December FMQ Challenge and a Recap

I can't believe I really did it. I almost dropped out more than once, but as the year comes to a close I can say I completed each of the monthly challenges of the SewCalGal FMQ Challenge. Each month I would read the new challenge and sometimes my immediate thought would be, "I can't do that." But I stayed with it--I tried it all, and I am so glad I did. I am anything but a pro, however this challenge has moved me out of the rank of beginner.
I need to start this out with my December project.
Our FMQ expert this month has been Patsy Thompson. I had already acquired some of her DVDs earlier this year, and had downloaded all of her free designs from her website, so I was familiar with her. The focus of her challenge was working with border designs. I need help with borders, so this was right up my alley. But when I saw that we would need to do feathers, I shuddered. I had told myself that in 2013 I was going to focus on improving my feathers, but here it was facing me down in December. Well, I had made it this far. I wasn't going to quit now!

I downloaded the worksheets and did lots of drawing.

Filled a few scraps with practice designs.

Gave a little extra practice to the feathers.

Then went to work on this.  It is not a work of art, but I have to say,
the feathers turned out better than I had dared hope. This was my
first attempt at the "bump-bump" feather. I didn't think I would like
doing it, but I believe I could get to the point that I could use this.

Okay, here is the obligatory recap of the year.

January

February

June

July

March

April

Blogger loaded these photos so randomly. I couldn't get them in order to save me, but at least they are all here.
I learned many new things from this challenge, including the making of your own stencils, different feather styles, and new filler designs.

May

I have learned the "stuff and fluff" technique of  quilting. I have become aware of many quilting tools that were not familiar to me before. I have quilted 2 crib quilts, 2 twin size quilts, and a queen size, along with several table runners and minis. Though I had dipped my toe into the FMQ pond a couple of months before the challenge began, I was so limited in my skills and had no confidence in my ability to become a machine quilter. This challenge has jerked me out of my comfort zone and kept me moving away from it the whole year. Interestingly enough, I find that many of those "uncomfortable" things have actually become fun. I no longer fear free motion quilting. There are many designs I actually enjoy. And you know what? Those feathers weren't so bad this time around!

August

October

November

December

September

There you have it, folks, my SewCalGal FMQ Challenge 2012 results. My sincere thanks go to SewCalGal and all of the experts who have given so freely of their knowledge and time this year.

Until next time,

Janet O.

p.s. I couldn't resist coming back and adding this picture from a post over a year ago. In October of 2011 (fourteen months ago) I took my first class in FMQ and this is my earliest effort from that day. Remember this--and how you were my new best friend if you could see a pumpkin anywhere on it? How well I remember feeling like the class klutz. I share this thinking it might give another beginner some hope. : )