Fun with Free Motion

Today I had a to do an oral paper in writing. UGH! I am not a stand up in front of a bunch of people and feel at ease kind of girl. Small groups, I'm ok, and with people I know, I'm goofy. ;) Can you guess my topic? Lol* What else would I write about? Quilts! I didn't know much about the history of quilts so I thought that would be a fun topic to research. We were required to bring something visual and use a few note cards to speak. Well I did stumble a bit the first few minutes I stood up there at the podium and tried to go from my note cards...but once I began pulling out the quilts and things it went much smoother. I could have gone on for days. Lol* It turned out to be a fun time despite my initial fears and to boot, it has inspired me to do a little practicing.

So on to what this post is really about. I thought it would be fun to practice my free motion quilting since my range is basically stippling to vines. I have done some echo quilting on a small quilt that were really rough echoes but ended up having a nice folk art feel. Santa if you're reading this post...what I would REALLY love to have some day is a long-arm. Or even something on a smaller scale. I once saw a Tin Lizzie that looked like it might be the ticket for someone like me who'd love to try long arming but doesn't have the money OR the space to do it. Well until then, I've got to make do with what I've got and that's a Simplicity Quilter's Classic! LOL* So here are some of the results:

I began with some paisley that for now is my favorite! Very easy and looks so cool. Then I tried to ease into feathers...


Feathers are going to take some major practice! I plan on tooting around with those for tonight since I don't have any studying to do. Just some cleaning, laundry, and baths.


Last I attempted some stars that turned out really cool! Leah did these a long time ago and showed them off on her blog. They were so neat I have since always wanted to try them but just never got around to it. Thanks for the inspiration Leah! I'm definitely going to use those on a project soon.Here's a little shot of how it looks from a distance...you can see how I progressed. I might even attempt a mini tonight...I'll show pictures when I'm through! :)