More Progress..

Ok this week I didn't do a whole lot more on the t-shirt quilt, but I did get the yellow batik strips sewn onto 6 blocks...so slow progress is better than no progress! I can now make six block sandwiches, or continue to cut and sew strips onto blocks...not sure which way I will go yet but it is my goal to do at least a small part each week on this quilt, if nothing but to "ponder and plan" the next step...  at this point we have six yellow blocks and six green blocks..


I am not so proud of my free motion quilting block this week, and almost just threw it away and did another one....I learned a few things from this block: Do NOT try to free motion quilt when you are in a hurry, have only partial lines marked, or have a small child crawling on your lap and wanting lunch. These are not the opportune times for this type of project which requires concentration. I have quilted a ton in my life, but very rarely do I do so following a marked line, and in many ways this has been more of a challenge for me! I usually pick a design from Leah Day's plethora of choices, and then just look at it and come up with my version of it free hand...not tracing any type of lines. This has always seemed to work for me in the past, but now trying to trace lines on a fabric and then follow them exactly is a skill I am trying to build. What can I say, I'm a free spirit! So, in reflection, I did not throw away the wobbly quilted lines block. The fact that I obviously did not correctly follow her directions in marking lines around the outside of the block so that I would have a space to travel stitch on, or the fact that I started in the center of the block instead of the outside are going to serve as a reminder to me next time that I need to pay closer attention to the process, and try new things. Maybe by the end of this thing I will have a new method of quilting, being able to follow marked lines, as well as quilting impromptu.

That really, really wobbly looking line to left center are tail threads that I need to hide...I don't know I may need to redo this one!!!! But, this is a learning process and that chocolate thread color really, really shows up any imperfections on that white and tan!