Learning Free Motion Machine Quilting

That was pretty intimate yesterday, whew! Now for something a bit more lighthearted.
I got my free motion quilting foot yesterday in the mail!

 This machine didn't come with any of the quilting foots. But I'm not complaining because it was an awesome deal at a yard sale this summer. I bought this machine for $50. It's very easy to use and the multiple stitches have been fun to play around with.  I've made a throw size quilt top and finished two baby quilts with this already since I've gotten it. Not to mention the small quilt you'll see in a second. I'm pretty happy with it so far.
 Last night my son took a nap after dinner and I used my free time playing around with free motion quilting. I didn't follow a pattern and I'm definitely not great at it yet, but boy was it fun!  You lower the feed dogs during quilting and your hands are the only thing guiding the fabric. Just felt pretty powerful. The quilt I was working on is pretty tiny and probably barely classifies as a baby quilt. I had it quilted in an hours time.

I made the quilt from scraps used to make a shower garland that my sister in law put together. After the shower was over I asked her for the material. Can't have too much material! Since they were cut for just a garland the strips were all wacky and hard to work with. All the better to use for a test quilt. It still needs a binding, which I may put on today or I might procrastinate some.



 And the backing. Sometimes the coolest thing to admire after quilting. I used a cream colored backing even though it's more white on top than cream.


In the past I would have said my favorite part of quilting would have been the hand quilting, but I'm falling in love with the speed and ease of machine quilting. Now, I just need more practice and more material. :)

Rachel

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