Quilting Practice

 So first up today I decided to piece a batting for the practice quilt.

 Then of course the kids wanted to swim.  We fished this snake out of the pool.

 I've seen this paisley design as a back ground on a lot of quilts.  I think it will take some practice.

 This was a small fan variation.  The designs are so small that the stitches look huge.  Eventually it occurred to me that I should turn down the stitch length.

 The border was getting a little branching vine.

The top is called brain coral and the bottom is pebbling.  I have been looking patterns up form Leah Day's web site.  I think the quilt is about 1/3 done, so there is still plenty of room for more practice.  

Sew Happy Weekend

Ah, the bliss of weekends!  Yesterday was full of a little bit of this and a little bit of that, but today is wide open and full of quilting.  I ran out this morning to take the girls to breakfast and the grocery store, but fired up the quilting machine as soon as we got back.  I've had the HQ16 set up to a shorter length almost as long as I've had it, most of the quilts that I finish are twin sized anyway and it is hard to get around when the machine is fully extended.  There are a couple of big quilts in the pipeline though and so I decided to stretch it out again.  I'm still not sure where that extra section of rail extender disappeared to, but with a little help from Kurt and a trip to Home Depot we have everything working well again.  I'm filling the middle of Roll Roll Cotton Boll with swirlies and the border with a smallish meander.  This isn't the flattest quilt I've ever made and hopefully fairly dense quilting will hold it all together better.  Between the strings and the excessive number of HST units, I'll have to give myself some credit for learning new skill rather than for perfect craftsmanship on this quilt.  I love how it looks though and wish I could convince Anna to put it on her bed.  Noanie bought her a very fancy bedding set though, so I'll have to find another home for this beautiful quilt. 

Quilt in a Day

 From start to finish, this truly was a quilt made today.  It is just a rectangular piece of background fabric with circles of fabric scattered.  The circles were cut with my Accuquilt GO cutter and then temporarily glue sticked down by my seven year old daughter. 

They were sewn on as the top was quilted on my HQ 16.  I'll have to attach the binding tomorrow, but other than that, it is done.  It isn't huge, but I think it will be a nice size for the kids to snuggle under on the couch during this cold snap we've been having.  I'm excited to get the binding done so that I can throw it into the wash and see how the edges fray.  This is my first foray into raw edge applique and I'm curious to see how it will turn out.