Changing Orientation

After working on stippling the border of this quilt and seeing the living room without all of its Christmas decor, I decided to move this Storm at Sea from its almost hidden spot to a part of the living room that is much more visible. But this spot needs a piece with a portrait orientation rather than landscape. This piece is about the source of light, and there is a window just to its left. Although this piece was designed as a  landscape design, I do think the portrait orientation works with this piece in this spot.

Stippling the border makes this quilt lie flat - a good thing!

Moonscapes - and its lessons

It's completed and ready to hang in the living room, as soon as John takes the quilted Christmas tree down. I'll be happy to look at this daily, but of course I would do things differently if I were starting this project all over - a common lament among quilters. I do love the colors and fabrics in this piece, and the inspiration behind this design was to unify the various colors currently in my living room. I'm also happy that I am finally getting the hang of free-motion quilting - this piece represents my first with free-motion quilting. I like that I used one color of thread which takes on a new dimension with each moon   But instead of framing the quilt with a traditional border (which I did deliberately to incorporate that scarlet red), I wish that I had engaged the edges of the quilt with the design. I wish that I was bolder with my quilting, but that's a skill that will grow with time.  And - bottom line? - this quilt makes me happy.

That Damned Elusive Free-Motion Quilting

I'm impressed by quilters who are able to do free-motion quilting. I've taken classes in free-motion quilting. I've practiced this technique without much success and have never felt confident or comfortable with it. And so I always resort to the safety of my walking foot when it's time to quilt.

Almost a year ago I met my quilting Doppelganger at a Fiber Arts show in Glencoe. Wayne is left-handed, has the same Husqvarna sewing machine, is drawn to geometric designs and modern fabrics, keeps a blog of his work, and quilts with the same passion I do. In our e-friendship we've discovered some amazing similarities. We have successfully incorporated his wife Wendy and my husband John into our friendship and have tried when we are with them to keep quilt talk and spousal eye-rolling to a minimum. One of the things Wayne does very very well is free-motion quilting.

Friday we got together for the first time as quilters and did our own workshop. Wayne coached me on the technique. And this bag is the result. I won't claim that I've mastered the technique, but the two sides of this oversized bag are a great start. I thank Wayne for helping me with the breakthrough of this technique!