The End...Which Is Really Just A Beginning!

Comment

Comment by Susan B on January 8, 2013 at 9:04pm

Wonderful job Mary! Can't wait to see what next you create.

Comment by Barbara Graham on January 8, 2013 at 11:37am

You have done a wonderful job--I envy your dedication--I'm applauding, you just can't hear it.

Comment by Cornwoman on January 8, 2013 at 10:18am

Thanks everyone!  FMQ (which stands for Free Motion Quilting)  is one of the common areas that quilters have little or no skills in, from almost all of the quilters that I've talked to both online and in person.  I'd always felt that if I took a class at a local quilt shop, that I would fail to even get off the starting blocks.  Since I don't have the money or desire to hand off something that I'd created myself, because then it would no longer be created just by me, I knew that I needed to learn.  But the question of how loomed and I kept putting it off until December of 2011 when one of the blogs that I follow announced about the 2012 FMQ Challenge that they were going to have....and it was free!!  Though I didn't have much confidence that I could succeed, I just went for it.  (If you are interested in the challenge, Google "2012 FMQ Challenge" and follow the link to SewCalGal's blog.  It will still be available for a while.)  The tutorials were all given to us online, and while we did our practicing and the assignment on our own at home, we had a group on Flickr to post our photo of our finished assignment.  We then posted the link to our Flickr photo to the tutorial blog, which had a linky button, so that we could show that we'd completed it.  We also have a FaceBook group, where we post photos and shared questions, tips, and encouragement with each other.  

Mary....I couldn't seem to stay in the ditch well, and my echo quilting left a lot to be desired.  I couldn't even do simple stippling or meandering!  The tutorials were great, and the explanations of how to get the desired results were very clear.  I can't stress enough that you can do this if you're willing to put in the time, no matter whether you think you can or not.  If you look at my blogpost right before this one, you can see my assignments from the entire year, which will show you that you can do it too.  You will be so glad that you did!

lol  Cat Lady, you are totally right...there are definitely some UFO's waiting for me to practice on!  I urge you to put your reading into practicing what you learned from the reading, and give it a try.  I printed out the tutorials and put them into a notebook along with my assignment pieces (those are in acid free sheet protectors), so that I can go back to them if needed.  

Comment by Cat Lady--MO on January 8, 2013 at 9:04am

Mary you did a fantastic job on this.  I followed along all year by reading the tutorials and they really did provide a lot of information.  Now, to continue to practice FMQ and get those UFOs done.

Comment by Catherine M. Tullos on January 8, 2013 at 7:40am

Learning FMQ is one of my goals, but so far have not had the confidence to pursue it.  Maybe this year I will accomplish that.  Your wall hanging is beautiful!!!

Comment by Debbie Snyder/WA on January 8, 2013 at 6:40am

Wow, that's truly amazing.  I am so bad at FMQ that I give mine off to be done.  You should be very proud of yourself for this accomplishement.

Comment by Mary, Tewksbury MA on January 8, 2013 at 5:47am

Quilting is beautiful, incredible detail.  I've never tried FMQ.  Usually bring my quilts to have them done on a long arm.  I've tried echo quilting on runners and it looks OK.  Tried stitch in the ditch but have never been very successful.  

Comment by Vicki Dempsey on January 8, 2013 at 5:35am

It is absolutely gorgeous!!!! What is FMQ? and did you participate on line?

Comment by Barb/WI on January 8, 2013 at 5:26am

Beautiful work.  Looks like time well spent.

Comment by Pam/NY on January 7, 2013 at 2:09pm

You did it! Many would have started...but few do the whole class and finish!