Summer Sampler Series: the final product!

I can finally say I've reached one of my long-standing {quilting} goals. I sucked it up and learned to free-motion quilt! I've been quilting for 2 years and this has been a goal for most of that time. I made one other attempt a while back, and it went badly. Very badly. So I put it on the back burner and decided not to worry about it. This summer I decided it was time. I have learned a lot in the past year and have become a much better quilter and I felt I was ready. Scared, but ready. I know I've mentioned it before, but the summer sampler series quilt was one that I made specifically with free-motion quilting it in mind since I had no recipient in mind so I was less worried about messing it up. I wanted to practice on something smaller first though, which is why I made the carpenter's wheel block.

I finished that up pretty quickly and it went alright. Not great. There are some definitely tension problems on the back, but at least I was able to fix them (for the most part) on the sampler quilt. It came out pretty well. I wrapped the backing around for binding and machine stitched it down. I don't really know what to do with it now that it's done, but I suppose that is neither here nor there.


After a bit of practice I was ready to tackle the quilt. I used gray thread to go with the sashing and it worked out well. It stands out a bit on the white, but I thought white on the gray would have stood out more. I just did an all over meandering stipple and although it is far from perfect, I am really proud of it. I got a few puckers of fabric that are pretty bad, a couple on the edges of the front and a couple in different places on the back, but especially now that it is washed and so beautifully crinkled, it isn't as noticeable.

I am really glad I chose the gray sashing, I think it tones it down a bit and makes each block a work of art, which I think is appropriate considering the amount of work that went into them. The back and the binding are both scrappy. I didn't feel like going to the store to find anything so I worked with what I had and I am really happy with it. It is so strange to have allover quilting instead of something the follows or doesn't intrude on the design, but I love it a little :)



This quilt was such a great learning experience for me. I feel like my piecing improved and I learned some new skills making the blocks (paper piecing!) and I tried some new blocks that I'm not sure I would have been brave enough to try on my own. To top it off I had my first successful free-motion quilting experience. I am so proud of this quilt so for now it is going to hang out in the living room where my little lady can roll around on it (she loves my quilts and lays her head on them and rolls all the time. It is hilarious. It also makes me want to make her more things since she obviously loves them :) I'm a sucker.). I am already figuring out what quilt I can make next to practice some more quilting!