Secret sewing, Test sewing (and a link party)

Again significant progress this week! I am on a roll!! :)

The List:

1. Pumpkin's play mat - general layout planned with the fabric I have left from the Mickey Mouse quilt!
2. the SK project - 1 block done (see below)
3. Tea Towel challenge and PPV BOM - 2 blocks done (see below) 
4. Color of the Year challenge- 16/36 border mini-blocks done (cannot share)
5. Project of Doom 2015 @ Fandom in Stitches - second block done (see below)
6. Black and White pillow - second half done (see below)
7. Secret projects - 3 big + 2 small blocks done, 1 traced (cannot share the main ones, but the additional ones are shown below!)

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These are the latest blocks for the Tea Towel challenge/PPV BOM. They are the December blocks.
3 more blocks are missing and then border and the wall hanging top will be done! Very excited!!

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As mentioned last week, I have a new sewing machine... so I wanted to test the free motion quilting features that I didn't have in the previous machine (dropping feed dogs, larger quilting table, speed control). Since I don't like to make "useless" practice projects, I decided to join a Free Motion Quilting Challenge @ QuiltShopGal :)
There were many things I wanted to test with this project, so I adapted the project to my needs:

1. I wanted it to be a match with the Yin Yang pattern so I can make a pillow with it!
2. I wanted to use the pattern how variegated red thread looks on black and white fabric (I never used variegated thread before)
3. I wanted to see if I can do some FMQ without tracing. So I traced only the half of the heart on the white part, then mirroring the marked shapes
4. I needed to test the new setup (speed control, new space, etc) so I decided not to care at all if the stitches are not consistent or ugly :) just going with the flow and trying to enjoy the process was my goal.

So this is the result of my test:

I used the design that I saw on Joan's blog for the heart, and the one presented of 2012 challenge on quiltshopgal for the background. I really like the effect of the variegated thread both on the white and on the black. And I also like that the same color thread for the rest of the space: it adds texture without drawing the attention away from the center heart.

My FMQ skills need a lot of work, but I think I like the speed control of this new machine... still don't know how to use it properly but I have the feeling that in the long run it is going to be helpful! :)

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This is the second block from the QAL Project of Doom 2015 @ Fandom in Stitches!

POD 2015, week 2 (in my house colors)

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I started working on a secret project... and since it's secret I cannot share the main part of the project. But I needed some additional blocks to complement the main one, so I made these scrappy blocks. You will see how they are combined with the main block to create a fun finished object ;)
(Linking up at Oh, Scrap!)

(r and s pattern available at Fandom in Stitches)

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And finally another block for my SK project is ready.
Opening line of "The Waste Lands"

You can find the pattern on my The SK Project page.

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And now what are YOU going to link?

An InLinkz Link-up