Another Shirt Quilt Project FMQ-QAYG-style

I've been working on another Free-Motion-Quilted, Quilt-As-You-Go sampler project, made of shirt fabrics. With a bunch of 10½" squares that I already had cut out of cotton shirt fabric, and some batting scraps (edges trimmed when quilting medium-sized quilts) I've been learning some new techniques.

This project is similar to that other one that's still a work in progress.

Below are pictures of some of my latest experiments. Actually, I turned this into a fun little quilt that I'll probably be blogging about soon.

With each picture, the caption-explanation includes where I got the inspiration and/or instructions.

Many of the designs came from Leah Day's Free Motion Quilting Project blog, so many of the picture-captions have links there.

Several of the designs below have Pinterest links, because I've started gathering up FMQ ideas on my latest Pinterest Board, called "Quilting Techniques". Click here to see the board and you'll have the option to Follow the board if you'd like.

Bubble Path. This one was fun, and not hard. Leah Day's instructions are here.

Checkerboard, from The Free Motion Quilting Project (Leah Day's blog).

I'm calling this a decorated crosshatch.
Inspired by Cindy Needham's work here and here.

This is a funny little design. It reminds me of dinosaurs or dragon heads.
I was inspired by the idea of a floral stipple (a Jo's Country Junction favorite),
but I wanted to steer away from flowery, and try zig-zaggy. I like the result.

Lately, I accidentally see quilting patterns in all sorts of things.
This design was actually inspired by the design on a tissue box.
(See below.)
I'm not sure if this is a good thing or a bad thing. :-)

This is a neat concept, but needs some work.
It's another tissue-box inspiration (see below). Weird, I know.
But I'm pretty sure I'm not the only quilter who sees quilt patterns everywhere. :-)

This was an experiment ... not too bad. Inspired by this quilter's work.

My first attempt at "McTavishing". Still working on this concept.
Instructions/inspiration from Leah Day and from Pinterest.

Puzzle Quilting! I mentioned this one before; inspiration from here.

This is my rendition of "Sea Oats", seen here at Leah Day's Blog

Here's my version of Spiral Chain; again, the how-to is at Leah Day's blog

Free-motion loops-and-stars ... I saw an FMQ style like this on
a beautiful batik quilt that was displayed for several weeks at my local library;
a local quilt guild had donated it for a library raffle. 

Super Star. Fun stuff. Leah Day's instructions are in this blog post.

Wiggly Woven Lines. I like how this one turned out.
It's another one of Leah Day's designs.

Zen Breaks. I need some more practice on this one ...
Again, Leah Day shares instructions on her Free Motion Quilting blog.

Friday Update:

I'm linking this post to this week's FMQ Friday at The Free Motion Quilting Project blog ... and looking forward to getting some more free-motion-quilting inspiration there!

Finished Kaleidoscope Hexagons ... With a Purpose!

I got my latest (grape and leaf) Hexagon Kaleidoscopes finished into a quilt top AND basted with its quilt-layers last week.

And only just in time! (More on that later...)

 

 

 

This week, I quilted it quilt last-minute ... Free-motion quilting all over, with some loops in the border ...

 

 

  

It's a throw-sized quilt, 50" x 60", so it's the perfect size for a couch-quilt for chilly winter days.

I'm really excited to have this one finished and quilted and bound.

Because this quilt has a really cool job that none of my other quilts has had.

 

This quilt gets to be part of an upcoming fundraiser for two friends' international adoptions that are in progress!

 

My friend Christy & her family AND my friend Katie & her family are both adopting little boys from Eastern Europe. These two families are doing a joint fundraiser (that includes a silent auction) this weekend, to help with their adoption costs.

 

This quilt gets to be part of that silent auction in a few days! I'm hoping that somebody who attends the fundraising event will really love this quilt, so it can raise some money for little Auggie and little Royce.

 

Did you know that according to Reece's Rainbow, a typical international adoption can cost $25,000? I had no idea. It's a staggering sum of money. Of course, if it's your child on the other side of the globe, it's worth whatever it takes to bring that little one home. But getting that money together, in order to make that adoption possible, takes some doing. 

 

This weekend's fundraiser is part of an ongoing effort to finish raising the needed money to get these little boys home ... And the sooner the better - both of the boys have medical issues that will need to be addressed as soon as possible.

 

 



Both Christy's family and Katie's family have been blessed with kids who were adopted locally, as well as biological kids. Both of their families are looking forward to bringing home their little guys from Eastern Europe as soon as possible.

 

Both families have donation pages on the Reece's Rainbow adoption-grant site:

Augustin for Christy's family

Royce for Katie's family

 

 

I'm honored to have a small part in helping these families bring home their newest blessings from God. These friends are making a difference in the lives of their children, and they're also making a difference in the lives of their friends. And their friends appreciate that. :-)

 

 

When Friday comes, I'll be linking this post to this week's Finish It Up Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts, and this week's Free Motion Friday at The Free Motion Quilting Project.