Thursday, September 14, 2017

Making Connections A free motion quilting workbook

I have been having so much fun doing blog Hops and learning new things. Today, I get to share with you a fun new book. Dorie Hruska is an award winning long arm Quilter and teacher. This book is fabulous.  It is called Making Connections - A free motion workbook.

It is really written for all Quilter's whether you are a newbie or have been quilting for a while, and whether you quilt on a domestic machine or a long arm.

Dorie takes you through, step by step, building on continuous curves, and sharing ideas for things you can do.   I have a bunch of ideas going through my head for some quilts I will be quilting.

So, let me share with you a couple of things I have tried.

This one I did some curves in the squares and threw in some swirls.  I used a pink thread, not sure of the brand, but I love how it turned out.  I am going to turn this into a throw pillow cover.





This is a view of the back. My quilting is not perfect, but I will improve. This was done on my viking Lily 550.



After doing this, I started looking for more orphan blocks that I could quilt and turn into throw pillow covers. I knew I didn't have time to get a bigger project done.  So, I found this block, and got thinking about how fun it would be to quilt some rectangles.



I took some King Tutorial thread by Superior Threads  that was a variegated and did the same design that I did previously.  I did find that sometimes I got mixed up in what way to do my swirls, but it worked.





Dorie suggests in her book to talk your way through the quilting. That is definitely something I agree with. Also, one of the best things about this technique is that you start and end in the same place. I can't wait to try this on my frame.

How about a giveaway?  WAIT. LET'S DO 2.   1 giveaway will be for a copy of the book, it will be either a hardcopy or an ebook, depending if you are in the U.S. or international. The 2nd, is a throw pillow cover. Either of these 2. Just leave a comment about which color you would like. In fact, I think I will do one in neutrals. So, tell me which colors you would like.  I am going to run this giveaway untilike Saturday, September 16. I will end it at 4:00 pm  MST.   I will pick the winners on Saturday evening and will message you. Please leave your
email address.  Also, I would love it if you would follow  me.

For the pillow cover it will be limited to U.S. only.

If you want to purchase a signed copy from Dorie, you can do that by going to www.forever-quilting.com or you can also get a copy, not signed, from www.ctpub.com

I want to thank Dorie and C & T publishing for this opportunity to participate in this blog hop.

Need more inspiration? Check out Aston at www.quiltingmod.com

This week I am linking up with Free motion by the River at www.conniekresin.com
And Jennifer at www.inquiringquilter.com for #wedwaitloss

35 comments:

  1. I realized recently that I like blue. So blue would be great.

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  2. Great Quilt Kathy. Sweet job on your quilting

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  3. Nicely done. Practice makes perfect, and your quilting is already mighty good.
    Neutrals sounds like a great idea, unless you plan to do a Halloween version. Halloween trumps everything. :)

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  4. Thanks so much. Neutrals would be good for my mum's new sofa.

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  5. I like your swirls! My color is blue but neutrals sounds good too. Cool book. Have a great day!! angielovesgary2 atgmail dotcom

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  6. Would love to try machine quilting I've been too chicken.

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  7. I would go for blues. I keep trying and maybe someday I will be "good.

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  8. I've got to find or make something to try some of the designs I have seen on this hop. Such great info. Thank you. ndfromsd(at)gmail(dot)com

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  9. I love neutrals. I'm inspired by this hop and plan to get back to practicing my FMQ!

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  10. I'd love to win this book as I tend to have a lot of starts and stops when quilting.

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  11. If lucky enough to win a pillow covering of yours a neutral with a variety of creams would be my choice, thanks for the chance Kathy.

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  12. Looks like a great book! Machine quilting is so fun to do.

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  13. Neutrals look amazing, and this book sounds great to help me with FMQ. Thanks for sharing
    djcutting2(at)gmail(dot)com

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  14. Thanks for the inspiration. I love seeing new designs.

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  15. This book has really inspired me to get out a UFO and get started on these great designs

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  16. Really looking forward to getting a look at this book! Very interesting! I like your pink quilt! mumbird3(at)gmail(dot)com

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  17. My vote would be for blue for the cover, but since I'm in Canada, I'm not in the running. Thanks for sharing your closeup photos.

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  18. Your purple piece turned out great. I see lots of great ideas coming out of
    Dories book from this hop. Thanks for sharing...btw, am already a follower!

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  19. This book sounds like it would be helpful for me. I do a lot of burying threads when I fmq. I love neutrals.
    kthurn(at)bektel(dot)com

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  20. I'm always looking for good FM quilting designs. Thanks.

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  21. I'm really enjoying this hop. Great job on your pieces. Neutrals would work great for me. Thanks!!

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  22. Great work on trying out these new designs! A pillow using royal blue would work in my guest room! I am a new Bloglovin' follower of yours!

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  23. Good job on your pillow tops! Neutral colors would be my preference.
    cathylouwilson@gmail.com

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  24. How nice for you to offer a pillow cover. Anything in blue would be lovely. Thank you, peterstankovich@comcast.net

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  25. Would love to win a copy of this book. Blues are nice.

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  26. This books sounds great! Neutral colors are always good!

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  27. Can't wait to read the book! I love blues....

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  28. Those will make lovely throw pillow covers. Would love to win a copy of the book, but unfortunately not in the US for a shot at the pillow cover. Good luck everyone.

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  29. Blue is my favorite! I love this style of quilting.

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  30. This would be a great reference book to own and I love your pillow! I love aqua and red together. Thanks for sharing and for the giveaway.

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  31. the book looks awesome and i love most all colors with no one favorite.

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  32. I love the idea of this! Simple quilting patterns that we can all achieve, even with a home machine. Brilliant. I'll be looking for this book in my nearest quilt store. Thanks for linking up to Wednesday Wait Loss!

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  33. would love the book my color is red and white

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