> ~ Insights by SewCalGal ~

Monday, December 31, 2012

2012 Free-Motion Quilting Challenge - December Recap

 photo 2012FMQChallengeBadge4x6_zps2dba5c11.jpg


 I want to recognize and formally thank Patsy Thompson, our December FMQ Expert for her amazing tutorial





Patsy provided us with an excellent tutorial which showed us how to create spectacular borders using a variety of free-motion quilting designs:







Everyone had fun with this tutorial, some incorporating their own designs, but all learning to create spectacular borders with their free-motion quilting skills.


At the point of writing this post, there are 90+ quilters that have completed this tutorial and entered to win a monthly prize.  (note: there are over 2,000 participants that have registered to complete this challenge, but only a small percentage enter the monthly challenges).  And many enjoy the ability to "master" these tutorials at their leisure vs rushing  to complete an exercise in the month it was released. 

Here are few of the entries, from those that completed the challenge this month:


{above} Val in NZ



{above} Terry


{above} Jen (Quilter in the Closet)




{above} Marlene (Madame Quilter)





{above} Terry Knott


Quilters of all levels, from all over the world,  participated in this challenge.  While some have experience doing FMQ, many are quite new.  But, we all enjoyed the tutorial by Patsy, very much!  

On behalf of all the participants, SewCalGal and all of the participants want to extend a warm thank you to Patsy for providing us such a wonderful tutorial and inspiring us to learn and improve our free-motion quilting skills.  


THANK YOU PATSY!




The objective of the 2012 Free Motion Quilting Challenge is to encourage quilters to learn and improve their FMQ skills, as well as gain more awareness to various FMQ Experts, opportunities to learn, tools that are helpful for those doing FMQ, all on a home sewing machine. While the focus is on learning, and SewCalGal does not want the focus to become all about winning prizes, but I'm also delighted that many generous sponsors have donated wonderful Grand Prizes and Monthly prizes, that will be awarded to participants randomly. It doesn't matter how good you are at FMQ, what matters is you take time to learn and improve.

Participants that do complete the monthly tutorial, in the month that it was released, and choose to enter per the rules on the original tutorial post, will be eligible to win a monthly prize.  For the October tutorial, there are three and the winners will be announced ~ mid-December.   This includes the normal monthly prize bundle, plus ?




I do want to recognize and thank our sponsors for this challenge:



SewCalGal is proud to recognize our
GRAND PRIZE SPONSORS
for this challenge.



Sponsor(s)Prize(s)
The Fat Quarter Shop
Six prizes for Grand Prize Winners:
1 - $250 GC
1 - $150 GC
1 - $100 GC
3 - $50 GCs
logoOne lucky winner will receive a $200 gift certificate to The Stencil Company where they can pick out their favorite continuous line stencil designs that are perfect for quilting
Dream World
One lucky winner will receive a Pieceful Holiday Quilting Package, which includes:
a Steady portable tables, a Travel/Storage Bag, Sew Straight Guide, Spinner Tray and Polish Kit
Pieceful Quilting Holiday Package w/ Drawer Tray
estimated value: $149.99
The Electric Quilt CompanyOne lucky winner will receive a copy of EQ7

Retail price: $189.95
June TailorA bundle of June Tailor products, perfect for free motion quilting, with an estimated value over $100
A bundle of books, perfect for those interested in free motion quilting, with an estimated value over $100


SewCalGal is proud to recognize our
MONTHLY PRIZE SPONSORS
for this challenge.



Sponsor(s)Prize(s)

sampler pack of 5 threads (12) which will be used in the monthly "bundle" prizes, every month.

Silk Stars Thread kit, with 12 spools of 40 wt threads, that was awarded to a winner in the January Challenge:


Aurifil Silk Stars Thread Collection-


note:  This prize was awarded during the January challenge.

