Friday, 18 May 2012

TGIFF! and Bloggers' Quilt Festival - What the FMQAYGQAL?


Taking a moment
to smell the lilacs

Amy's Creative SideHi all! Welcome to those coming with the Bloggers' Quilt Festival and TGIFF! I'm M-R (stands for Michèle-Renée) and I live in Ottawa, Canada. I've been quilting for about 14 years steadily, but I made my first quilt in university. I've been blogging for a year (it was my blogiversary yesterday!) and have really enjoyed 'meeting' so many kind and supportive people.




Playing goalie
This is my second time participating in the Bloggers' Quilt Festival. The quilt I'm going to share with you is one I just finished on Wednesday. This was done for the QAYGFMQAL at Quokka Quilts to practice free motion quilting skills so I call it What the FMQAYGQAL? Okay, it's the only name I can come up with right now and since there were a few f-bombs muttered here and there when I messed up and had to unpick, I'm thinking that this name may be appropriate for this quilt, at least for the time being. The QAL started in January and we did two free motion quilting blocks a week. A great pace and lots of fun! And most importantly, flexible enough for a non-pattern/direction/instruction follower like me. He he.

Playing goalie backward
For those who have been following along for a while, I ended up going with white for the sashing so that the front there wouldn't be competition for the FMQ in the blocks and white for the back because I thought it made the white stitching stand out more. I couldn't get the idea of the Bright Remix rainbow stripe by Ann Kelle of Robert Kaufman out of my head though so I tracked it down and saw that it was perfect for the binding. I just love the pop it gives around the edge.

While I may have lessened my fear of using white, I have not lessened my fear of having white around. I'm trying to figure out where I can put it so that I can see it, but my munchkins can't. Ceiling?

Catching some rays
by the Rideau River
I think this is my best quilt yet in terms of free motion quilting. I may not be able to pick favourites with my kids, but I definitely can when it comes to quilts and this is now one of them! The quilt measures  41" by 62".




Some close up photos of my favourite blocks (a lot of these are from Leah Day's Free Motion Quilting Project):







If you'd like to see some close-ups of my blocks or find out more info about them, you can visit these past posts (I'm quite gifted when it comes to post titles, aren't I?):

As today is also TGIFF!, I'm linking up with our host Pat of ColorMeQuilty this week. She's got an awesome block for QuiltCon and her Bloggers' Quilt Festival quilt too. Check it out and feel free to link up one of your own recent finishes.





Thanks for stopping by! If I'm MIA on this blog over the next couple of days, it's because I'll be checking out all the inspirational quilts at TGIFF! and the Bloggers Quilt Festival. Have a great weekend!

[Edited: I almost forgot that this quilt is one of my finishes for the Finish-A-Long over at Quilter in The Gap!]

2012 Finish-A-Long
By at
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42 comments:

  1. felicity18 May 2012 at 01:23

    Oh I am so excited to see this one all together, M-R! The binding is perfect, the quilting is inspiring and it's an all-round fabulous quilt. Way to go!

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  2. Kathrin18 May 2012 at 02:20

    Such a beautiful quilt! Thanks for sharing.

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  3. Pat Merkle18 May 2012 at 06:11

    Oh WOW! Your FMQQAYGQAL looks Fabulous. Well done!

    Thanks so much for linking up with TGIFF!

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  4. Melinda18 May 2012 at 06:56

    One word...gorgeous! I'm so jealous of your mad FMQ skills! Oh, that's more than one word; sorry!

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  5. elle18 May 2012 at 07:15

    A quilt to be proud of and certainly a useful reference. It looks wonderful.

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  6. Marjorie's Busy Corner18 May 2012 at 07:49

    Simply stunning M-R!!!!

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  7. Janine @ Rainbow Hare18 May 2012 at 08:24

    I loved these blocks as you were going along and putting them altogether has made a really fabulous quilt :)

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  8. Debbie18 May 2012 at 08:29

    Great fmq.....love the variety you used in the stitches. Beautiful!

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  9. Linda18 May 2012 at 08:34

    All I can say is "WOW"!! I love it soooo much.

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  10. Laura18 May 2012 at 09:46

    It look AMAZING. I wish I'd used white now!!! I love that binding. I'm going to send people here :)

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  11. www.randomthoughtsdoordi.com18 May 2012 at 12:26

    This quilt is stunning and the FMQ is some of the best I have ever seen.

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  12. Ginette18 May 2012 at 15:07

    Congratulations on 1 year of blogging!! So exciting! Your quilt is absolutely gorgeous! I love that you went with white and let the quilting be the star. The binding is perfect! Good job!

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  13. Cindy Sharp18 May 2012 at 15:33

    Fantastic!

