CHICKENS!!!!!!





January 2012









February 2012





I'm on a roll with these BOMs this year!  WooHoo!  This BOM Funky Chicken is from http://www.fatcatpatterns.com/.  I had thought to simply download and save these monthly applique patterns as I didn't think I'd find the time to make them this year.  Then I thought....What If???  What if I digitized these for applique and sew these out in the Jumbo hoop for the Bernina 830??  So I present January and February Funky Chicken Blocks.  Hopefully you can see some of the stitches in the closeups.

Before anyone asks...these patterns belong to FatCat Patterns and the digitizing is for me, myself, and I only.  Take a peak on the FatCat site and see all the wonderful applique designs she has...many free!

I plan to use some of the free motion fills that I'll be learning this year around these adorable chickens.  Some of the fancy stitches came from the Bernina Embroidery Software V6 and others came from Bernina Cutwork Tool.  I love all those stitches in the Cutwork Tool.  I did not cut out the shapes with the Cutwork Tool, choosing to trim by hand as they stitched out.

Getting the hang of it!

I think I'm getting the hang of feathers...well, maybe the swing of it! I'm relaxing more, which is good and makes for better looking plumes.  Still need to get better control of echo quilting.  One of my problems is that I can't see behind the foot very well.  I like the open darning foot and the only one I have with this opening is the BSR (Bernina Stitch Regulator) and it is a huge foot behind the needle.  I've ordered a regular darning foot, so I'm sure this will help.  And, ladies and gents, I'm NOT plugging in the BSR, so I'm in control of the stitch length. (and those are not bad at all, if I do say so myself! LOL)

Till next time - Stitch & have fun!!

How Awful!!

February's FMQ Challenge is feathers.  This is HARD!!!  I thought I'd show you my progress rather than simply post my last attempt, which hopefully, is pretty good.  My O My do I need to practice.  I first drew out a feather design on paper with little arrows to help me know which direction to go.  Even my drawing is bad!  My first attempt with fabric on the right is pretty bad.  My feathers are too straight, my echo quilting is horrid.  Second attempt is not much better.  I'll practice more and post another before I post my final attempt.

Here are February's blocks 3 & 4 for Craftsy's BOM.  These were fun to do!  We were warned to use a scant quarter inch seam on the blocks.  Many posted that their blocks came up smaller than the 12.5 inches required for the final block.   So I was very careful in sewing.  My blocks ended up a bit larger than the 12.5 inches, so when I trimmed them down, I lost some of my 1/4" seam allowance at the edges.  So when the quilt is put together, I will lose my pretty points at the edges.  With practice, surely, I'll find a happy medium for these blocks!  Loving doing these and putting together blocks I've never done before.  Thanks Amy for the lessons and thanks Craftsy for giving us the website.