SewSlip

SewSlip has donated 12 SewSlips, to be awarded to the winner of each monthly "bundle".
Revolving Sewslip images
Sewline:Trio Three Color Fabric Marking Pencils with an extra refill package to be given to winners of monthly prize bundles.
Sewline Products
Quilters TouchQuilters Touch has donated 12 bundles, each with a value of $27.95, which will be given to the winners of the monthly "prize bundles":
Machinge 1 (Medium)

  • Sew Precise Sew Fast Machine Binding DVD (retail $19.95),

Video
note:  As machingers are sized for the winner, they will be shipped directly to the respective winners of the monthly prize bundles, from Quilters Touch.  The other part of the monthly prize bundle will be shipped to the monthly prize bundle winners from SewCalGal.
Electric Quiltwinners' choice of Quiltmaker Quilting Designs software
from Volume 1-8.  This prize will be awarded during one of the monthly challenges, in a month where there will be two winners.




The monthly Prize Bundle for this Challenge includes:
  • a sampler pack of 5 Aurifil threads, donated by Aurifil.
  • SewSlip, donated by SewSlip
Revolving Sewslip images



















Quilters Touch has donated a pair of  Machingers quilting gloves value $8 each 
Machinge 1 (Medium)


And, Quilters Touch donated a Sew Precise Sew Fast Machine Binding DVD (retail $19.95), 


Video 

Sewline has donated a Trio Three Color Fabric Marking Pencils, with an extra refill package.
Sewline Products




There is still time to enter to win a prize, simply visit the November tutorial for more information. But all entries for this monthly challenge need to be submitted in November, so this is the last day you can enter to win one of  eleven (11) prizes to be randomly awarded to winners of the November Challenge.  To clarify, this is not a judged challenge.  Just simply complete the tutorial and follow the instructions to enter, that are posted on the respective tutorial.   

The main page for this challenge, which has a tab under the header of my blog labeled "Free-Motion Quilting Challenge", will be updated mid-December, to announce the winners of the November Challenge.  SewCalGal wants to be caught up and have all prizes shipped before Christmas.







In January, SewCalGal will be wrapping up the 2012 FMQ Challenge with posts to announce the winners of the December Challenge, Grand Prize winners and some special prizes for a few of the bonus tutorials.  After I complete the wrap up, I'll also share insights on plans for 2013 Challenges.  In the meantime, I encourage everyone interested in learning and/or improving your FMQ skills to:

  •  continue to practice with the FMQ tutorials released in this challenge,
  •  take classes at your local quilt shop, quilt shows, and online at Craftsy and other sites.
  • Read books that share insights on FMQ
  • Watch DVDs about FMQ
  • Follow blogs that share insights on FMQ, especially Leah Day's blog (The Free Motion Quilting Project).  This includes following blogs by the FMQ Experts, and hopefully SewCalGal too!
  • Try new products appropriate to FMQ (e.g. threads, batting, fabric marking pens, etc).
  • Practice, practice, practice




 



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Sunday, December 30, 2012

Free Episodes On The Quilt Show


The Quilt Show has some free shows that are available to everyone this weekend, as well as a special show to those with a Star Membership (paid membership).  This is a great opportunity that I hope you'll take advantage of and find some time to watch these shows while they are available for free.  If you don't yet have an account on The Quilt Show, do take time to create a free membership account at www.thequiltshow.com 



Show #402 Sue Nickels - Quilting to Perfections
Sue shares insights on precise and enhanced stitchery.  This episode is free to everyone through New Year's Day.

Photo by Gregory Case



Episode 707 - Stellar Star Circles with Judy Mathieson  shares some of the techniques that she is famous for, including her precision paper-piecing method—no paper to remove!—and how she builds her characteristic star circles, segment by segment.  This episode is free to everyone thru December 31st.



Episode 701: Animal Magnetism with Nancy Brown  award-winning, hand-appliquéd animal portraits, explains how childhood outings to the zoo inspired her choice of subject matter, and reveals a surprising secret about her wedding dress. She also shares the thought process that goes into each design, the various techniques she employs to translate the design to fabric, and some of her favorite hand-appliqué tips.  This episode is free to everyone thru December 31st.




