March FMQ Challenge

     Anyone practicing  free motion quilting for the challenge?   This month is really basic and good review.....meandering, loops, swirls.   Figuring out where to do what type of quilting is usually the biggest challenge.  Guess that is why a notebook of ideas is suggested this month.

   I pulled all those loose pages I had saved with quilting motifs from magazines and such and put them in one notebook. I was amazed at the number I have saved.   Now I have a great reference source.   So part one done.

  Now for the practice.  I decided to finish up the tissue box owls and experiment with different quilting.

Meandering....stippling is the very dense version.  Meandering  reminds me of arms, legs and noses!  This is what I generally use when I quilt a watercolor quilt, where the quilting is probably never going to be noticed because of all the floral prints.   On the WC quilts I do it medium to large style, very open and not dense.  When washed, this pattern has the look of a soft old-fashioned quilt.   Dense meandering or stippling will make the quilt flat....like a pancake, but it is great to make appliques stand out or those feathers from last month.

Loops....I like doing the curling loops.  This pattern reminds me of a lasso and the way it twists and curls back on itself.  When nothing else seems to interest me, I do lots of loops.   Or sometimes the loops are like a lot of "L" shape letters just strung together with meandering.   One great benefit of this pattern is that it can work in a good bit of  fullness---ahem, that's really excess fabric---especially in a border.






Swirls.....use them anywhere!   Open swirls in a larger style are my favorite pattern.  A great all over pattern that seems to soften and blend the entire quilt.   But I also find myself doing smaller, closer ones to create texture in open areas.

Packed tear drops.....create a really neat texture.  I just threw this one in because I like the look it creates.   Then I whipped out to the border and finished the whole thing off with the vines and leaves from January.
  Check out the other progress at SewCalGal blog for the free motion challenge.
  My design wall  is empty!  How did that happen?  Time to cut fabric and get something going.  I think I am going to work on another Bonnie Hunter pattern, the variation of her star struck.
Happy stitching.