I’m so excited to show you this…. if you follow me on Instagram you got a sneak peek a little while ago, but I had to take some proper photos with my big girl camera.
I’m sure I mentioned previously, I have enrolled in a Craftsy class on free motion quilting… this one by the delightful Leah Day. It was a skill that I have wanted to try for quite a while, and when I was buying my “new” machine, I took the time to make sure it was easy to use for free motion quilting… which it was. Actually, a salesperson in one store I visited commented that I picked it up really quickly, which gave me a whole lot of confidence to give this a go. Leah encourages you to try all the patterns she teaches on spare fat quarters before tackling a larger size quilt. Enter this delightful piece of fabric, picked out by my quixotic 13yo son, who has amazingly diverse tastes.
Because I have mountains of “bits” of batting left after my last couple of quilts, I decided that I would piece the batting together rather than cut into a larger square… easier done than I thought. I used a simple wide zig-zag and ever so slightly overlapped the two edges. The finished product was smooth and seamless. I also decided to be brave and try pin basting, which turned out just fine. Whew.
And there it sat. For weeks in fact. I was just terrified of putting needle and thread into it, and kept on putting it off, until I got so sick of the sight of it, and the sense of impending doom, that I just went for it. My one trick was to put a set of headphones on… I found the noise of the machine distracting my focus, and with some nice tunes playing I was able to relax and go with it much easier. In all, it took about 20 minutes to do the whole fat quarter with a simple meandering stipple. I have to admit though, I have been doodling this type of swirly pattern since I was in High School, so it was a very familiar feeling to my hands.
Ta-da!! Clear as mud, right? In hindsight, it would have been easier to start on a plainer piece of fabric, even as I was stitching it was hard work to keep track of where my lines were. Never fear, I backed my little sandwich with some calico, so all my wonky stitching is here in it’s glory….
There are a few spots where I jumped a little bit sideways, or my smooth swooping curves turned out a little jagged, but on the whole, I am really over the moon with how it went. I can’t wait to get some more (plainer) fabric and try some of the other patterns. It might take me a while to get up to feathers though.
So, what happens to this piece of fabric-y goodness now? I’m so glad you asked, come back tomorrow and you will find out!
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