Episode 906 Katie Pasquini Masopust 
Katie  shows how to work with the results to create an original quilt design. In addition, Ricky demonstrates the "Flip and Sew" technique on a variation of the Drunkard's Path/Fan block.  This episode is free to everyone thru December 31st.




And Star Members (paid subscribers) should not overlook free shows for them include:
Episode 313 - TQS Quilting Legend 2008 (Jinny Beyer)
Episode 513 - TQS Quilting Legend 2009 (Libby Lehman)
Episode 713 - TQS Quilting Legend 2010 (Yvonne Porcella)
and, Star Members get to watch "A Day of Threadplay" with Libby Lehman free thru December 31st.


As a Star Member, I'm also looking forward to Episode #1201 - The ABC's of (Award-Winning) Quilted Feathers (Sue Nickels) being released on January lst.  That will be a great way for me to kick off working on my quilty goals for the New Year.

And, episode #1203 - Achive "Stellar" Results with Precision Piecing (Marsha McCloskey) will be released January 28th 2013 for Star Members too!

Can you guess what my quilting goals are for 2013?




http://www.thequiltshow.com


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Wednesday, December 26, 2012

My favorite tutorials Y-seams

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ONw3HOKZwPU&feature=g-user-u


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My Favorite Tutorials - Binding with Sharon Schamber

There are various ways to making binding, but this video tutorial by Sharon Schamber shows an interesting technique. If you've ever seen her quilts they are always spectacular and the binding is absolute perfection.    Plus, she shares insights on what judges look for in binding.  I enjoyed this video so much, I wanted to add it to my list of favorite tutorials.  I hope you enjoy it too!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=a2hWQ5-ZccE



Update:  SewCalGal wants to thank everyone to help find tips for glue bottles, as shown in Sharon's video.  There are some plastic ones on Sharon's site and her daughter's Purple Daisies site.  I also learned that Loew Cornell sells a kit with plastic bottles and these metal tips which you can also find on Amazon.  

Sharon teaches a variety of classes, including Corded Binding, The Perfect Curved Binding, Piped Binding and many on free-motion quilting, both on a domestic machine and on a longarm machine.

For those attending the upcoming Road to California Conference and Quilt Show in Ontario, CA., you should be able to meet Sharon Schamber in the Purple Daisies' booth.  I'm certainly looking forward to attending this conference and show, as well as visiting the Purple Daisies' booth and seeing Sharon Schamber and Christie Fincher (Sharon's daughter).

http://www.sharonschamber.com/
http://www.sharonschambernetwork.com/

You may also want to visit the page on my blog labeled "My Favorite Tutorials" to see other tutorials that I love.


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Monday, December 24, 2012

Merry Christmas

I wish you a very Merry Christmas.


How ever you spend the holidays, I hope you are able to relax and enjoy.

While spending time with family and friends is one of my favorite things to do at Christmas, I also enjoy listening to Christmas music.  For me, music relaxes me and rejuvenates my spirit. While we each have special talents, bless those with musical talents that have such a special gift to bring such joy to others.

I hope you also enjoy listening to Ricky Tims play "Angels We Have Heard On High".



And, for all my pet loving friends, here is a cute musical video sponsored by Iams.  Every time it is watched, Iams will donate a meal to a pet living in an animal shelter.


 

I also hope you'll enjoy this very creative Hallelujah Chorus video produced by the 5th Grade Class at the Kuinerrarmiut Elitnaurviat School in Quinhagak, Alaska. Originally intended for an audience of 200, the video has been viewed more than 1.5 million times on YouTube





Sunday, December 23, 2012

2012 Free-Motion Quilting Challenge - November Winner


 photo 2012FMQChallengeBadge4x6_zps2dba5c11.jpg


All of the monthly tutorials and bonus tutorials are now released and I'm trying to play catch up on announcing winners of the monthly challenges.  This post is focused on the November FMQ Challenge and announcing the winner of the November Monthly Challenge.

The November FMQ Challenge, where Sarah Vedeler showed us how to create a variety of beautiful swirl designs.


