I am a FMQaholic.

I recently was awarded the "FAN OF THE MONTH" from Wonderfil's Fan of the Month Contest. I was only the 2nd winner of this contest and I think it's mainly because not many people are aware of the contest. The WINNER gets a fabulous thread package from Wonderfil.

Go here to check out the rules and to find out how to enter the contest: http://www.facebook.com/wonderfil

I received my thread package/winnings in the mail this week. It didn't take hardly ANY time to arrive! Well I opened the package and . . . . started drooling. ;c)

So many beautiful threads to try! As a matter of fact, they include one large spool of each type of thread they offer. Lots of Cotton, Rayon, Metalic and variegated threads.

The threads along with my friend Tiffany having a birthday inspired me to start a new project. I started thinking about what I could make for Miss tiffany. I just finished making another friend of ours pot holders and didn't want to do that again. I decided to go with a TOTE, but not just any tote. I decided to make a FMQ'd TOTE!!!

I still have almost all of the fabric left from my last batch of hand-dyes. Since the dyes didn't turn out very bright, they made the perfect backdrop for some FMQ practice/playing.

I went to http://freemotionquilting.blogspot.com/ for inspiration.... AS ALWAYS, thank you SO much Leah Day for all your hard work. Here's some photos of my finished project, and I'll show you which FMQ filler design I used and give you a link to it. Isn't that nice of me? ;cD

So here's the tote, I sandwiched the pieces together and used variegated thread to quilt them.

I just used some cheap polyester batting for the center, the bottom is squared off so it will be flat. It's a little TALLER than I originally anticipated but that's okay. I see it as a nice beach bag or something. And the Strap is long, so she can throw it over her shoulder if need-be.

***Click on any of the photos to make them larger if you wish.****

Okay for the top design (pink) I used Leah's pattern "GIANT SNAIL"

The bottom design (blue) I used her pattern: "CHECKERBOARD"

The top pattern (green) I used the design "BUTTERFLY FEATHER FLOWER"

For the bottom pattern (orange) I used "PEBBLE MAZE"

For the TOP design on this one (Pink) I used "OCEAN CURRENT"

For the bottom part (blue) I used a simple "STIPPLE" ~ This is the first block I quilted and I wasn't sure what I was going to do . . . you can't go wrong with stippling ;c)

Okay for the top part of this one (green) I sort of used my own little pattern here. I had originally planned on just quilting straight lines and ending it at that. BUT, after I quilted half the lines I realized that plain lines weren't going to satisfy me. So I did a variation of the Giant Snail pattern from above. These "C" or Banana shapes are what you use to fill in your squigglys when you're doing McTavishing. They're one of my favorite shapes to play with when FMQing because there's JUST ENOUGH thread play.. Also, the shape really works nicely with your batting adding SO MUCH texture to your finished quilt! If you've never tried this type of quilting pattern before I HIGHLY recommend it. Feel free to try what I did. First quilt just straight or diagonal lines . . . they don't even have to be evenly spaced. Then just go back and forth making "C" shapes. It's a beautiful look to the finished quilt.

BUT I DIGRESS ;c) for the bottom part of the above photo (yellow) I used Leah's design "SUPER DAISY" ~ This one was my husband's favorite and it was much easier than I originally had anticipated. I can't speak highly enough of Leah and her website. She is SO generous for showing us so many amazing quilting patterns. It's so nice when you're stuck in a spot and lacking ideas. . you can just go to her website and all the photos are all laid out for you and you can just go through and pick the one that you like. She even gives you a VIDEO explaining in detail how to quilt EACH ONE!!! She's done so much for the FMQ world!!!

And finally for the bottom:

I used Leah's paisley design called "MUSSEL SHELL"

So the next time you want to make a tote. . . why not JAZZ it up a little and use some FUN Free-motion designs!!! It makes a beautiful, SOFT tote that's completely washable!

If you make one, please send me a pic!! KRATI@AOL.COM

I would love to feature the photo here on this blog!