Saturday 19 November 2011

Candy Cane Love Pot Holder

Thankyou for so many supportive comments for my new Candy Cane Love pattern and for the sales too!  I thought I would show you a bit more of the pot holder which uses the square Candy cane block.  

The finished block in the pattern is 6" square, the perfect size for the pot holder pattern on Oh Fransson quilted pot holder Tutorial.  This is an excellent pattern and has a great pocket feature on the reverse.
I used Florence, my new machine, to practice a bit of free motion quilting.  Lynne has been trying FMQ and asked for advice here and the comments include a lot of useful tips.  I have done a little free motion before- it makes my arms ache so I only do small areas.  I keep the feed dogs up, use a darning foot, machinger gloves, adjust the tension wheel to 7 and have a thinner bobbin thread e.g. YLI soft touch or Aurifil 50.  I think it varies hugely according to sewer and machine. The most useful thing for me was practicing drawing out the patterns over and over again on scrap paper.  Getting the doodling loose and free prepares my brain for the same patterns with the needle.
I can get a reasonable front and back tension balance and fairly even stitches.
My patterns always end up a bit smaller than I anticipated.  I think if I did more free motion quilting it would loosen up a bit. 
Or maybe if I drank more...and then quilted.

I hope to put another post up soon showing how I use the pattern alignment marks to match up the different sections.  Can you just about make up the free motion writing around the edge?  t'is the season to be jolly
Would you like a little music?  Last weekend I watched a great documentary looking at 20 years of Pearl Jam on BBC4.  I was a massive fan in the early 90s, it made me feel a little old as it captured a time that I didn't realise was so far behind me.   Saying that I am much happier person now than I was then, so I leave you with a bit of Eddie Vedder
Happy weekend x
sib blog

13 comments:

  1. Your free motion looks exactly like the free motion quilting on Penny's baby quilt...my first real attempt. I had the same problem keeping it really tight. I agree the loosening up makes it better (I too have a loosening up problem!). I found listening to music and moving my fabric to the music helped. I read that online somewhere and it worked for me. The tighter fm made the quilt stiffer than I would have liked. I love this candy cane potholder, but I have said that a few times now...

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  2. The fmq looks brilliant! I love the pot holder :)

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  3. Just got around to buying your patterns, great work! I love what Amy did with them and I'm inspired to do the same. Take care and have a great weekend.

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  4. Your FMQ looks wonderful and I love the pot holder - it's far too nice to use though!

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  5. Adorable potholder!
    Love Pearl Jam and Eddie Vedder. Good friends of mine saw him play this summer!
    : )

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  6. It all looks great - and I spent ages deciphering the 'tis the season...' should have kept reading!

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  7. Love the free motion quilting with words, have tried that a few times! Know what you mean about the music taking you back to a time that was longer ago than you thought, for me it's music by The Cure or The Church.

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  8. i'm a much better bowler with a stiff drink in me. i've never thought to combine a beverage with FMQ :)

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  9. The pot holder is lovely! Machine quilting takes a lot of practice....I still don't feel confident, but yours looks wonderful...

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  10. Your candy cane is so sweet! I love the project ideas, Kerry. Well done on your FMQing. The only way to improve is go practice and these small projects are perfect (as long as you leave a few inches of extra batting around the edges so you've got something to hold onto). I think your stippling looks great and having it 'tight' is good on smaller projects anyway! I always draw new patterns on paper beforehand as well - it really helps.

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  11. Yes, I've heard it said that a glass of wine loosens you up and make it true "free" motion. What is the fabric border surrounding the solid blue- I NEED it.

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  12. Thanks for the free-motion tips! My current machine just will not free-motion no matter what I try but Santa has told me to expect a new one (and by told, I mean, asked me for the model number that I wanted and gave me a budget...) Here's hoping!

    Your potholder is adorable - love the pocket! ( And Pearl Jam. :-)

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  13. One of the most interesting potholders I have seen. Everything form the design to the stitching is lovely. Thanks so much, I want to make one!

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