Doll Quilt #1 and FMQ Practice
Last week, I shared information about a great cause that is collecting doll quilts. A Doll Like Me is a Wisconsin-based company that touched my heart and that of many other quilters. Details may be found in my earlier post, Doll Quilts for A Doll Like Me, if you are interested in reading more about it. Sue and I both felt this was a good use of our time and talents, and that we should make a few doll quilts.
Doll Quilt #1
We had some leftover fabric from the Regatta quilt sew along. Since it was made from 2.5″ strips, it would be easy to sew those leftover strips into a blue and white little quilt top. Although Sue wasn’t thrilled with this little project cutting in (it must be a first grade thing!), she rallied and got the strips gathered for me. Once they were sewn into a 17″ x 24″ flimsy, it was time for quilting.
Take note of the red marking lines on the picture above. Later, we will discover that they do not completely fade with washing. Joy of joys or should I say dawn of Dawn and a plastic scrubby to the rescue. But I am jumping ahead of the free-motion quilting practice experiment.
FMQ Practice
Angela Walters is hosting a FMQ quilting along on her Facebook website with YouTube videos released weekly through April. The third lesson released on February 26 covered continuous curve quilting. This lesson is something I was especially interested in learning. Obviously, it would not be necessary to mark the horizontal lines but I would need to add vertical marks. Rather than marking at every 2″ or so I thought 4″ would work.
And then I wasn’t able to do that well – I marked the first line at 3.5″ which threw off the second line. Geez, apparently I can’t read a ruler! I drew a second set of lines thinking no big deal – I could ignore the wrong first set (which I could, thankfully). So I started following Angela’s instructions with my ruler foot from the middle edge. I think the design might be called an orange peel, and it would look much better on a square instead of a rectangle. I need to work on a consistent stitch length, too. It was fun and I would definitely repeat this practice stitch again on another piece.
FMQ Marking Oops
So, it turns out the Frixion pen is not easily removable. Yes, it can be erased or it turns invisible with the iron but that does not totally remove it. After the first washing with good old get-nothing-clean-but-clean-clothes Tide, it soaked in Dawn and met our scrubby. That got out the lines. Phew. This little doll quilt was finished off with a navy polka dot binding and is now ready to be shipped off.
I will continue practicing on my FMQ skills. The only way is up, right?!!
Sneak Peek – Doll Quilt #2
Here is a shot of the second doll quilt I’ll be working on and have for you next Friday (hopefully). Any suggestions for quilting? I am open for anything before I start but am leaning toward geometric squares.
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The doll quilts was a fantastic idea and success wasn’t it? I know I need to do at least one more, a boy type one. 🙂 Practice is worth every minute, guess that applies to all things, but we sometimes tend to forget about the FMQ part! But remember, (and I still remind myself on every. single. quilt.) when your nose is right against it you see EVERY error; when you step away when it’s all done, you see the WHOLE and it’s always fabulous. 🙂
Hi Sandra,
That is a very valid point – the overall piece is good in spite of the missteps. How are you going to quilt PfS? I am worrying about that already . . . ~smile~ Roseanne
Very cute little doll quilts. Glad you were able to get the quilting lines out. Thank goodness for Dawn!
Hi Kate,
I threw it in the freezer too, and they stayed gone! Phew! ~smile~ Roseanne
Hi Roseanne, The quilting looks good! I shy away from Frixon pens … put your little quilt in the freezer and see if the marks return – they sometimes do in the cold. Also – they will take out the colour on batik … moral of the story – use them only when the lines won’t be seen. I tend to use a fine pencil on light coloured fabric and white chalk on darker fabrics. Happy quilting! 🙂
Hi Gail,
I just took the doll quilt out of the freezer and all is good. PHEW! None of the lines returned but that pen will be relegated to minimal unseen use. I’ll be switching over to chalk – someone said they fill they chalk pen with baby powder when it runs out. Thanks so much for the suggestions! Happy National Quilting Day! ~smile~ Roseanne
Roseanne, so sorry the pen gave you such a hard time. All of those pens give me fits. If I have to mark something I like to use chalk. The quilt turned out very pretty though. The second looks very sweet as well. Great FMQ! Keep at it. You will be the next pro teaching all of us. 😁
HAHAHAHAHA – good one! heehee – I’m rolling on the floor . . . I can’t catch my breath. Thanks for the good laugh! I am switching to chalk – I have a Ponce pad but that isn’t good for lines without a stencil. ~smile~ Roseanne
Great looking dolly quilts! Wish I knew a little girl who could use some!
