One project off my list! Another one started!

The quilting is done on this project! It was a bit overwhelming at times as I could only do a block or so at a time. My arms got so tired doing all those tiny circles, but about the time I finished my arms were getting used to the motion! The pink and purple blocks were not quite as overwhelming for me, so I felt I have improved much with this project!! For those of you who don't know me, I am a relatively new longarm quilter with this machine. I used to use a longarm on a frame, but when I purchased my own machine, I had to retrain my brain and arms to move the fabric and not the machine. It took me a few practice quilts to get used to it!

I know you can see the pebbles on the light pink and I do hope you can see the feathers on the darker blocks.  The plan for the darker blocks changed from my original post on this quilt.  We women do have the right to change our minds!  Ha!

To try to keep in theme with the pebbles, I decided to use the circular border fabric as my guide for the quilting in the borders. This is my first "fancy" quilting on my new machine. This would not have been possible on the other machine I was using and it has been so fun to get out of the panto quilting box! I am looking for possible quilting designs everywhere now! LOL. Filling each block with design possibilities is exciting and is a new way for me to think about quilting. I have purchased quite a few stencils but so far I have done free motion quilting. As a reminder from past posts, this quilt was made by girls in my Appliqué Group. The Des Moines Area Quilt Guild has a charity auction every August. Each small group donates a basket full of goodies or a quilt or top to be auctioned off. The money goes to 3 different charities. We raise quite a bit of money each year...in the range of $10,000 to $14,000! We also have a "mall in the hall" where members can bring sewing related items they no longer want. It is lots of fun and I am amazed at members generosity!

Remember the English Paper Piecing project I showed a while back? I am making progress on it and Sunday afternoon I found time to get to the borders. The Des Moines Quilt show theme this year is all about pineapples, so my last few designs have had pineapples in them.

While we were traveling on the gulf coast, my youngest started a conversation about palm trees and do pineapples grow on them. We had a good time using the iPhones to learn about how a pineapple plant looks. This design imitates a pineapple plant...much greener at the bottom rather than the top! (Looks like the bottom left leaves are the only ones that are in the correct place)

This is how the Punchneedle quilt is coming along. I finally found just the right background color and I am very pleased. This week I will work on some appliqué or stitching in the border. I am calling this one A Prim Welcome.

I have also been working on redoing My House on the Hill in all Valdani threads. This should be done by the weekend...I hope! Those vines are tiny...1/8" or so, but my method of sewing them on is very simple! Anyone can do it. I promise!

Have a wonderful day!

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