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July’s Web Article: Color Concepts in Scrap QuiltsThe first thing I would like to tell you is the good news. If you are making a truly scrappy quilt with a wide range of colors it is very difficult to go wrong. No one looks at a rainbow and say, “Meh, it’s OK but it would be better with less orange.” The classic scrap quilt and is charming and lovely just as it is. |
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Painless Practice for Free Motion QuiltingWe all know that to get better at anything we will need to practice. But what a pain in the neck. First, you have to sacrifice some fabric and batting to practice on. Second, you spent all that time but don’t really have anything to show for it. |
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| Remember back to grade school when you first learned to write. OK, I don’t remember that far back myself, but I remember when my kids were learning to write. The were taught each letter then given some sheets to practice. After that, they just used the skill day after day. They “practiced” by writing every day in their other assignments. I figure if this is the way millions of kids learn to write, it is a good enough method for me to learn how to free motion quilt.I decided that I wanted to quilt a small feathery flower in the center of each of the larger square blocks in this quilt. I did a little bit of practice on a scrap fabric and batting, then after I finished the quilt, I came back and made another flower on the practice piece. While not perfect, you can see the improvement before and after. |
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1st Flower
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5th Flower
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100th Flower
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I used light brown thread on the lighter blocks and dark brown thread on the darker blocks and the quilting isn’t overly obvious even when looking at a detail of the quilt. For me, the moral of the story is, don’t wait until your free motion quilting is perfect before you start using it on your quilts. |
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| You didn’t learn to write overnight, so there is no reason to expect that your free motion quilting will be perfected after only a few hours. Make your practice part of your normal quilting process and watch your skill grow slowly and naturally over time. Unless the quilt is going in a show, or you are being paid for it, whatever level your quilting is now is good enough. The most important thing is to enjoy yourself. |
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Thanks for the free motion tip. I always felt the same way and you have affirmed my beliefs. 😊
I am happy to hear it!