Week 42 Trinia @penguinfeats

Aloha!  I am Trinia and this will be my intro post and farewell post all wrapped into one.  Currently I live in Honolulu, Hawai'i but I am an Oregonian, web feet and all!  I have been on the move for 20 plus years, living in Washington, Virginia, and Italy just to name a few.  My husband and I have been together for 27 years this week and will celebrate our 22nd wedding anniversary in January.  We have one son who flew the coop last year so we are looking toward retirement next year and another move.  Leaving paradise will be difficult, but, my quilting journey will continue.

My quilting journey began about 12 years ago with an experiment to see if I could make something special for my husband.  In college he was the mascot, and had so much fun doing it, I wanted to give him something unique to remember his experience.

'The Duck'

I learned so much from this quilt.  It took me nearly 12 years to finish.  After getting the quilt top finished, I was completely lost on how to finish it.  The top is one giant applique...nearly 4 feet square.  And I didn't want to ruin the applique with the quilting so I took a class from a local quilter who helped me think out the process and work on some free motion quilting exercises.  These exercises helped me gain enough confidence to quilt the background.  I still haven't quilted inside the applique, maybe someday, but for now my husband loves it and wants it hanging on a wall so he can see it everyday.

As much as I love FMQing, I have a very hard time with it.  I was in an accident years ago that created soft tissue damage to my neck and shoulders.  This has made FMQing difficult for me to do for long periods of time.  My attention span is short, so FMQing in short bursts isn't in my make up.  So, I have discovered digital quilting on my domestic machine mounted on a quilting frame.  If you saw my IG post, you saw the quilt frame in my making space.  It is a 10 foot frame that I am able to put my domestic sewing machine on, and with the help of QuiltMotion I can quilt large quilts without having pain in my neck and shoulders.

In addition to that I have learned to combine my graphic design experience with my love of technology and quilting to design my own digital quilting motifs.

'TenSquared' quilting

Creating new quilting motifs that complement a beautiful quilt is what keeps me quilting.  Listening to the machine hum as it stitches the design is music to my ears.

Quilting my heartbeat on 'Wuv, Twu Wuv'

So my quilting journey is just beginning to take off and expand, even after having started it over 12 years ago.  There are lots of new experiences over the horizon for me as I am venturing into designing patterns and quilting for others to generate some income.   I have even been dabbling in screen printing and painting fabric to create unique fabrics to use in future quilts.  I just love making stuff with fabric!!  Okay...I just love fabric!!

Being part of the 52 Quilters project has been amazing.  The exchanges with followers and seeing all the talented quilters that have taken over the previous 41 weeks has been an experience I will never forget.  If you would like to see more of my quilting journey or want to share yours with me....follow me on Instagram @penguinfeats or find me on my blog at www.penguinfeats.com  The blog has been neglected a bit, but, this takeover has been an injection of new life for me to keep up with it!

Thank you for letting me share my quilting journey with you.

Aloha!