Before I announce the winners of the October Challenge, I want to take time to recognize all of our sponsors:

2012 Free Motion Quilting Challenge

GRAND PRIZE SPONSORS


logo



Dream World









Grand Prizes will be awarded to those that have taken the Pledge to complete all 12 FMQ tutorials. After they complete 12 tutorials (any combination of monthly tutorials and bonus tutorials) anytime in 2012.    More info on how to enter to win a Grand Prize will be shared later this summer.   In te meantime, save photos/links that show you've completed any of these tutorials as it will help you when you enter. And for those of you that are doing the optional FMQ Sampler Quilt, you will simply need to show a photo of your completed sampler quilt created using any 12 tutorials (monthly or bonus) shared during this challenge.  For newbies in this challenge that are not aware of the sampler quilt, visit the post that shared insights on two possible FMQ Sampler Quilt designs to use for this challenge.

SewCalGal is proud to recognize our
MONTHLY PRIZE SPONSORS
for the September  Challenge.



Each month, one lucky winner will receive a special bundle of prizes.  For the September challenge, the winner will receive a bundle that includes:
a sample pack of 5 Aurifil threads

A SewSlip mat
Revolving Sewslip images








A Pair of MACHINGERS Quilting Gloves
by 
Quilters Touch LLC


The winner will need to determine the size that is appropriate for them
that shares insight on how to help fit gloves.





SewCalGal is responsible for shipping the prize bundle directly to winners, with the exception that Quilters Touch will be shipping their prize (Machingers gloves and DVD) directly to the respective winner.   As shared previously, this Challenge needs to be about learning/improving our FMQ skills and not about prizes.


The winner of the monthly bundle prize is:



Congratulations to Barbara (Pointless Quilter)!

Prize #2 - Winners choice of  Quiltmaker Quilting Designs software from Volume 1-8, from the Electric Quilt Company, will be announced shortly (this post will be updated...I simply forgot to randomly select someone.


A few reminders:

  • Grand Prize - For 2012 FMQ Challenge Participants that complete any 12 tutorials (any combination of monthly/bonus tutorials) in 2012 and want to enter to win a grand prize, be sure to enter by December 31st.  At the time of this post, only 35 of the 2,000+ participants in this challenge have entered to win a Grand Prize.  {click here to enter}
  • Bonus Tutorials - Many of the bonus tutorials also have giveaways which those that complete the respective tutorial anytime in 2012 can enter to win a prize.  The exception is the December Bonus Tutorial, by Teri Lucas, has a deadline of January 15th.

Bonus Month
FMQ Expert
Tutorial Topic
FMQ Challenge: Hand marbled fabrics
FMQ Challenge: Finding fabulous motifs
FMQ Challenge: Machine Trapunto
Teri Lucas
FMQ Challenge:  Print on Fabric with Kaleidoscope Creator software and Feathers!






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Saturday, December 22, 2012

2012 Free-Motion Quilting Challenge - October Winners







All of the monthly tutorials and bonus tutorials are now released and I'm trying to play catch up on announcing winners of the monthly challenges.  This post is focused on the October FMQ Challenge and announcing the winner of the October Monthly Challenge.

The October FMQ Challenge, where Teri Lucas showed us how to combine a variety of designs to create an amazing project.


Before I announce the winners of the October Challenge, I want to take time to recognize all of our sponsors:

2012 Free Motion Quilting Challenge

GRAND PRIZE SPONSORS


logo



Dream World









Grand Prizes will be awarded to those that have taken the Pledge to complete all 12 FMQ tutorials. After they complete 12 tutorials (any combination of monthly tutorials and bonus tutorials) anytime in 2012.    More info on how to enter to win a Grand Prize will be shared later this summer.   In te meantime, save photos/links that show you've completed any of these tutorials as it will help you when you enter. And for those of you that are doing the optional FMQ Sampler Quilt, you will simply need to show a photo of your completed sampler quilt created using any 12 tutorials (monthly or bonus) shared during this challenge.  For newbies in this challenge that are not aware of the sampler quilt, visit the post that shared insights on two possible FMQ Sampler Quilt designs to use for this challenge.

