Then and Now Linky Party

Leanne from Devoted Quilter is having a 'Then and Now' Linky Party till the end of the month.   It's for us to look at our works from the past to present. You can link to this Linky party at the end of this post.

In 2008, I made a quilt for my son when he left for college.  I had made quilts before that but had never done machine quilting.   He loves music so I picked fabrics with musical motifs and used the "Yellow Brick Road" pattern. I used free motion quilting, featuring guitars and musical notes. He was pleased with the results. He graduated with a Classical Guitar degree and Business Econ degree. Now the quilt goes everywhere he goes.

Detailed free motion quilting

I had a lot of fun quilting this quilt.  I also made a pillow case for him but couldn't find the picture of it.  My son said the pillow case fell apart from laundering after all these years.   I guess I'll have to make another one.  Or may be it's time for a new quilt. :)

Two years later, I picked "Pinto Box" as the pattern for my daughter when she left home for college.  She loves all colors and not wanting her dorm room to be boring, I used a variety of colors.  I used variegated thread to quilt fireworks and shooting star designs.  She and I both loved it.  There was no marking on this quilt.  I randomly quilted fireworks, big and small, all over the quilt with a walking foot.  I also made a matching pillow case too.

Detailed quilting design

That's was 6 years ago since I quilted a traditional quilt.  In between those years, I worked with different techniques and worked mostly with flannels, you can read about it here.

Now in 2016, I made this for my friend's baby.  I used a walking foot to quilt straight lines to echo the shape of the negative space.  I also pieced the back of the quilt too.  I love the way the quilt turned out both front and back.

I always enjoy making crafts, but I fell in love with making quilts.  I've come a long way from my first machine quilting in 2008 and I don't see the ending in sight.  I love this new quilting community that I found, and enjoy sharing with people who have the same interests.  Blogging opens so many doors and offers many chances to learn new things and to do many things that I would never dream of.  What's Next?  I don't know, but I can say that I'm excited to learn to take better photos for my blog.

Have a great day!!

   

Work in progress this week

Sometimes it's hard to tell whether I'm working or playing.  It must be playing because I'm having a lot of fun.  I've been making quite a few of improv pieces.  Improv piecing is fun and intriguing at the same time.  The best part is you never know what the ending piece will look like.  These pieces had been under my needle in the past few days.

I've been working on an EPP project as well.  Last year I started out using only black and white fabric, and used the Hexies to decorate t-shirts for my nieces in Thailand.  You can read about them here and here.  This year, I am using all kinds of colors as you can see here.

It's such a great scrap buster.  Some of this fabric, I've held on to for years.  I have everything ready in zipper bags and take them whenever we are on a road.

I enjoy doing hand work when I'm away from my sewing machine.  It's such a relaxing thing to do. 

 

Have a great day!!