With the new year comes a new look.
The old quilts on the right side of the photo are ones made by a couple of great-grandmothers, a grandmother and an aunt, plus some of their photos and some of their quilting supplies (there is also a photo of my mother when she was young - she is now a quilter too, and recently gave me the Singer feather weight). The large photo is of my great-grandmother - Julienne Doucet - she is the quilter who made the appliqué quilt on the top of the pile - the photo and quilt are both from around the 1880's. The quilt in the background and the ones on the left are mine.
I have noticed that many people are talking about their plans for the new year. I think I am like so many people out there - we want to simplify, de-clutter, use what we have...
My goals are to use what I have, and to get rid of things I know I will never use. I will also be trying to accumulate less!
Last year it was spending less time on the computer and more time "doing" (plus finishing my UFO's) that worked for me. Hopefully I'll be able to say the same thing next year.
To start this year off I have joined Sew Cal Gal's Free Motion Quilting Challenge and decided to make the optional sampler quilt.
I decided to make the one that is 34" x 50", and all the fabrics are from my inherited stash.
The squares are 8". I have the binding all ready, and these are some Aurifil threads that I will use for the free motion quilting (I have already stitched in the ditch with the walking foot in all the seams - I didn't want to keep it pinned for a year).
The January challenge was by Frances Moore - it was practicing leaves.
I have quilted these kind of leaves before (here is my tutorial), but never so close together and curving around one another. I tried all different sizes to see what it would look like.
This was a fun challenge.
For this sampler quilt I used warm and natural batting (because I had a piece the right size).
I also used a Microtex #80 needle and the open toe spring action quilting foot.
I keep the feed dogs up when I quilt, but I set my machine for spring action quilting (the foot kind of "hops").
Have a great day and thanks for stopping by!♥