Dream Big Quilting

In my last post I mentioned that I taught a Dream Big Quilting Panel and I thought I would share my samples with you.

I love these panels by Hoffman Fabrics and it felt so good to finally be quilting one.  Why do we buy something and then keep it for best?!  I think cutting the panel into quarters mentally made it easier.  When you look at the full panel there are a LOT of petals to fill, but once you are working on a quarter you can fill them pretty quickly

I did three samples each showing different techniques:   FMQ; grids and fill work; and feathers.

My first one was FMQ.  This was the first time I had done FMQ on my new Amara, which I have had since August.  That Pro-Stitcher has proved a big distraction and I am loving learning something new.  But FMQ really is my first love and after several months away it was wonderful to get back to it ...... and to see that I could still do it - result!

There are eight new to me designs in here and I just loved finally stitching them out after lots of drawing and doodling.  

This one, from Margaret Solomon Gunn's book,  I saw demonstrated by Kelly Ashton in the class I took at Handi Quilter Academy.  It has taken me a while to get it to flow but I love the result.  In the workshop I taught there was a mixed response to this and it was actually named the ugly pumpkin by one student!  But I love the versatility of it - once you have the muscle memory and travel path there a lots of variations you can do which all result in a very different end result.

This pattern also can be done with lots of variations and is a great filler for spaces.

This is a pattern I have seen Sea Sherilyn Sew quilt out on several videos and, whilst I have done it on some scrap pieces, this is the first time I have quilted it out properly - I love it!!!  You get such great texture and it is a very forgiving pattern once you've got it going.

The next sample is for the Grids and Fills section of the workshop:

The grids were made using a blue water soluble pen and Cindy Needham Stencils followed by rulerwork and/or fill.  I love plain grids and have used them on a few of my quilts before but it always amazes me how they change when you add fill.  Some before and afters shots for you:

Square grid plain

Square grid with matchstick fill

Diamond grid plain

Diamond grid with ribbon candy fill

Triangle grid plain

Triangle grid with cathedral window/orange peel fill

What a difference right?!

Then we move onto Feathers.  For those who have been following me a while, either here or on instagram, you will know that I don't quilt feathers that much on my quilts, but I have to say I do love actually quilting them!  I had a great time filling in the petals on my last sample:

I love the challenge of filling uneven spaces and used a variety of feather types and techniques.  This has me thinking that maybe I should do a wholecloth quilt with feathers - what do you think?!  Some microquilting in a couple of petal really shows the lovely 'poof' of using double batting, in this case Warm and Natural and wool.

This year has not seen many finishes, so I am really rather proud of starting and finishing these three samples in just over a week.  I do work well under pressure and due to making these at the last minute everything was still really fresh in my head for the workshop - you see there is a method to madness!