my mistake....are you kidding me???  I pieced a section in blocks 2 and 3 wrong (middle and right).  So I took apart block 1 (the least amount of seam ripping).

Success!  A finished row.  A few imperfections but all in all pretty darn good.

And then on to the airplanes by Rashida Coleman-Hale.

I just need to piece these two planes to the one I finished at Glamp.  Not sure in which order to put the colours.

I didn't finish the paper piecing blocks by Penny Layman as they don't appeal to me.  Maybe I'll work on them over the summer....or not.

Linking up with Pink Doxies as I'm a #Brave Quilter!!!

#BraveQuilter - Paper Piecing Pandemonium

Cutting it close to the deadline for June's #BraveQuilter link up.

I hate paper piecing; however, I may have moved from hate to don't like.  Last weekend, I attended Glamp Stitchalot (more details in a future post).  Three of the six classes were paper piecing.  Are you kidding me????  However, each of the teachers provided a helpful hint, and with those techniques, I was able to finish some of the blocks.

Here is my block from Carolyn Friedlander's class.  I need to make two more blocks to finish the row in the quilt.  This is my favourite block of all the paper piecing.

There were three blocks in Penny Layman's class.  I finished my mountain.  I got one section of my tree done, but didn't get to the star block.  I think there are five mountains, five trees, and seven stars to finish the row.

The airplane in Rashida Coleman-Hale's class was partially paper pieced.  I need to make two more airplanes to finish the row.

Because of the new techniques I learned, I'm going to attempt to finish the rest of the paper pieced blocks.  I'm not committing to making them all, but I would like to do two more Carolyn Friedlander blocks at a minimum.

I finished the rows from the other three classes.  Stay tuned for a post about the adventure.

Friday Finish - Floating Triangles

My May OMG goal was to finish my Floating Triangles, which is also one of my Q2 Finish Along goals.

I finally found some time to watch some of Creative Quilting with Your Walking Foot by Jacquie Gering.  I learned a few things because I ended up with this.

I am a @Brave Quilter!!

The first several rounds were difficult and are a bit wonky.

Things got better once I started moving outward.

It took several nights to quilt because I used the width of my walking foot.  Next time...much larger spacing between the rounds.

I am very happy with the result.

Linking up with:

Thank Goodness It's Finish Friday @ Crazy Dutch Bird Quilts 

Finish It Up Friday @ Crazy Mom Quilts

Can I Get a Whoop Whoop? @ Confessions of a Fabric Addict 

OMG @ Red Letter Quilts

#BraveQuilter @ Pink Doxies

OMG...I'm a #BraveQuilter

It's time to set May's One Monthly Goal.  The Floating Triangles quilt has been a WIP for a few months, so time to get it quilted.  It's also one of my Finish Along 2016 Q2 goals.

I received a lot of feedback on quilting back in March when I unveiled this WIP.  I love the quilting community -- there's never a shortage of advice and support when you need it.

Based on several recommendations, I purchased the Craftsy class Creative Quilting with Your Walking Foot by Jacquie Gering.  My goal is to quilt radiating circles starting at the intersection in the top left-hand corner where the four oranges make a square.  I'm a bit nervous, but I'm going to do it!

I'm looking forward to watching Jacquie's class and getting started on the quilting.  I can't wait to load the orange thread into my machine!

OMG - I Hate Quilting

OMG is done!  I may have mentioned a few times that quilting is not my favourite part of the process.  But I have been trying to broaden my horizons and have been using new FMQ motifs.  Which I have enjoyed doing, but I still hate quilting!!!

I decided to jump on the #BraveQuilter bandwagon hosted by Julie @ Pink Doxies.  Dot-to-dot quilting, here I come.  Well...I had to do a lot of travelling in the ditch to get this quilted.  Which was better than a million starts and stops.  But, I was cranky the entire time while quilting.

And then I didn't like the quilting when I was done.  The pinwheel motif at the intersection of the blocks didn't wow me.

But I managed a great photo shoot during our recent quilt retreat.  Which made me happy.  Thanks to Dena for her assistance.

This was my April OMG goal, as well as one of my Q2 Finish Along goals.

Linking up with:

Thank Goodness It's Finish Friday @ Celtic Thistle Stitches

Finish It Up Friday @ Crazy Mom Quilts

Can I Get a Whoop Whoop? @ Confessions of a Fabric Addict 

It's April OMG!

It's time to set a goal for April.  One Monthly Goal is hosted by Heidi @ Red Letter Quilts.

I finished this quilt top back in January.  But Strip Twist has been hanging around my sewing room because I had no clue how to quilt it.  Procrastination time is over -- my April OMG is to quilt this.

And because I need motivation to get it quilted and to continue to try new things,  I'm going to be a #BraveQuilter and link up with Julie @ Pink Doxies -- I'm going to do dot-to-dot quilting.  There's no turning back now that I've spoken it into the universe.

I recently watched Angela Walters: Dot to Dot Quilting (this is an affiliate link whereby I receive a small commission if you purchase the class).  This is a great class, and I'm no longer afraid to try new FMQ motifs (okay maybe still a little bit afraid, but not so afraid not to try new things).  I'm surprised at how motivated I was to jump in after watching this class.  Now to muster that same motivation and courage to get this one quilted.

Will you be a #BraveQuilter this month?