Friday, September 8, 2017

Free Motion Friday - Making Connections, A Free Motion Quilting Workbook Blog Hop and GIVEAWAY!

I adore free motion quilting.  It's relaxing to me.   I know other's think I am crazy, but I love to see the motifs puff as I quilt along.

So when Dorie Hruska was looking for bloggers to help promote her new book Making Connections, A Free Motion Quilting Workbook I jumped at the chance.  I love to learn all things free motion after all and I'm fairly new to grid work quilting.

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BE SURE TO LEAVE A COMMENT FOR A CHANCE TO WIN A COPY OF YOUR OWN!

I quilt on a domestic machine and she is a long arm quilter, but her book can easily be applied to both methods of quilting.  It's also great for beginners because it clearly explains how to make the designs continuous.  The book is very organized and the drawings are clear and even though I've been quilting for 30 years I learned some new things from Dorie's tips.

With all that pretty eye candy to look at the first thing I had to do was pick up my own pen and paper and doodle some...












And then I had to quilt it!

I started with some gorgeous Island Batik fabrics and then added some lines to make the grid.  


Then I started in the center.



And kept adding to it...


Here's the final center.



Then I started on the squares.  Round one done.



And round two done.



Now for the outside.  Round one done.



And all done! 



The back looks great too!



And here's the final front.  I think I'll make it into a pillow.



Check out Forever Quilting to get a copy of the book and useful stencils to mark grids!

Be sure to check out the other amazing quilters on the blog hop:
Friday Sept 1st:C&T - www.ctpub.com/blog/

Monday Sept 4th:
Holly Anne Knight - www.stringandstory.com/  IG: stringandstory
Susan Arnold - www.quiltfabrication.com  -  that's me!  IG: quiltfabrication

Tuesday Sept 5th:
Becca Fenstermaker - www.prettypiney.com  IG: prettypiney
Teri Lucas Blog - www.generationqmagazine.com IG: genqmag 

Wednesday Sept 6th:
Sherry Shish - poweredbyquilting.com  IG: poweredbyquilting
Pam Morgan - www.mysweetlittlestitches.com  IG: sweetlittlestitches

Thursday Sept 7th:
Laura Piland www.sliceofpiquilts.com  IG: sliceofpiquilts
Katy S - www.katyquilts.net   IG: katyquilts

Friday Sept 8th:
Suzy Webster - websterquilt.blogspot.com  IG: websterquilt
Bernie Kringel - needleandfoot.com/  IG: needleandfoot

Monday Sept 11th:
Jamie Mueller - www.sunflower-quilts.com  IG: sunflower_quilt
Nancy Scott - masterpiecequilting.blogspot.com   IG: masterpiecequilting

Tuesday Sept 12th:
Sherri Noel - www.rebeccamaedesigns.com  IG: rebeccamaedesigns
Anorina Morris - www.sameliasmum.com  IG: sameliasmum

Wednesday Sept 13th:
Yvonne Fuchs - www.quiltingjetgirl.com  IG: quiltingjetgir
Barbie Mills - thequiltingmill.blogspot.com  IG: thequiltingmill

Thursday Sept 14th:
Afton Warrick - www.quiltingmod.com  IG: quiltingmod
Kathy Bruckman - kathyskwiltsandmore.blogspot.com  IG: kathyskwiltsandmore

Friday Sept 15th:
Susan Arnold - www.quiltfabrication.com  -  that's me again!  IG: quiltfabrication
Dorie Hruska - www.forever-quilting.com/blog  IG: foreverquilting

I hope you get to quilt today!
Suzy

44 comments:

  1. I really like the work you did...especially the center!

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  2. What a pretty combination of designs! aftonwarrick@hotmail.com

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  3. Very nice. I always love to see your work. You inspire me.

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  4. Great quilting. I like the center design, and the orange peels. They are so fun to do!

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  5. Some of your doodling looked like peas in a pod, what a great idea for a baby quilt! Right? I'm thinking Jack and the Beanstalk right now.~

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  6. I like the design in the second photo with the quilted pebbles inside the frame.

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  7. Ok-you make this look like too much FUN. lutzcats (at) yahoo (dot) com

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  8. This looks like a very logical approach to quilting! I use my domestic machine and am always looking for the better way to do free motion quilting! Thanks for sharing!!!

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  9. Love your project. One day I will be brave enough to try FMQ. Until then, I am gathering tutorials and books.

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  10. I would love to try this fancy stuff soon.... happyness04431@yahoo.com

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  11. Your pillow top turned out great! Thanks for sharing.

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  12. Great giveaway. I quilt with my domestic machine and usually do straight lines or meandering, the book would help me get out of that quilting rut.

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  13. book looks very interesting, thank you for sharing.

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  14. This is definitely a book that I need to up my FMQ skills! Working in a grid seems so practical!

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  15. Your work looks fantastic. Thanks for sharing with us.

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  16. I quilt on a domestic machine, and need a lot of help feeling comfortable free-motion quilting. Right now I mostly use my walking foot to do "organic" straight or wavy lines. This book seems as if it would increase both my confidence and my skills.

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  17. I do love when I go on a blog hop and find blogs I actually want to follow. I look forward to reading more of your posts from now on.

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  18. This book seems like it would really help plan out the quilting before starting. I like how you used it on a pillow size project.

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  19. Wow! It looks like it's easy to quilt on my domestic Singer...I need to get started! The book looks like a big help!
    ekmvalencia@gmail.com

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  20. What a great idea to test out patterns. And then you get a usable item from the practice!

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  21. I enjoy doing free motion quilting, but often get "stuck" as to what type of pattern to use. The book looks like it would be very useful. Thanks for the draw. raydeer@memlane.com

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  22. Thanks for the great tips! I need this book. 😊

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  23. I'm so interested in this book. It looks like just what I've been needing. Thanks for the information

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  24. Looks like you had a grand time! Great quilting!

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  25. Continuous lines of quilting is what I try to accomplish but usually not successful! This is the book I've been looking for!! Thanks for the giveaway!
    cathylouwilson@gmail.com

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  26. I love continuous-line quilting, but if I must, I'll tie and bury knots! Thanks for the opportunity to win this book!!

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  27. Thank you for the step by step instructions. This will make a great pillow

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  28. I especially like your drawing with feathers inside the square.

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  29. I am so inspired with this hop. I want to move on from walking foot quilting!

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  30. I enjoy free motion quilting but struggle with spending lots of time to bury threads. This method would eliminate (hopefully) the need to do that. Thanks for a chance to win a copy.

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  31. I think this book would help me so much! i mostly do straight line quilting and would love to learn this!

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  32. Nice quilting design - looks lovely in the center!

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  33. I really need some help with my FMQing! Yours is inspirational! Thanks for the chance to win!

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  34. Your quilting looks really nice! I think I like the techniques in this book and could use them to help improve my quilting. Thanks!

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  35. Thanks for sharing. Your doodles looked great and so does your finish. You make it look totally doable, thanks!

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  36. So fun. I love to look at the back on my quilts, the stitching looks totally different. Thanks.

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  37. Looking forward to learning how to do this quilting, the book sounds wonderful. Thanks
    djcutting2(at)gmail(dot)com

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  38. I would love to win a copy of this book. Thanks.

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  39. Your little quilt looks great! I really need this book!
    cathylouwilson@gmail.com

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  40. I love the designs you've sketched! This book looks very helpful. Cotten.gloria@gmail.com

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