Swirls for Michael Gideon

I finished Michael Gideon's baby quilt, but almost forgot to get a picture. Dear son-in-law held it up for me just before the quilt left my house!

Label:

Front:

Back:

Close up of back:

Close up of front:

Tutorial for the quilt (QUICK STRIPPIE) is HERE.  Thank you Mary's Quilts!

Swirls on the flip side..

I forgot to include the picture of the back of the doll quilt that I recently made. I love this fabric with the pink and blue flowers and owls. I think, but am not sure, that it is a piece of a vintage sheet.

This is a fake quilt sandwich that I used to practice quilting swirls on before attempting the real thing.

Quilting plans for this week include finishing the top of the Jewel Box/Buckeye Beauty quilt, work on the machine quilting of the D9P quilt and work on more miniature quilts.

That seems like a tall order, especially since I will be at work during the day all week!

But, the Jewel Box/ Buckeye Beauty top is almost finished.  I have all the blocks finished and sewn into rows.  I just have to sew the rows together.  Its not as large as some of the quilts I have made.  It will finish at 60 by 72.  I will use it for a throw, or folded on the back of a chair or at the foot of a bed.    I plan to quilt swirls on it and can't wait!

The D9P quilting has just been started, so that will take some time to finish since it is a large quilt.

The good thing about the miniature quilts is that they don't take a ton of time to finish.  Almost instant gratification.  I would love to make one to hang on the wall in a spot behind the pictures of our two daughters' wedding photos.

Here's one more picture of the front of the doll quilt.

Swirls, A Doll Quilt and a Birthday

Today was my birthday, so I took a day of vacation from work. Outside was rainy and very cold, but inside it was warm, with candles burning, music playing in the background and sewing going on in the sewing room.  THE PERFECT DAY!

I wanted to begin and finish a project today, so I made this doll quilt. The pattern can be found HERE. I looked through my scraps to find similar colored fabrics.  This is where having precut strips and charm squares came in handy.  I already had the 2 inch strips and 5 inch squares.  This sped things up a lot.

Even though this quilt pattern is for a doll quilt, I think it would be perfect for a small table runner or table topper.

I've also been wanting to expand my free motion quilting beyond the basic meander that I normally do. I love swirls! So I signed up for a Craftsy class and learned how to make them! I'm really happy about this.

They aren't perfect by any means and I need lots more practice. But for my first attempt, I was pleased. You start out by sketching the swirls like this. I also practiced on a practice quilt sandwich before attempting it on a real quilt. The small size of the doll quilt was great for practicing too.

With more practice I think I will be able to manage making swirls on a larger quilt.

There are so many more FMQing designs for me to learn.

This post is linked to FRIDAY NIGHT SEW IN and CRAZY MOM QUILTS FINISH IT FRIDAY.