Goals Met -and then some!

Saturday morning started with two goals for me.

1. I wanted to finish two notebooks that I had quilted the covers for the past week - DONE (and shown on yesterday's post) 
2. Take some old quilt along blocks from March of 2011 - that I had abandoned - and make them into a quilt top. DONE

Here is the quilt top:

Draped over the loveseat

Tossed in the floor - and not straightened out - OOPS

The funny thing I have discovered about Free Motion Quilting is that it is a lot like CRACK to a quilter, at least once you start "getting" it.  I had to have a fix. There was too much jumping around in my brain and I needed to play with it to exorcise it so I could relax. 

So -two squares of plain fabric, one piece of quilt batting some fun thread and my machinger gloves AND of course my trusty machine, then it was off to the races! 

 I call this a pebbled feather design.  I did NOT plan this out ahead of time, I just let the muse have a party with my hands. We danced out one bobbin of 50 weight thread and part of another.  The thread matched the back better than I expected.  I was planning on a contrast, albeit a low contrast. 

However, you don't really see the thread on the back, just the design.  The really cool thing, for me, is that it is starting to look like I know what I am doing. 

One of the things that I learned in Cindy Needham's Craftsy Class - Design It, Quilt It, is that you can make an open spine for a feather and fill it with a small design. This one is called "pearls"

Yes I know you can see some of my bobbles there but even the really great quilters have bobbles.  The bobbles are so insignificant that in the grand scheme of things, they are practically invisible. 

Do you play with free motion quilting? If  you get into it, it really is addictive. 

(A little addition)

you could do this!  I remember when it seemed impossible- I oohed and ahhed  over so many other peoples work. For me there was no "moment" -it was so gradual - yesterday when I was doing this, I kept being amazed.  I confess that one feather in there is a hot mess. I started to rip it out.  But I followed Leah Day's wisdom and kept going. that "hot mess" is now just a part of the overall design and *I* have to hunt for it.
Remember - this is that guy that sent two quilts out to be quilted with a big stipple.  Anyone can learn this. You just need to take some classes and practice, practice, practice.

Comments are welcomed. I will reply when possible unless otherwise stated. Foolishly posted "hate speech" comments will be swiftly removed.