Being Modern

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A couple of months ago I started working on a modern quilt, as presented by Leah Day and the Free Motion Quilting Project. This is where I got some online teaching, watched FMQ videos, got step by step help, and have had successes. That is a good feeling!

Making these two pieces (one front and one back) was great fun since there wasn't exact measuring and cutting to be fussed over, the colors didn't have to be analyzed to death, the sizes of the blocks could be different and "wonky", and the sewing was reasonably simple.

The green side is considered the top. Once again, my hubby has claimed this one to be a good one for him. It's long enough to tuck under foot and wide enough to not be too bulky. I did the binding in dark green around three sides but the side with the light green edge (left side in the picture below) is the "top" edge. Don't you hate it when you pick up a blanket or sheet and have to twirl it around a few times before you figure out where the "top" is? That was my simple solution to that dilemma!

The purple side became what it is because I had too many wonky squares made after I decided what I wanted to put on the green side. We can't not use them! I think I didn't have enough solid purple to cover the entire back so 2 and 2 were quickly put together to make a very obvious 4. Seriously, that was one of the great things about this modern design - it just didn't matter so much. It could be whatever it came out to be! And I liked it! Score!!!

Which side do you like better?

On to the intricate free motion quilting, which I lovingly refer to as FMQ. This quilt was to have 5 different patterns in the quilting. Some wavy lines were sewn around the entire quilt to cut it up into sections and the FMQing was done in each section. I wound up with three large teardrops and sixteen open sections. The teardrops were filled with something similar to a sound wave or an echo of the curve of the shape. I forgot to take a picture of that part but you can barely see one in the purple pic above on the right, middle side with the point going to the right. Can you see it?

So, in the sixteen sections, I did each FMQ pattern three times and one I did four times. The patterns were:

Circuit Board. I enjoyed this one. Very boxy and linear. I saw where it was difficult to keep lines straight along the curved borders but did my best to keep the pattern square.

Loopy Line. I really enjoy making curves and circles. This was definately my favorite and I really like the way it looks on the material. I was going along just fine with this pattern and suddenly I realized there were issues on the backside. Birdnesting. Lots of it. After rethreading the top and bobbin several times, I remembered my bobbin was just wound and loaded. It must have not wound correctly. I rewound another bobbin, tried sewing on a scrap piece of material, and viola, I was back in business.

Sharp Stippling. I didn't think that I would struggle with this one as much as I did. I kept telling myself to make a pretty stipple curve and then end it with an "S" shape but my brain had a hard time grasping the design. Those were three sections of unhappiness, but I got through it.

Stippling. Who doesn't love the look of stippling? It's a staple FMQ pattern for filling space. It can be huge or small and whenever I see it, it always reminds me of a pile of brains! Still, I do enjoy sewing the stipple pattern and admiring the end result.

Zippling. This is stippling with straight lines instead of curved ones. It was not too hard to get used to. It would be a good one to use for a manly look, hard and jagged instead of soft and flowy.

My "Modern Quilt" experiment is done and I am happy I tried it out! I would do more of them or something on a smaller scale such as placemats or a lap quilt. My quilt still needs a label, maybe I can get to that soon. What do you think? Would you try out a quilting project like this?