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  14. Anne-Marie B.18 May 2012 at 16:09

    Very nice quilt! You can be proud of your FMQ skills! Good choice for the binding and the sashing : it puts the accent on the coloured squares!

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  15. Gramma Quilter18 May 2012 at 16:33

    Of course I had to snoop and see who left a comment on my blog. I am glad I did! Wow your quilting is amazing. Don you just love Leah's designs. She has been helpful in so many ways.
    When you said that you started blogging because you were always talking about, I can relate. It is encouraging to share your work with people who get what it took to make it.
    I will be "visiting" again.

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  16. CitricSugar18 May 2012 at 16:58

    Gorgeous! I've been meaning to try QAYG but hadn't had the time to scope out resources - thanks!

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  17. Lucy | Charm About You18 May 2012 at 18:42

    It is fabulous! The fmq is amazing and that binding is so perfect :)

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  18. Mom18 May 2012 at 18:55

    love the quilt!


    Margaret
    http://quiltsoflove.blogspot.com/

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  19. Janet18 May 2012 at 18:59

    I love this quilt. I love the colours and I love all your experimentation with free motion quilting.

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  20. Unknown18 May 2012 at 23:31

    Wow, very impressive. I love all the color and your quilting, wow, just wow.

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  21. Anonymous18 May 2012 at 23:49

    Your quilting is so amazing!

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  22. Poppyprint19 May 2012 at 02:32

    Amazing FMQ work here!!! I love this fabulous quilt showcasing so many cool patterns. And hey, although I've lived in Vancouver for 26 years, I graduated from Sir Robert Borden in Nepean!

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  23. Canadian Abroad19 May 2012 at 04:06

    That quilting is stunning!!

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  24. Rachaeldaisy19 May 2012 at 06:48

    Very Impressive!!!

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  25. Sarcastic Quilter19 May 2012 at 08:44

    I love everything about this quilt and if you need a place to hang it without little kid fingers reaching it, well, you can always borrow a wall at my house! My kids are all over the age of 12 now. :D

    Gorgeous

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  26. greelyrita19 May 2012 at 11:00

    Wow! That sure turned out gorgeous!! Your gorgeous FMQ almost inspires me to try. Afraid though.

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  27. straythreads19 May 2012 at 13:59

    Quilting is amazing!!!!! beautiful quilt
    Ann

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  28. Danih0319 May 2012 at 15:15

    I Freakin love this! I am in the process of making solid FMQ squares to do a QAYG quilt too! hope you don't take that as copying :P

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  29. Lisa19 May 2012 at 20:51

    This is AMAZING! I've nominated you to be a Featured Quilter for the Bloggers' Quilt Festival because seriously, this is such incredible work. I am in AWE!

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  30. Taryn V.20 May 2012 at 19:48

    Absolutely stunning quilting! I love the rainbow blocks and the unique quilting in each one!

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  31. Eileen20 May 2012 at 23:03

    Fantastic front and back. Love the quilting. I joined Leah's fmq along but got busy and haven't done anying...you inspire me to do it! Thanks for sharing and have a great day

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  32. Sandra21 May 2012 at 01:12

    Great job,love the color blocks and the amazing quilting.

    Come see my entries 64 (repro. applique) and 85 (antique appliques).

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  33. The Thompsons22 May 2012 at 08:30

    I love it!! Great job on the quilting- it looks fabulous!!

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  34. Nic22 May 2012 at 12:01

    Oh, wow! Absolutely gorgeous

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  35. Jessim23 May 2012 at 18:05

    Wow! Truly fabulous.

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  36. Leah23 May 2012 at 20:46

    Totally awesome! I'm looking at these blocks thinking "she can quilt those designs better than I can!" Really pat yourself on the back and enjoy snuggling up with this awesome accomplishment.

    Cheers,

    Leah Day

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  37. thequiltingdoberman24 May 2012 at 19:28

    Wow! I have SUCH a long way to go in learning my free motion. What a great way to try many different techniques. The impact is gorgeous!

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  38. Simply Sandy24 May 2012 at 20:32

    Holy cow, this is amazing. Can't believe how beautiful this quilting is!

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  39. June D25 May 2012 at 06:03

    Fabulous front and back! It's been really nice to see this quilt grow! Congrats on the finish!

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  40. MariQuilts28 May 2012 at 22:25

    Beautiful quilting...just amazing.

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  41. Mary Pal29 May 2012 at 12:07

    Such a gorgeous quilt, M-R! Your free-motion skills take my breath away and I cannot decide which side is my favourite. Amazing work!

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  42. Gillian Grimmett21 November 2012 at 21:34

    This quilt is breathtaking. I absolutely love it!

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