Good Morning, Quilters!
It’s a busy week here at The Inbox Jaunt! Tomorrow my new Craftsy video, Creating a Quilting Plan: Approaches for Any Quilt is released! Be sure to check in tomorrow for all the details!!!!
And today we have a giveaway!
I LOVE HOME BLOCK OF THE MONTH
Block 4 is available HERE from Jacquelynne Steves
Block Four is the final block. Next month we add borders and finishing touches!
While you are stitching the blocks, it is helpful to start planning how you will quilt different areas of the quilt. Each area of the quilt will need it’s own “quilting plan” including batting, thread and motifs.
WHICH MOTIFS TO CHOOSE?!
There are so many possible motifs to quilt, we need to narrow the focus.
One way to choose motifs is to stick to a theme.
For this quilt, I looked for motifs that fit our I Love Home theme like hearts and houses.
The Sweetheart Border and Row Houses are perfect for the borders. Find the Sweetheart Border HERE and the Row of Houses HERE
Both motifs can also be found in my book, Free Motion Machine Quilting 1-2-3 HERE on Etsy (Personalized, signed copies make great gifts!)
To test your motifs, use a vinyl sheet and a wet erase marker.
Read HERE for more tips on this method.
OLFA GIVEAWAY!
This month’s prize is from Olfa– a cutting mat, rotary cutter, and package of Endurance blades. Olfa mats come in a variety of sizes and I have used them for more than twenty years! Thank you, Olfa for transforming quilting with rotary blades and mats and for this fabulous giveaway!
To enter, please tell us YOUR biggest quilting challenge. Is it planning the quilting, choosing the motifs, picking the right thread…or is it something else? Leave a note in the comment section by the end of the day on November 9th.
***Please note that this giveaway is open to US winners only this time, due to shipping costs.
MORE CHANCES TO WIN
There are seven other quilters participating in the I LOVE HOME project. Be sure to see their blocks and enter their giveaways for more chances to win!
- The Crafty Quilter
- The Inbox Jaunt
- Designs by Sarah J
- Farmhouse Quilts
- Penguin and Fish
- Podunk Pretties
- The Quilting Nook
- The Sewing Loft
Good Luck!
Tomorrow: Turn YOUR UFOs into completed heirloom quilts with —Creating A Quilting Plan: Approaches for Any Quilt!
Happy Stitching,
Lori
PS…All tutorials, images and information are the property of Lori Kennedy at The Inbox Jaunt and are intended for personal use only. Feel free to re-blog, pin or share with attribution to The Inbox Jaunt. For all other purposes, please contact me at lckennedy@hotmail.com. Thanks!
589 comments
Sharon Kalmes
I don’t start because I think I will ruin what I already have done. My piecing looks very nice and I think when I sandwich it all together I will have a mess.
Rachel Garibay
All of the above!!! It’s hard to decide on design and thread and everything, but the hardest part is the first stitch. I’m so afraid I’m going to ruin the quilt with my quilting that I have to talk my self into it for a couple of days before I start. Once I get started it’s not so bad, but that first stitch!! Oh Man !!!
Marti Morgan
All of the above, ha ha. I use to be “fabric/color” challenged, but now I start with a fabric “line” and add to it. So much easier on my OCD.
Nancy Goeben
Deciding how to do the quilting and starting. I worry to much that it won’t look good.
Stephanie
Managing my time to make the most of it with all of the quilting processes.
Debbie Howell
My most difficult part is getting started. I prefer to ad-lib instead of using a pattern so choosing the layout and the colors is the most difficult for me. When I finally get that decided it’s a breeze. My favorite part is the quilting.
Susan
My biggest challenge is starting as I am afraid of ruining the quilt.
Adele
My challenge is deciding what to quilt and where!
Victoria MIner
My biggest challenge, as others have written, is choosing a quilting deign. I have a pile of UFOs waiting to be quilted because I just can[t decide what quilting design will best highlight the pattern and fabrics in the quilt.
Melissa Polk
Oh dear! So many things can compete in keeping me from completing my quilts but first and foremost is choosing the motif or motifs. I am always anxious when completing the piecing and to end that anxiety, I end up stacking the quilt away until I can come to a conclusion on the quilting plan. Well, could it be that is why I have so many stacked? Ha!
Becky Shaffer
My biggest challenge is deciding how I want to quilt my quilts. Your blog, book, classes and Craftsy classes have helped me a lot, although it is still a lot like giving birth until I’ve made a final decision! I’ll be signing up for your newest Craftsy class first thing tomorrow. Thanks, Lori.
Merrie
Deciding what design to quilt, is my first challenge. I think about that too much. I need to relax more, and just go with the flow.
Mrs. Plum
My biggest challenge is figuring out which motifs to use, then where to use them. Sometimes things are very clear to me, and sometimes, I just struggle.
Carol Hathaway
I’m new at this so everything is a challenge
Marty
My biggest challenge is courage to START after thinking about many options for quilting. Once I’ve begun the quilting, I keep going and have fun with it. I often seem to take a long time to feel confident that my plan will work ~ so I delay and do other things before I decide I MUST complete a quilt due to a gifting deadline.
