It’s FINALLY finished! I spent untold hours looking at it and thinking about it. I ripped out quilting stitches and quilted it again. I kept considering what I wanted to do with it. I made more errors than I can count. Now, the quilting is finally done, and it’s bound. Actually, it’s been done for a couple of months but I didn’t get any photos of it until today.

I’m not completely pleased with the quilting. I knew from the start I’d keep this quilt. I made the decision to try out a couple of new things while doing it. I knew I wasn’t going to complain. I think that it turned out fine. If you look at it from a distance, you can’t really see that there are problems with the quilting. At least, that’s what I’m telling myself.

Little House on the Prairie Concept

I designed the pattern myself, and I was really pleased with it. I wanted something that wouldn’t take a ton of time to piece. I didn’t want a one block wonder. So, I designed two blocks and alternated them. It was a nice break from the sampler block spiral I have been in for the last several years.

And I pieced the backing too, using scrap squares that I’d cut for the nine patches.

Honestly, I don’t know which side I like best – the front or the back. Fortunately, I don’t have to make a choice!

Quilting LHOTP

I used my Brother Stellaire embroidery machine to quilt it, because I suck at free motion quilting. I need to practice end to end quilting more. It is tricky to get the hooping correct. Overall, I think it turned out great. Yes, there is one place where I got the hooping wrong. The embroidery overlapped. But hey, nothing’s perfect. Like I said, it’s for me, and I don’t have a problem with it.

Next time I do end to end quilting, I’ll be utilizing Kimberbell’s Clear Blue Tiles (CBT). They have come out with some large scale quilting designs. I think that using the CBTs will make it much easier to get the placement correct. I can also use the snowman stickers from my Stellaire to make the center placement even easier. I’ll let y’all know how that turns out.

My Next Quilting Project – Spare Squares Quilt

This week, I started working on the Lori Holt Spare Squares quilt from her book Scrappiness is Happiness. I’ve been diligently cutting strips of fabric from Lori Holt fabric collections. I realized I don’t have enough purple, orange, or yellow fabric. Naturally, I had to order more fabric from Fat Quarter Shop.

I’m hoping it will be here soon so I can get the cutting finished and start piecing. I haven’t cut an entire quilt before starting to piece in years. I’m hoping that having most of it cut before I start piecing will encourage me to sew more. It may motivate me to get into the studio more often after work in the evenings! I want to start trying to get in there for at least half an hour a day. Hopefully, I will get so involved in what I’m doing that I won’t want to quit after half an hour.

Kimberbell On Deck!

I’m going to do the same thing with a Kimberbell project, but I haven’t decided which one yet. I have so many of their projects either in progress or waiting. I just keep buying because they keep coming out with super cute projects. I figure that if I have a project ready to be pieced, I will be more likely to actually do something in there everyday. Having something ready to be machine embroidered or assembled would increase my likelihood to work on it. It would help if I made a list of my UFOs. Listing the projects I want to make will allow me to prep the “next one” once I get one done. I hope that makes sense.

What’s under your needle this week? I’d love to know what you’re working on! And hey, if you have any tips or tricks for quilting with an embroidery machine, let me know! Drop them in the comments and let’s talk about it.