Fall 2010 Bloggers Quilt Festival

A late entry into the current Blogger's Quilt Festival. Thanks so much to Amy (Amy's Creative Side) for hosting this fabulous display of creativity once again. Right now I'm working on what is going to be my next entry in the Festival, but for now, completed quilts, Neptune (pictured above) is my favorite quilt.

I love all things beach/ocean. I also love Moda fabric. I've only been quilting a few years now and I found this fabric at one of the first shows I attended--Quilters Unlimited in June 2009. The pattern was relatively simple (a design by Cottonseed Glory, an Annapolis, MD quilt shop), and I just knew I had to make it, the minute I saw it.

I whipped the quilt top out right away,sandwiched and ready to go by the end of June 2009, but I was so in love with that project that I did not want to attempt to quilt this baby until I had a few classes in freemotion, and after that, procrastinator that I am, I decided it needed to wait until I had a new sewing machine as well (a Bernina with a BSR).

Of course, I got that machine last October, but I wasn't confident enough to start the quilting on Neptune until this past June, where I was careful, a little daring, and quilted the heck out of it (which is a look I just love).

In the beginning of my quilt experience I made meticulous little signature blocks to put on the backs of each quilt I made (that got old pretty quick).

I'm very pleased with how it all turned out, so was Paco

The most important things I learned from making this quilt are:

1. Have confidence in your ability to freemotion. You won't be sorry. While you can study designs, chalk them on fabric, sew through paper, the best thing (and the one that won't result in looking forced) you can do is to let your mind guide the fabric through your needle. You'll be far less disappointed (and rip out far fewer stitches) if you aren't trying to copy what someone else was feeling while they stitched. Freemotion is not about rigidity and coloring inside the lines. Think about it....free motion.
2. Heavy quilting uses lots of thread :) It also results in an interesting look which has a non-comforter feel to it. I like it. The more it's washed, the more it looks like a comfortable, been around for a long time quilt.
3. Never feel bad about setting something aside until you're feeling the need to work on it. This sandwich hung on my studio door for a year. Had I rushed into quilting it, it most definitely would not have become my favorite quilt, or a project I was proud of in the end. Don't look at something as a UFO that needs to be rushed through. Look at it as a project you're savoring, something deserving of your full, unrushed attention, a quilt top that is waiting for you to decide you're ready to turn it into your current masterpiece. We've all heard 'the best things in life are worth waiting for'. 

Thanks for checking out my 'masterpiece'. I hope you're inspired to create your own.