Stopping, starting, snapping, shredding, skipping stitches...

... and a few others Ss (like suffering and swearing!) I can think of associated with FMQ with silver thread.

I have done whole quilts with metallic thread with no problem at all. The previous cushion I showed in the last post presented no difficulty. And then suddenly, the next day it all goes wrong. I have tweaked the tension bottom and top, put in a new needle, changed the size of the needle, re threaded the machine, changed the bobbin thread, taken the race apart and cleaned it... all to no avail.

Here is the next cushion, completed after numerous stops and starts to go over skipped stitches, snapped thread etc.

I can honestly say I did not enjoy quilting this. And  I almost think that this design would have looked better with no quilting. However, since I FMQ the first cushion it needed to match.

I did say in the last post that I would try quilting in red. My  brother-in-law fell in love with the cushions and decided he would like them and wanted the quilting in silver.

I have another 3 to go if I can ever sort out the thread problems. Any ideas gratefully received!!

Thanks for visiting...

Hilary Florence

Please find below a list of linky parties. I may not link with all of the every week, but with some of them most weeks. Please go and have a look at some of the other wonderful quilts and quilters there.

Linky Tuesday at Free motion by  the river­­­­ @ http://www.conniekresin.com/

WIP Wednesday at freshly pieced   @   http://www.freshlypieced.com/

WIP Wednesday at TN + TN  @  http://needleandthreadnetwork.blogspot.ca/

I Quilt Thursdays @ http://prettybobbins.com/

Off the wall Fridays @ http://ninamariesayre.blogspot.co.uk/

Lizzie Lenard @  http://lizzielenard-vintagesewing.blogspot.co.uk   

Finish Friday @ http://crazymomquilts.blogspot.co.uk/

Creative Goodness @ http://quiltshopgal.com/creativegoodness-weekly-linky-parties/

Quick, simple and no thinking please!

I love making art quilts, but every now and then, it is fun to do a quick and simple project that requires little thought and planning and no trials.

A cushion cover seemed to fit the bill.

I also liked quiltshopgal's (formerly showcalgal) idea of a colour scheme for the month. This being February, the colour is of course reds, pinks and passion.

I found some not quite fat quarters that I had dyed - I no longer remember when or why or what I had in mind for them. They are not exactly passionate red, more an affectionate and warm selection of pink to purples.

I cut them into strips and thought they would look good pieced with some silver sliver insets. The free motion quilting is also done in silver and is very subtle.

I still have enough strips to make several more and I think the next one I will try to quilt in dark red or perhaps a soft grey. So, maybe there is just a little thinking after all!
And here is the cover, complete with cushion .

Thanks for visiting...

Hilary Florence

Please find below a list of linky parties. I may not link with all of the every week, but with some of them most weeks. Please go and have a look at some of the other wonderful quilts and quilters there.

Linky Tuesday at Free motion by  the river­­­­ @ http://www.conniekresin.com/

WIP Wednesday at freshly pieced   @   http://www.freshlypieced.com/

WIP Wednesday at TN + TN  @  http://needleandthreadnetwork.blogspot.ca/

I Quilt Thursdays @ http://prettybobbins.com/

Off the wall Fridays @ http://ninamariesayre.blogspot.co.uk/

Lizzie Lenard @  http://lizzielenard-vintagesewing.blogspot.co.uk   

Finish Friday @ http://crazymomquilts.blogspot.co.uk/

Creative Goodness @ http://quiltshopgal.com/creativegoodness-weekly-linky-parties/

The travellers return

Last year I entered a couple of journal quilts for a competition and since all the entries then travelled around to various shows in the UK, I have never got around to showing them on the blog.

The size had to be A4 which was quite a change from working on bigger quilts. The set theme was 'Landscape'. I often notice that quilters can interpret themes to fit whatever they are actually working on and I have to admit that is just what I did here. You will recognise my style at once!

The first one, I called 'Beneath our Feet - the Earth's inner landscape'. It is of course a mini version of 'Strata'.  I wanted to work to see if I could work with a mottled background without the quilting getting lost.

I had tried using bright yellow on the darker bits, but that did disappear. Sticking to black works quite well I think.

The second piece I entitled 'My Inner Landscape - the circles in my mind'

I used a solid blue background, but two colours of thread.

Thanks for visiting...

Hilary Florence

Please find below a list of linky parties. I may not link with all of the every week, but with some of them most weeks. Please go and have a look at some of the other wonderful quilts and quilters there.

Linky Tuesday at Free motion by  the river­­­­ @ http://www.conniekresin.com/

WIP Wednesday at freshly pieced   @   http://www.freshlypieced.com/

WIP Wednesday at TN + TN  @  http://needleandthreadnetwork.blogspot.ca/

I Quilt Thursdays @ http://prettybobbins.com/

Off the wall Fridays @ http://ninamariesayre.blogspot.co.uk/

Lizzie Lenard @  http://lizzielenard-vintagesewing.blogspot.co.uk   

Finish Friday @ http://crazymomquilts.blogspot.co.uk/

Creative Goodness @ http://quiltshopgal.com/creativegoodness-weekly-linky-parties/