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08-21-2013

Sassy Sampler

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Bound and done! Finished up my Sassy Sampler quilt and an experiment in free motion quilting. Not even close to perfect, but I am happy with what I am learning. This was a good chance to practice lots of stitches and I tried to force my self to do just that! This quilt is not for anyone in particular and was lingering in my UFO pile, so it was perfect to let loose and stitch like I meant it:)

No marking allowed on this quilt, just free and easy…all the way.

My thread was a beige colored polyester that blended in most areas. *Bonus: Don’t see all the fumbles. *Down Side: It blended so well in some areas it actually made it difficult to see what I was doing, but definitely showed up in the dark brown areas!

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Made a skinnier binding this go ’round…2″ strips to start. I usually use 2.5″ strips.

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Machine bound, tutorial here.

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Had fun with these swirls in the star petals.

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Really liked the up and down bars, too. Easier than I thought.(eww…photo bombed by a bug)

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Clamshell,  wood grain, pebbles and wierd flame-swirl?…

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Most difficult stitch: concentric swirls in two of my corner blocks. I found it very hard to keep the swirls circular. They are a little blobby(?) The other two corners were a paisley design. Much easier and when it gets a little off it doesn’t glare at you. The thread matched so well you can only see any of it in just the right light.

When done I had used 6 Bobbins and a spool and a half of thread(med-size spool). It is pretty stiff with all these stitches, but I haven’t washed it yet. Hoping it will soften up a bit and you probably will not be able to see many of the stitches in the wrinkles anyway.

One more UFO has bit the dust! On to the next.

Keep it Sassy

Links:

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08-17-2013

Sample Please!

 

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Hola Sassaritas! Hope you had a fabulous week. My internet has been el crasho, so let me catch you up on what I have been up to.

My progress on the Star Surround QAL with Melissa@Happy Quilting! All my lovely little stars. Liking the yellows, the polka dots and stripes are my favorite. I was doubting some of the fabrics, but I think they will add to the scrappines. It’s hard not to over think it, right?

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Had a Friday off this week, which is awesome, because I got to pull out my Sampler quilt which I started almost 3 Years ago!!! I made this top with my Sassy Quilters Guild as we learned lots of new techniques and all about some popular traditional quilting blocks. It was a fun project and I only used scraps from my stash to make it. The colors were not my typical palette, but I took what I had and threw them in the pot, and here is what came out. I actually really like the combo.  This year I am pulling out a lot of old tops I made (and then abandoned) and trying to get them done!

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I am also trying to make myself continue to practice my FMQ on these tops. I am okay with all my machine quilting when it comes to straight lines or following markings, but I want to learn the “free” part of Free-Motion-Quilting:) So I went for it. No marking…just quilting what came to me. Sorry to say this felt like a flop, but since I used (mostly)matching thread, it doesn’t really show that much, except for on the dark brown, yikes! As I was contemplating why I don’t feel like I am progressing that much with this technique…I realized that if I added up my hours, it may be less than I think. I have concluded that I need some practice samples and actually go over each technique/design…A LOT! Get my  muscle memory going and all. My usual M.O. is to have a quilt top sandwiched and sit down and power out a whole quilt in a day and then not do it again for a month or longer. More daily work and not making it a marathon may help….am I rambling now? Oh, well…I just want to be awesome without practicing…is that too much to ask??? Here are some pics:

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Note: I am only showing the least scary pics:) This last one I knew would be rough with the dark fabric and light thread. I could have drawn it all out, but where is the fun in that…

On a super fun note :) here are some awesome fabrics I won from Lisa@InTheBoonDocks. Thanks Lisa!

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Hmmmm….. what to do with these.

Keep it Sassy

And don’t forget to check out tomorrow’s Sunday Funday @627Handworks! Lot’s of free stuff to win:)

Links:

Stitch by StitchBetter Off Thread  Fresh Poppy Design 

 

 

 

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