Multicolor Practice Quilt- 2006

appx 60” X 60”

I made this in memory of the first quilt I ever made. However, this one is different in that my primary focus was on using it to practice free motion machine quilting. I didn’t want to pressure myself, so I decided the end result was to be a picnic blanket. I challenged myself to do a different quilting design in each block. Maybe later I will post some close-ups so you can see a lot of what NOT to do! I was working on original free motion designs “off-the-top-of-my-head” and at the same time still working on getting my machine speed and hand speed in sync in a nice rhythm. It was fun but it wasn’t until the very end of this project that I started to realize that it is okay--in fact, preferred-- if the machine goes faster than your hands. I have since started to practice a little with keeping my hands calm and steady while the machine races along. 

Some quilting close-ups: