October Free Motion Quilting Challenge

   Doodle time.....Teri Lucas is the challenege expert this month at SewCalGal .  We had to do a paper doodle, beginning with our name and outlining, and then fill in the area.  I did the paper doodle, and moved on to fabric....experimenting with different colors and threads as she suggested.  I did not have silk fabric to experiment with, but did try some silk thread for part of this.
  The silk, for the name and outline, is very nice to stitch with.  I do not care for heavier threads--quilting weight 30 or 40--- the green thread on the left area.  It lays on top of the fabric almost and requires a slower speed for stitching.   Slower speed  leads to less than nice stitches.  It is not for me.
 I still dislike doing geometric type stitching.  'nuf said on that.

   But what I liked about this lesson was the last part that Teri shared.

   You can see part of her tutorial on the right in this photo.  She showed conch shells made from swirls!   I began doodling and drawing to understand how these babies developed.  By the fourth one I kind of had it figured out.....but my pebbles just look like a funny string of beads.
   The swirl needs to spiral in at least twice to get the shell look.  That seemed to be the key for me.  Then it is lots of close lines that connect to two parts of the spiral together.

    First attempt in fabric is not bad....I needed another round to the swirl I think.  I got to the end and got a little bit lost and was not sure where to go.    The fabric I used was a cotton sateen and the thread was isacord for the light grey.

  I switched to aurifil thread in the gold and practiced  the feathered swirls to finish off this  piece. This lesson  came together  for me when I added a few plumes off the side of the conch shell!  I really like the effect.

  Somethings you need to experiment with, play around, see what you like, etc.  We all know this, but do we take the time and make the effort to experiment.  I admit that I don't.  Yet I am really glad I did this time!
  If you haven't done the challenge yet,  click here  to give it a try.

  The sewing room looks like a hurricane came through!  Strings run amok.  Tiny pieces litter the floor like the leaves that are begining to fall.  And a pile of blocks to be trimmed show I have made progress.  I look forward to getting somewhere on this one.....soon.
Happy stitching.