Saturday, April 9, 2011

Talking Week #8: What scares me!

I'll start with what used to scare me, but I now feel

more comfortable with . . .


Curved piecing.

I couldn't imagine being able to figure it out,

or do it well.


And as we all know . . .

It's all about the practicing.

And for me 8 million pins.


I am now pretty confident with the curves,

that is not to say that I don't still have times

of ripping and uttering some sailorly words!

My current fear is free motion quilting.

I have taken some classes, and at one time

I thought I was getting there . . .

Excuse the photo, hard to see, but my free motion quilting

is erratic, jerky, uneven, and just not pretty.


I know I need to practice it every day,

but I don't.

I am intimidated by it.

I can't seem to get the right motion and speed going.


Any suggestions? Any hints? Any teachers???

I need help!

So I continue to use a walking foot to do straight line quilting.

HELP ME!!!

5 comments:

  1. when i decided to try freemotion, it was kind of on a whim, like i finally found the guts to try, so i grabbed an almost finished top, threw borders on it, basted it and just went at it-- quickly before I second guessed myself. I did doodle a bit to decide on a pattern, but i really had no idea how i would get that pattern continuously around the quilt. Of course i learned a lot in the process, but the biggest boost to my confidence was having that one quilt behind me. now i'm not scared. i'm not really good at it yet, but I know i'll only get better with practice. And the quilt? we use it everyday on the couch.
    go for it.

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  2. Lisa--the curved pieceing is beautiful. (I started to write 'your curves are amazing', but thought that could be misconstrued.) I always see those compass-like patterns and get really excited and then see that they involve paper piecing and curves...and run for the hills. You make it look easy. Really nice!

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  3. Lisa...Ooooo lets trade/swap...you show me how to do that LOVELY curved piecing (its the next hurdle i would love to jump) and I can show you HOW... I got over my free motion fear...I have three machines and plenty of room...Lets have a play date...sooooonnn.....E

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  4. Thanks for the encouragement! E. I would love to have a playdate! David, you can oggle my curves anytime. And Jess, I know you are right! I just need to jump back in and try.

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  5. Some advice for free motion quilting: Machine fast, hands slower. But don't run the machine too fast or everything will get away from you. Practice with a pencil and paper. Draw your design over and over again.Believe it or not, drawing on paper what you want to accomplish with the machine will actually help. It's like repeating an exercise or a dance step until you get muscle memory.

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