Hi Erin,
That is so sweet of you to say. They are a donation for a place that makes dolls to match a child’s disability. Thank you so much for visiting today and commenting – I hope you come again. ~smile~ Roseanne
Great work on the fmq. Hmm frixon pens are great although I haven’t used them for marking quilting – tend to use water soluble. I tried to do some fmq without marking, not so good but do you know never mind, who is really going to inspect it!
Hi Kathryn,
HAHA! Well, I certainly inspected it when I was finished and thought ugg. But I can’t expect perfection right away, even though I do. I want to just BE good at it. I know time and practice will bring that. I guess I could try the same technique on the second doll quilt. ~smile~ Roseanne
I think your FMQ looks great. We are so hard on ourselves. I am scared of the pens now, and I have some…..
Hi Lori,
I am going to go hunting at Joann’s tonight or tomorrow for a new water soluble pen. AND then, I’m going to mark a bunch of scraps and wash them to see if it actually comes out. I’ll let you know the results! I don’t do a lot of marking – too time consuming for me. In this case I wanted to have pretend squares/rectangles to use the technique on. Thanks for your kind words about the FMQ – don’t look too closely! ~smile~ Roseanne
I have to iron out the Frixion pens, they never wash out for me. Hope you can save the quilt.
Hi Gretchen,
I’m going to put it in the freezer tonight and then I may be ironing that little quilt all weekend. Oh well, if that’s the worst mistake I ever make with those pens or any other for that matter. Lesson learned for sure! Thanks for the ironing tip. ~smile~ Roseanne
Your doll quilts look great! I don’t trust Frixion pens honestly except to mark things on the wrong side, because it seems it doesn’t really go away. I like the blue water soluble markers the best for marking, when I have to mark. Now I’ll have to read up on the doll quilts cause, because I haven’t heard of it. Have a great week!
Hi Liz,
You will be hooked and making doll quilts as soon as you read about it. I give Bernie at Foot and Needle all the credit for alerting us to the cause. Who doesn’t have some extra fabrics laying around that would make a perfect doll quilt?! Yes, I will be selecting a different marking pen going forward. ~smile~ Roseanne
It’s great if you have to learn a lesson to do it on a very small quilt. Just think it is was a bed size quilt!
Hi Shannon,
What a great point – true dat for sure! I would have been crying if it was my Postcard. Ugg. It is only fabric and a small amount at that. Thanks for making me feel better. ~smile~ Roseanne
You just reminded me that I patched together some left over Regatta strips for a doll quilt, so I need to go find where I stashed it. I don’t use Frixion pens for that reason. I’ve never trusted them. Glad you were able to get it out.
Hi Wendy,
I sure hope it is out! I’m going to stick it in the freezer when I get home tonight . . . that will be a first. HAHA! No marking on the next one for sure – and it’s not needed thankfully. ~smile~ Roseanne
Hey nice practice, it looks great. Sorry about the Frixion markings giving you such fits. I use those pens for marking but only for marking in the seams as the marks come back if the item gets really cold. And I have also seen a ghost marking on some fabrics after the iron takes out the major ones. I like using the marvy disappearing purple ones the best. But not when it is really humid!
Hi Vicki,
I guess my Frixion pens are going to be reserved for only diagonal lines for HSTs or the like from now on. Geez, now I’m going to stick the quilt in the freezer to make sure the marks are truly gone. If they’re not, it’s going in the garbage. Oh well, it did serve as practice and helps me to see where I can improve. ~smile~ Roseanne