Testing out new feet...

In the next few weeks I have a few quilting classes at my local arts centre, Prema Arts.

These include Quilt in a Day and a 5 week evening Patchwork and Quilting Course.

As a Janome approved tutor I have 5 wonderful machines to teach with - they the lovely CXL 301, but I didn't have the sewing feet needed for patchwork. I emailed asking if I could buy them wholesale from the company, but it turns out I can loan them too!

So on Wednesday I was very excited with a courier delivered a lovely box of 5 1/4" feet, 5 Walking Feet and 5 Free Motion Feet! Amazing!

As teacher I plan my sessions, and I can't go into a group using a foot I have never used before. The free motion foot is quite a complicated foot and very different from the one I have been using on my Ellie the Elna, so out it came yesterday afternoon whilst we had a snow day...

There are 5 components: the foot, 3 interchangeable free motion attachments and a feed dog plate.

The feed dog plate is great - means you can use the feed dogs up, but still get the motion you need for free motion quilting.

I tried the open toe foot yesterday to work a WIP that is on my Finish-A-Long List:

At first I was a bit concerned that the foot dropped too low onto the quilt for it to move, but there is a spring on the foot that you can adjust and raise the foot off the quilt - genius!

So I managed a couple of hours quilting little butterflies on this little girls quilt!

Seeing Pebbles!

A couple of weeks ago I posted about Craftsy and the courses that they offer. I bought the Negative Spaces course by Angela Walters.

When I wrote the post I had managed to watch the videos, but not mactually managed to try out her techniques. At first I had worried about using the techniques on a home machine - Angela uses a free motion quilt machine - but her tips for transferring the skills to home machines were spot on!

The course focuses initially on planning. You need to practice with a pen the designs you want to put into the negative spaces on the quilt:

I opted to try out the pebbles on my the elephant quilt I am making. I purposely included lots of negative space to quilt. Angela is very reassuring about using free motion techniques on the negative spaces. Matching the thread to the quilt top means you can focus on adding texture to the quilt, without having to worry about perfection!

My thread is very similar to the top, but darker than the backing fabric so you can see the progress I have made on the quilt:

Using my lovely quilting gloves and Aurifil thread the quilt is coming together brilliantly!

I also had a go at swirls for a mat for my sewing machine:

I still have a couple more classes to take - each one is between 15 and 25 minutes long so there is plenty of into and ideas to digest!

Never Curb Your Enthusiasm

I am notoriously enthusiastic about quilting and sewing.....

If you read my blog regularly, you will know my addiction to fabric is seriously detrimental to my bank account...

I am also a huge advocate of the power of crafting/sewing to boost peoples self esteem and confidence. The sense of achievement and fulfilment a person gets from making something is unmeasurable.

I teach 4 young ladies every Thursday how to sew. They are sisters, each with their own strong personality and strengths and weaknesses. The eldest (N) has both dyslexia and dyspraxia, which has made her sewing journey an interesting - sometimes triumphant, sometimes hard...

We decided a couple of weeks ago to make quilts. Everyone picked a couple of charm packs, which have mixed with plains. The girls picked their own pattern and we started cutting. Each quilt reflects the makers personality in a way I never thought was possible!

Working steadily and gaining confidence, N started pinning her own work. She has a gorgeous quilt of reds and pinks that we have just basted together. Her seams have steadily improved and the smile on her face when she finished the lesson is infectious.

Last week we tried straight line quilting and free motion quilting. N loved the free motion. The lack of restraint and the fact she could make 'mess' and it still looked good caught her imagination.

Today I showed her my Shadow Waves sample from Leah Day's website and she wanted to give it a go... so we did!

Her attempt was amazing.. and I mean amazing!

She then decided it needed something else and could she investigate filling the waves with circles....

Here is her work:

What do you think?

I think this 14 year old young lady, who has struggled with traditional education, has found her groove!