Free Motion Quilting - First Attempt

I finally took the plunge ...it wasn't as bad as I thought. I had a bit of a tension problem that showed up on the back (which I didn't notice until I was done). But all in all, I'm happy with it. I figure this time next year I'll be able to see how much I've improved.

I'm not sure why this picture is so small ...maybe it's time to figure out how to take a quality picture :)

Free Motion Quilting

I've never made it a secret that I can't free motion quilt to save my life. Any of my attempts so far have been embarrassing ...so I gave up.

Recently, Christina, from A Few Scraps decided to offer some FMQ help ...I knew this was for me!!!

I think this Free Motion Quilt Along is going to teach me a LOT!!! Today was my first attempt at the machine and I think I did pretty good. My lines may not be the straightest or stitches the same length but I'm so far ahead where I was a week ago.

I can't wait to see what Christina has in store for us with her next lesson.

September OPAM #1

I finally machine quilted the March tablerunner from Maria Peagler's color series that I started in January. I hadn't been very pleased with my machine quilting so I found it hard to sit down to my machine. Even though I was only doing straight stitching with a walking foot, it just didn't look good to me.

I did much better this month. I had a bit of a problem with the echo quilting in the white squares but I realized it was how I was holding my hands and moving the fabric.

Want to know my secret with being happier with my machine quilting???


My new baby ...and I'm in love!!! I love that it has a built in walking foot, a needle threader and it actually cuts the threads at a press of a button! There are other great things about this machine but I'm still getting to know her :)

August Knit Along

Cute!!! This is the dishcloth from Rachel's Knitting Corner August Knit A Long. Each day she posts 6 rows ...it was fun watching the project evolve. I love these dishcloths ...so much nicer than anything bought in the store.


I can't wait to see what she has in store for September!

Oh Happy Day!!!

I did it ...I did it ...I did it!!! Can you tell that I'm excited about finishing Amy's Simple Sampler (see her link on the right sidebar)? Amy, my dear, you ROCK!!!



I learned a lot and saw quite a bit of improvement in my cutting and sewing. I also learned ...be careful of stripes and that they might not be the best choice for corner blocks :) No matter, I love it!

Another thing that I feel made a big difference was starching my fabrics before I started cutting.

Amy presses her seams open, while I didn't do it on this quilt ...I might give it a try in the future so I'm not going nuts at the end trying to have opposing seam allowances.

One other thing ...I don't have a design wall and think it would have been helpful with the layout, I see a couple blocks that would have looked better in a different spot. I'll have to add that to the list of things to do ;)

Now to think about a backing and quilting this baby!

Again Amy, a big huge thank you for this wonderful project and your great instructions!!

Rachel's Knit Along

Since I finished knitting my socks I thought it would be fun to do a small project and Rachel's Mystery Dishcloth sounded perfect.

I'm pretty new to knitting so reading the instructions, following them, not dropping stitches and keeping the tension on my yarn are all challenges for me.

What I like most about this project is not knowing what the pattern is ...I look forward to getting home and sitting down and watching this project appear before my eyes.