Free Motion Machine Quilting challenge

 
My internet friend and quilting mentor, Teri Lucas, is the guest teacher on this month's Free Motion Quilting Challenge at SewCalGal. I will admit that I have not been doing the monthly challenges, but have been inspired this month to try Teri's!

The first part of the challenge is draw out random quilt designs, starting with your name. Then you echo around your name. Then, without a ruler (or a safety net!!!) you do some cross hatching! Onto some clamshells, then let your imagination go wild! I was pretty satisfied with this.

Then to translate it to fabric. She suggests using a silky cotton fabric like Robert Kaufman's Radiance. I happened to have some in my stash. I used a batik for a backing, and I had some silk batting that I used. She suggested using a number of different thread types and colours to get a feel for look and tension. I ended up using Superior Threads' King Tut, Kimono Silk, Highlights, Rainbows, Magnifico, Signature Thread, and Quilter's Choice by Golden Threads. The challenge is to do this on your domestic machine, but I decided to do mine on my HandiQuilter Sweet Sixteen as this is where I intend to do the lion's share of my quilting.

GRRR!!! First mistake, I misspell my own name!!! But the stitching was going so well, that I elected to leave it in, just to keep me humble. This was a great exercise, and I can see that I am improving, although I still need lots more practice to get to where I want to be!