Vicki H
The hardest for me is selecting a design to flatter the quilt.
Sandy K
I have a hard time deciding on a motif.
Cheryl Fabiano
How do I quilt it?
Ann D
I’m seeing that I’m not alone in having quilting issues. I’m finding I can practice on a small piece but then when trying to sew on the actual quilt, it’s harder to maneuver under the needle.
Karen Tu-Na Quilts
My biggest challenge is deciding the motif(s). After I’m finished, I always think a different kind of stitching would have looked better.
Barbara Markland
Color for the quilts are a challenge for me, I think the hardest challenge is long arm tension I just can’t seem to get it correct.
Pat
I can never get my backing on sreaight and even on both sides.
mjkasz
I have a difficult time managing a large quilt on mu domestic size machine.
Donna McDaniel
I have a hard time getting the backing, batting and top together so that once it is quilted there are no ripples in the quilt. Once I get it together it usually takes me a few days before I come it with how I will quilt it.
Melanie
Definitely my biggest challenge is machine quilting. Love your blog, Lori….I’m a newbie in the machine quilting world, so appreciate all your tips and motifs.
Alice
Choosing the design is the hardest for me.
Pat
Choosing a quilting design is hard for me, I’ve found, when the pattern seems to call for straight lines. Curved lines seem to hide imperfections.
Margie
Deciding on a quilting motif is the biggest challenge for me. We
Debbie Horton
Picking the right thread weights and types for top and bobbin! Oh, and the planning of quilting motifs and, etc…
Teri
I tell myself that I am working on it even when I am not sewing. I appreciate that part of the work is mental. I am looking at quilt books and quilt magazines I am consumed mentally till I can put something in my mind that I am capable of doing and that is also appropriate for my project.
jomala1951
Fear of machine quilting! So I always end up doing straight line or serpentine.
Debbie Lohnes
My biggest challenge is overestimating what I can do. I almost always underestimate the time it will take to finish the top, the I overestimate my quilting abilities. It’s a process and I’m still learning!
Amanda Cannady
My greatest challenge in finishing a quilt is: the quilting process. I have pieced a beautiful quilt for my daughter and son-in-law as a wedding present. It is an Irish Chain which is her choice of pattern and fabrics. Now, to quilt it. I am afraid that I will ruin it and it will look messy and incongruent. I wonder about issues such as: how to mark the quilt, how much marking should I do, should I ditch ‘every stinking seam’, how to plan the quilting. I have listened and watched several or more tutorials and classes and seem to get more confused rather than encourage that I can do this. The quilt is a metaphor for life – I need to get in there and do it and have no fear!
Susan Thomson
I have a quilt pieced and sandwiched (Queen size) ready to quilt. I am still learning how to do FMQ. Seems I can’t practice enough. I’ve been working on charity quilts for my local group that gives me a bit of confidence with different stitches but I still have a way to go.
caltexgal
Yep, even with your wonderful book my hardest part is still the Quilting. Second hardest is making the back ( hard maybe isn’t the right word) the Quilting takes so much patience & finessing….I have to hand it to you, you make it look easy!
Verna A.
I never seem to know how to quilt my quilts without ruining the look of the piecing. I loved the tip you gave recently about using the vinyl sheet and markers to try out designs before actually quilting them. I will be trying that as soon as I get to the store for supplies!
Vivian Lewis
Deciding on how to quilt my quilt. I think your new Craftsy class will me very helpful.
Lorraine Doyno Evans
My biggest FMQ challenge is not being able to decide what to do. Will it look good; will it be too complicated once I get it going; which color thread…so I procrastinate instead and it becomes a UFO unless it has a gifting deadline.
cheriec12
My biggest challenge is to find enough time to work on my projects. I much rather be quilting than going to work and doing chores.
IreneKF
The hardest for me is choosing the motif and the thread color. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve unpicked my quilting because one or the other was just so wrong.
koquilts
The biggest challenge is deciding what to quilt.
Julia
Getting started… picking fabric, design, overcoming that first cut into the fabric.
sunnysewsit
I have trouble with the basting of a large quilt, as someone said, getting everything lined up straight. (Not to mention trying to quilt a large quilt on a small domestic machine!)
Darlene B
I think planning the quilting is the most difficult for me. I want to expand my skills, but my full-time job gets in the way!
Evelyn Haupert
The hardest part for me is getting started! I love all aspects of my hobby except for the actual quilting. =) Thanks for a great giveaway!
Susan Stanton
My biggest challenge is what to quilt and where! I love FMQ, but it’s a challenge to get started! Your blog with your ideas really helps.
Denice
My BC is figuring out the design for the quilting. Sometimes it’s obvious, others I have to leave the top out for weeks until inspiration strikes.
Carol A Jensen
My biggest challenge is doing smooth free motion quilting while managing a large quilt on my domestic machine.
Anne Chrobocinski
My biggest challenge is the quilting design.
Barbara McKenzie
My biggest challenge right now is actually following a pattern! I’ve always done “my own thing” – it’s worked for me for more or less 50 quilts. Now I’m working with a kit and I have to really follow the pattern – it’s testing my patience…..
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