WHAT IF?

I often ask myself this when I look at a quilt top. What if I did this, what if I did that? Lately I have been asking, What if I didn't have a computerized system? Don't get me wrong, I love my Intelliquilter and wouldn't trade it for anything, but what if I really practiced my free motion quilting so that I could have the best of both worlds!

It's really funny when Karen and I go to a quilt show and check out all of the quilts. She is usually immediately drawn to the quilt pattern, where I am drawn to the quilting itself. I try and follow the stitching to see where the person stopped and started, or how they made the design they made in the quilt.

A few blogs that I follow are having free motion quilt alongs. Check out Sew Cal Gal over on the left for one of them. I just love the fact that each month a new quilter will share their expertise with the rest of us. I always try and remind myself that at one time they were not a master quilter, but a novice like me, and with determination and practice they have become the successful quilters that they are today! I have to admit that I am a bit envious, because I hate the practicing part, but like anything else in life, practice does make perfect!

And speaking of perfect I recently got my Machine Quilting Unlimited Magazine and decided to comb through all the close-ups of the quilting, and do know what I discovered? They are not perfect! Not computer perfect anyway, but that is what makes them so perfect, knowing that they were all done by machine and the quilter persevered!

I would like to be in that category someday. Good enough that someone would want to emulate my quilting style, and that is where I get stuck. I get stuck on thinking that all great quilts have to be quilted a certain way, and some of those ways, I don't really like! I am not a fiber artist, I don't like playing with thread build up, and I am not really a fan of variegated threads. Now don't get me wrong, when others do any of these things that are not my style, they look incredible. They are just not what I like to do, and I guess that is where this whole what if question comes from.

What if I stitch the things that I like to stitch, then that becomes my style, my calling card so to speak. Lots of people can look at a quilt pattern, and just by looking at the fabrics, they can tell that it is a Moda line, or Thimbleberries, or Henry Glass or whatever, well quilting styles are no different!

So today I decided to give it a whirl, start coming up with my own quilting style! So without further ado, here is a photo of what I had on the frame today. I can tell you this, it sure does take a lot longer to load the quilt than it does to quilt it, even goofing around.

Below is a shot of the whole piece. I started at the top with the intention of going all the way around with the feather border, but then got impatient with the feathers not looking how I had imagined them in my mind! So I moved onto leaves to see if I could do them right to left and left to right, and then over on the right side tried doing them up and down. Have to work on the sizing on the up and down ones. Then I did a variation of the leaves with the 3 points, they were all right, but I had to concentrate more on the points. Then I attempted an oak leaf, which kind of got covered up with some other quilting. In between the top feather and the leaves is a question mark feather kind of fill that I saw another quilter do and wanted to give a try. And at the bottom, I gave the feathers another try. I seem to have a hard time making them long and narrow and they turn into these big bubbly type things. Oh well what's a quilter to do? Load another piece, of course!

So if you have any feedback, would love to hear from you! I am always open to thoughts about how to improve my quilting skills! Enjoy! Rachel