Happy New Year!
This seems like an auspicious start for a new year and a new venture.
Last September my mother and I purchased a long arm quilting machine. This wonder currently resides in my basement, much to my delight. I am having a great time learning to use it. It certainly has an interesting learning curve. I had some prior experience using a rented machine following pantographs. I'd done three or four quilts on the rented machines before we moved to Kansas City. But having one at my disposal with no concern about how much time the quilting takes has really opened a new world to me. We didn't get the computer add on, so no computer assist to fall back on.
Learning free-motion quilting has been full of ups and downs. But now, four months in, I feel more confident and, also, more aware of how much there is yet to learn. I have become much better friends with my seam ripper than I'd ever expected. If only I could go back and redo the first few quilts I quilted, using all the things I've learned since. But that way lies madness - right?
I plan to start putting pictures of my finished projects on an instagram page. It will be great to have a place to view my progress and share it with my family and friends. In the mean time - here are the two most recent quilting projects I have finished:
The Santa quilt was done using a holly themed pantograph. 
I hope this close-up helps see the quilting a little better. The quilting is done using Glide thread in gold. It has a lovely sheen. Many of the fabrics also have shiny gold designs on them so the quilting blends nicely.
I also finished this lovely tree skirt. It was all done using free motion quilting.
I even changed the thread colors: the background is done in cream, there is a line of gold on the red trim, the trees are done in green and the tree trunks in black. It was very time consuming but I am so pleased with the results.
Both of these were finished just in time - hours before Rob's annual Kris Kinder party. I have been working on a free-motion whole cloth quilt - nothing to hide mistakes in the quilting except more quilting and LOTS of space to fill with interesting designs. So far all I have to show for my efforts is a tangle of thread I've pulled out. I've also ordered a couple pieces I need in order to work with rulers. It's a good thing my mother and I have a collection of tops finished and waiting for quilting.
The Santa quilt was done using a holly themed pantograph.
I hope this close-up helps see the quilting a little better. The quilting is done using Glide thread in gold. It has a lovely sheen. Many of the fabrics also have shiny gold designs on them so the quilting blends nicely.
I also finished this lovely tree skirt. It was all done using free motion quilting.
I even changed the thread colors: the background is done in cream, there is a line of gold on the red trim, the trees are done in green and the tree trunks in black. It was very time consuming but I am so pleased with the results.
Both of these were finished just in time - hours before Rob's annual Kris Kinder party. I have been working on a free-motion whole cloth quilt - nothing to hide mistakes in the quilting except more quilting and LOTS of space to fill with interesting designs. So far all I have to show for my efforts is a tangle of thread I've pulled out. I've also ordered a couple pieces I need in order to work with rulers. It's a good thing my mother and I have a collection of tops finished and waiting for quilting.