To Do Tuesday #43 - Making Progress

Here we are again...another week has flown by. My list from last week:

- continue to fill my current freemotion-quilting project. I want to take my time with this a bit to really try a few unfamiliar designs in order to just practice and hopefully commit them to muscle memory.✅

- continue on my knitting projects ( I did continue in the week and I will show you my new socks once they are completed...have about 30 rows to go)✅

- continue on the cat quilt, maybe do just one more cat block.✅

Whoa! Stuck to my plan, that is a first!

So I continued on my freemotionquilting project. Got quite a bit done but was a bit dismayed at not being better at it. Always humbling to see that you still have a lot of learning to do.

My 'splat design in the upper part worked fine and flowed really well. Combined this with some filler elements and pebbles. As so often I do get carried away with the pebbles and had to make a conscious effort to do other little floral elements to break that up. Not that I like pebbles better, but once I get going I can just pebble along for a really long time. It's almost hypnotic!

Then I quilted that rainbow design. Had trouble with that when I first tried it in the workshop (Bethanne Nemesh' Breaking Boundaries workshop) and lo and behold, found this very troublesome again. Not sure what this is...it is such a simple design but my brain just does not want to follow along it seems. As I had started on it, I persevered as it was going to 'eat' up a whole chunk of area when combined with some straight lines. 

Not really that happy with it but I am leaving it and put it down to a learning experience. Found that I had to really think this through and make a conscious effort to make them look behind and in front. Then on the side I obviously got sick of it and made them somewhat bigger which does not look good. So what did I learn:

- need to keep the rainbows at a manageable scale

- need to build on them rather than quilting rainbows in a row

- need to watch the spacing between the lines.

On a positive note though, when combined with straight lines you can fill a vast amount of area very quickly, so overall a really effective backfiller.

I did a bit more knitting in the evening but the sock is not yet finished, so I will show a photo in the next few weeks. However, I also continued on my cat quilt. I love Elizabeth Hartman designs and started that cat quilt some years ago using a range of predominantly brown fabrics that matched our cat.

She has got such nice colouring and I just had the perfect fabric to match that.

When I looked at what I had done I just thought that it was ridiculous that I have had this sitting around for years as a UFO and just sat down to make a few more blocks. They are not difficult to do, it is just a bit of a hassle to cut out all the pieces. The actual sewing is quite effortless. Made three blocks in one sitting and thought if I devote one day per week to make 3-4 blocks I will get this done! It is just a matter of doing it rather than sitting there thinking about it.

Apart from this also bought some new fabric when visiting a newly opened shop in the area...just could not resist as it was on special!

Ducks in rows! Too cute...the fabric is 'Ducky Tales by Lucie Crovatto for Studio E Fabrics. Almost got sidetracked again into starting something new, but eventually put it in the drawer for another day. This would lend itself to some fussy cutting of a four ducks charm square and then matching the fabric with some alternate blocks. That would be rather cute. 

So for the remainder of the week I will

- continue on my freemotionquilting project

- continue and hopefully finish my sock

- make another cat block or two

- re-think my Australian Christmas tree quilt. It is ready to be pinned and basted but I am now thinking of maybe just doing a pantograph over it rather than doing an involved backfiller as I am not really sure what I am going to do with that quilt. As I got other projects to finish I am thinking that this will just hold me up unnecessarily.

- deliver the charity quilts and pick up a new lot.

Linking up to To Do Tuesday #43 over at Quilt Schmilt 

Also linking up to:

Midweek Makers over at Quilt Fabrication

My Quilt Infatuation
 

Karin