Practicing FMQ

I don't really have much to report.

I am working on a quilt that shows the beautiful Oregon coastline, and eventually it will have in the foreground, two puffins.

I am using my new machine, the Janome 6600, and I love everything about it. (I loved the basic Janome that I bought 14 years ago, and the transition to the new one has been very smooth.)

The quilting on the water may not show up very well, but I have also quilted the rocks of various colors and textures. I am using it to gain much needed practice on free-motion quilting.

All I have left to quilt on the background is the grass and the sky, then I can work on the puffins.

Several years ago, I had the privilege of driving along the Oregon coastline, and was struck by its beauty. On that trip, I came very close to actually spotting some puffins, but they disappeared behind a huge rock, just as the ornithologist let me look through the telescope.

One of my life goals is to see puffins in real life. They are admittedly difficult to spot, spend time in burrows, and have a short season on land. They spend a lot of time at sea.

I have tried to spot them on the west coast, the east coast, and even traveled to the Isle of Man, on the Irish Sea between Ireland and England, in hopes of seeing them, but missed them again...

In the meantime, this is my second puffin quilt.

I love the puffin quilt that is part of the permanent display at the Museum in Paducah. That is truly a masterpiece.

I will post more after this is further along.