SewCalGal is proud to recognize our
MONTHLY PRIZE SPONSORS
for the September  Challenge.



Each month, one lucky winner will receive a special bundle of prizes.  For the September challenge, the winner will receive a bundle that includes:
a sample pack of 5 Aurifil threads

A SewSlip mat
Revolving Sewslip images








A Pair of MACHINGERS Quilting Gloves
by 
Quilters Touch LLC


The winner will need to determine the size that is appropriate for them
that shares insight on how to help fit gloves.





SewCalGal is responsible for shipping the prize bundle directly to winners, with the exception that Quilters Touch will be shipping their prize (Machingers gloves and DVD) directly to the respective winner.   As shared previously, this Challenge needs to be about learning/improving our FMQ skills and not about prizes.  As such, my #1 focus will remain on ensuring monthly FMQ tutorials are released on the lst of each month, #2 focus is 3-4 bonus tutorials are released in 2012, and #3 monthly winners are selected and sponsored prizes are shipped.

Teri has also worked with Quilting Arts Magazine to have ten (10) copies of the issue that contains her excellent article on Improving Machine Quilting.  To clarify, in addition to the regular Monthly Prize Bundle, ten participants in the 2012 FMQ Challenge that complete Teri's tutorial, will be randomly selected to win a copy of the issue of Quilting Arts with Teri's article on free-motion quilting.


QuiltingArtsJanuary/Feburary 2011 – Improving Machine Quilting



I also want to recognize and thank several Postage Angels who have recently donated to help with postage expenses.  This has helped to cover the shipping cost for prizes for this challenge and the September challenge too!   If you have a chance, I hope you visit their blogs and let them know that you too appreciate their help as Postage Angels for the 2012 FMQ Challenge.  They are wonderful people and have delightful blogs!


Ok, time to announce the winners.  The eleven (11) winners of the October FMQChallenge were randomly selected based on those that completed the challenge in the month the tutorial was released.   There were 129 entries for this challenge.  

The winner of the monthly bundle prize is:

Billie Bee (Billie Bee's Blog)



Congratulations to Billie Bee!

The ten winners of the bonus prize that Teri coordinated with QuiltingArts, for a copy of the  January/Feburary 2011 – Improving Machine Quilting, issue by Quilting Arts, which includes a tutorial article by Teri are:


  1. Peggy Harty
  2. Nancy (S is for Stitch)
  3. Carol 
  4. Ramona
  5. Anne C
  6. Angelina (Quilting after Dark
  7. Marlene (Madame Quilter)
  8. Vrooman's Quilts
  9. Rebecca Grace (CheekyCognoscenti)
  10. Linda (Uniquely Yours Creations)


Congratulations to all of these lucky winners.  I'll be sending an email to all of the winners to let them know, as well as to get their mailing info.  But, if they see this message first, I hope they'll email me their info.  With the exception of the gloves & DVD, which are part of the monthly prize bundle, I'll be shipping all the other prizes.  I want to have all of these prizes shipped by the 28th.   If the winners have a chance, I sure hope you'll send a note of thanks to the sponsors of these prizes, as well as the Postage Angels who have donated to help supplement postage expenses.


A few reminders:

  • Grand Prize - For 2012 FMQ Challenge Participants that complete any 12 tutorials (any combination of monthly/bonus tutorials) in 2012 and want to enter to win a grand prize, be sure to enter by December 31st.  At the time of this post, only 35 of the 2,000+ participants in this challenge have entered to win a Grand Prize.  {click here to enter}
  • Bonus Tutorials - Many of the bonus tutorials also have giveaways which those that complete the respective tutorial anytime in 2012 can enter to win a prize.  The exception is the December Bonus Tutorial, by Teri Lucas, has a deadline of January 15th.

Bonus Month
FMQ Expert
Tutorial Topic
FMQ Challenge: Hand marbled fabrics
FMQ Challenge: Finding fabulous motifs
FMQ Challenge: Machine Trapunto
Teri Lucas
FMQ Challenge:  Print on Fabric with Kaleidoscope Creator software and Feathers!






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