Another attempt

I tried free motion quilting before (not terribly successfully) and then did a lot of free motion embroidery recently. Then I found this blog ww.dontlooknow.typepad.com and HAD to try her pillow tutorial.

My result is above, which has my first attempt at free motion quilting. I have done embroidery but not quilting. I was quite rusty with the embroidery as well but it came back (to my not amazing previous level) by the time the pillow cover was done.

Thanks for the comments on the picture of me in my new dress. I have worn it often since then.

2nd attempt

Some very soft and girly colour choices. These are much closer in value so shouldn't be as distracting. The girls/dolls/princesses will be holding hands like the kind you fold and cut out, but in different dresses.

The multi coloured floral stripe will not be in the quilt, but might become a Roman blind, so I would like the colours to coordinate. The pale pink paint swatch is on the fabrics in the first and third photos.

Maisie really doesn't want to move, so she is being bribed with a new bedroom where she gets to help with the choices. She is a bit of a tomboy, so I am surprised at the direction this is taking. Ballet lessons and peer pressure from the other girls at daycare are having an effect.

Random is hard to do well

Cute is easier though (for some, anyway).

Maisie in her new Mama-made jammies.

I have been tring to make a quilt with princesses on it, loosely based on this quilt from Pottery Barn.

I have fabrics in the colours I would like, but want them in long strips randomly forming the horizonal lines. Random is not easy to get right. I cut three different widths (3.5",4", 4.5") in various colours and cut them to slightly different lengths at around the one third mark

I sewed them in a dark/light order in groups of four. It wasn't until after I had them sewn together that I realised I needed one more block each to be able to stagger them. I had to cannibal-ize the strips to get the width I needed. The pictures ended up all wonky, but they really are straight. It was hard to photograph without standing on a chair and I don't want to do that in front of Maisie. She copies everything.
This is what I ended up with in the few hours I had today to sew. I think I am coming down with the flu, so I had a nap instead of doing any more.

ETA: in retrospect, I think the bars are too busy. The focus should be on the princesses, so I will redo it. I have gifts to make for two friends who recently had little girls, so I think this might become a pair of stroller blankets.

What to do for a hobby once your hobby is your job?

Sew, of course!

I love to sew and I need to create. It is a difficult thing sometimes. I have just finished another very busy spell where I haven't had any time for myself and very little for family or friends. What do I want to do? Head to my studio and create. Work on new (to me) techniques, play a bit. Does hubby understand? Not at all.

Here is my latest hobby attempt.

I have decided to learn to do free motion quilting/embroidery. I realize they are two different things, but similar. I am starting by making a cushion top by Gabriella Verstraeten featured in Machine Embroidery magazine's first issue. I think she is probably a wonderful teacher. This article has many different skills to use/master in one item. There is applique, precise cutting and looser cutting. satin stitch, free motion on larger areas and tighter areas as well as double needle stitching and using the "fancy" stitches on your machine. I am using a straight stitch only Husqvarna Mega Quilter, so I don't have all of the options.Look at the difference in stitching on the pink in the upper corner and then to the right. This is where I took the foot off.

Things I have learned:

I tend to press on the foot lifter bar and thow off my tension.

You need to remove the presser foor and leave it blank and/or use the darning foot. What a difference in control. I should have known this, too. Just in a hurry I guess.

Faster speed means more control, but in my case tends to break more thread.

Purple often photographs as blue.

I know I have a lot to learn, but I think I will like this new technique.