Quilting Practice

As I've mentioned before I recently got a Gammill Statler Stitcher and have been really enjoying getting to know my machine.  This week I finished my 8th quilt on my longarm, EIGHT!  I can't believe it.  While I can't show that quilt I can show you another quilt I finished right before it.

Cabin Retreat Quilt

The inspiration for this quilt top came from the Pendleton Wool Mills series of National Park quilts and the desire for simplicity.  I made this quilt top at a a recent guild retreat and knew that I wanted to use  this relatively simple quilt to experiment with different quilting motifs.

Cabin Retreat Quilt

One of the techniques I really wanted to try out was some free hand work, check out the yellow and pink sections.

Cabin Retreat Quilt

I used the design software to create the hexagons then I filled in around them by hand.  I did a similar technique with the circles.  I used the software to quilt a grid then filled in the squares with circles.  I thought I was getting the hang of it and feeling pretty cool when I realized that I had forgotten to unhook the belts, oops.  The circles were much easier after I detached the belts, go figure.  This unfortunately wasn't my only mistake.

Backing

After I took the quilt off the machine I found a 10" - 12" crease in the backing.  I know it's called practice for a reason but I sure am tired of this learning curve.  I'm getting there, I suppose, and I'm not discourage just ready to improve from my mistakes.

Cabin Retreat Quilt

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new."  2 Cor 5:17