Hello everyone! I'm back! Well, not really; I haven't been anywhere. Three weeks ago my computer crashed, and the photo processing software was the last to be installed. Fortunately I didn't lose any files, just the software.
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| Cushion number 2. |
On the reverse of the cushion I really went to town, inspired by the work of Hilary Florence , especially her Learning Curves, and by Lori Kennedy. I first quilted double curved lines with the walking foot and then quilted in the resulting spaces.
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| a view of the back |
The lines of quilting are patterns from Hilary Florence, but also from Quiltmaker's Year of Machine Quilting. The flowers are my attempt at Lori Kennedy's "Easiest Flower Ever"; if this is the easiest it'll be a while before I attempt the most difficult!
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| close up of quilting on back of cushion no. 2 |
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| the reverse of cushion no.1 |
Both cushions were put together using the method described by Elizabeth Hartman in her "Mod Mosaic Floor Pillow" tutorial. There is no zip, but the two panels on the back are each two thirds of the length of the front, so overlap by one half of their own length. This is enough to make sufficient close, and while uses more fabric, also gives the opportunity for a lot of quilting. When I'd finished quilting I could decide which I wanted to be on top and hide the most mistakes inside the cushion!
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| Cushions 1 and 2 together |
Cushion number 3 is in the wings, patiently waiting for me to decide how to quilt the border. On the one hand I would like to continue the chevron theme, but on the other I want to practise FMQ and my "straight lines" are hopeless! I keep staring at it and hoping for inspiration.
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| a peek at cushion no..3; quilting in progress |
I'm linking up to:
It's also my second finish for:
Happy Sewing
Marly
23 comments:
Love your flower comment! I've not tried FMQ flowers yet but I'm hoping to use the same Tutorial - did you see Tommy the turtle? Your cushions look gorgeous. I really like the hst one in particular!
Hi Marly
Congratulations on your beautiful cushions. what a great idea to make one side very straight and geometrical and the other side very free and flowing with all the great FMQ. I love the band of blue fabric across it too. Thanks for the shout out and I'm glad you find my patterns useful.
Hilary Florence
Great work on your FMQ flowers . It's a great idea to practice on the backs as well. Thanks for sharing the links as well.
(Apologies if you get this twice, I'm not sure if it went through or not the first time).
Glad to know you are OK! Just thinking recently that you hadn't posted for a while. Although I did think perhaps your were holidaying somewhere rather than just being computerless.
You have been busy with all that quilting. I think both cushions look great!
Uggghhh. Computer crashes are the worst! At least you didn't lose anything though. :D That pillow is really cute and you're FMQ is wonderful!
Love these pillows! Your FMQ is awesome - really lovely. I'm thinking that pillows would be a good place for me to practice, since my "eyelashing" would be hidden. ;)
Sorry to hear you had computer troubles, Marly.... But sew glad you are back! Your FMQ is beautiful and working on pillows is great practice. Each of your cushions look gorgeous! Can't wait to see what you do for the third!
what a great idea for practicing your FMQ, you end up with something pretty and practical! i'd guess the fabric is Anna Maria Horner or possibly Amy Butler, but I could be wrong. I love envelope closures on cushions, they're just so easy to do.
I really loke the back of your second cushion. Next time, you can make a front cushion with that look, just using a contrasting thread. It would be lovely.
Gorgeous cushions - I would never have thought of FMQing the back - what a great idea and more practice - which I definitely need! Thank you for sharing and you practice is definitely paying off - lovely work :)
Your pillows look so soft and crinkly...love them!
Remember, what is "easy" for one person may be difficult for another, and vice versa! There are probably designs that flowed for you that someone else would find challenging. :-)
What a smart way to practice your skills.
Gorgeous cushions and I love the idea of quilting on the reverse aswell. Have never thought to do that. Great quilting xx
Your FMQ is gorgeous! I hope to get better at it, I'm still all over the place!
Marly your cushions are just darling! I love the color choices and the patterns and your FMQ is wonderful!! Don't be hard on yourself it really looks great. Thanks for sharing your blog address with me - I'm happy to be aboard. Take care, Karen
Love all the FMQ!!! I'm looking forward to seeing the 3rd cushion :)
Those are lovely. Great quilting!
Everyone always says, "just keep practising" and they're all right! I haven't been doing FMQ for long and some days it goes better than others. When I've finished these three cushions I plan to start on some mug rugs. It'll be raining mug rugs around here, and place mats, just to give me regular practice.
Fantastic quilting and looks like it was fun!!
Beautiful pillows! And your FMQ is really pretty! I love seeing what you are learning... I am just venturing into the fmq zone. I like your fabrics, too.
Susie
What a great idea to make pillow cushions to practice FMQ! My first FMQ project was a crib sized quilt and let's just say I have a lot more gray hairs now than before I started it. Your quilting looks great!
I love the quilting you have done on this project
Hello Marly,
Thank you for linking up with Free Motion Mavericks!
I absolutely love your cushions. The way you have combined bright colourful prints with white and varied the quilting on the fronts and the backs really makes them fascinating to look at.
Love from England, Muv
Each of these cushions are simply gorgeous. I'm a huge fan of Hilary's so I enjoyed seeing how she inspired you to make the curved quilting, your own. I've been complaining about my couch cushions for far too long, You've inspired me to do something about it. I'll be thrilled if any of mine came out half as good as these.
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