I'm coming in under the wire on joining this link up, but I've been thinking of making a post showing my early quilting to my current quilting for a while now. The Then and Now link up at Devoted Quilter finally got me motivated to get some pictures together!
Let's start with my very first free motion quilt (FMQ) and some of my most recent:
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My Hippocamp and my first bed quilt. |
That large stipple was done while I was 8-9 months pregnant with my first kiddo (awkward baby bump to quilt with!), was on my mom's small Janome from the '90s, and it was a queen sized quilt! Seriously, it was my first at pretty much everything quilty. You can see from the photo that my curves are not very smooth and my stitch length is far from consistant--and often as large as a 5, and sometimes as small as a 1! After almost 7 years of heavy use (including 3 bug infestations, which require hot wash and drying to get rid of!) it definitely shows and there are holes in the binding, a lot of broken stitches, and the cheap fabrics are significantly faded. PSA: always buy the best quality you can afford! It was last far longer and age far nicer than the cheaper options.
(same quilt as above) Whoa big stitches. I'd rip and redo that stitch size if that happened now. |
About a year later I started getting into more detailed FMQ and made this red mandala quilt on my Janome 6300, and 4.5 years later my interest in mandalas and paisleys is still going strong:
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Red quilt from 2011 and lavender quilt is the back of the Night Camping mini quilt from 2015. |
The biggest improvements I see are the smooth curves in the swirls, consistant size of the scallop borders, and the density and diversity in the designs.
Here is another one, focusing on the feathers:
That pink quilt marks a big turning point in my quilting journey! It's when I decided to stop pining for a long arm and focus on what I could do with my domestic machine. The whole quilt was an experiment to see what I could do, to see what would result if I pushed myself to focus more on the quality and details. I was (am) so proud of the result! It won 1st place at the NM state fair that year (wall hanging category, I think) and was juried in to MQX New England.
Of course now I look at it and also see the wobbly lines, the inconsistent feathers, the ugly stems and the poor travel stitching. But I see that and am still proud and still recognize that that quilt was the gateway to the my current style and voice in the quilting world! It hangs in my living room, though I am thinking of moving it to my daughter's room soon.
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Pink feathers are from my Lone Star quilt and the dino feather is from my Dinosaur mini quilt. |
That pink quilt marks a big turning point in my quilting journey! It's when I decided to stop pining for a long arm and focus on what I could do with my domestic machine. The whole quilt was an experiment to see what I could do, to see what would result if I pushed myself to focus more on the quality and details. I was (am) so proud of the result! It won 1st place at the NM state fair that year (wall hanging category, I think) and was juried in to MQX New England.
Of course now I look at it and also see the wobbly lines, the inconsistent feathers, the ugly stems and the poor travel stitching. But I see that and am still proud and still recognize that that quilt was the gateway to the my current style and voice in the quilting world! It hangs in my living room, though I am thinking of moving it to my daughter's room soon.
Reverse side of the Lone Star quilt. |
To those that are at the beginning of their quilting journeys I say this: keep going, keep pushing yourself to try new things, focus on small improvements! Don't stop practicing and experimenting!