Things one learns on the way.

My friend Bea over at MrsSassyCrafter needed some eyes and ears in helping her perfect a quilt pattern. So I volunteered. I not known for following all of the exact instructions on anything (just ask me for a recipe), so I felt this would help me stretch as a sewer and I got to assist a good friend. The pattern was simple and Bea did a great job of describing each step. Overall, it was fairly straight forward and pleasantly simple. Here's the learning curve. I made this quilt with the intention of donating it and knowing that it might be sent overseas to an area with moist, humid temperatures, I went with a polyester batting.

Oh boy, talk about your puffy quilt. Seriously, the quilts looks like I feel (you know, pregnant and all). I had read a lot about the various positive and negative attributes of batting and knew that the polyester was more fluffy, but this is amazing! It reminds me of the comforters my grandmother has draped on all her beds, the kind that you don't actually "sleep" with. They get turned down at night, revealing a whole other layer of blankets underneath. Plus, it just screams eighties to me, too bad it's not in neon colors, wrapped with a slap bracelet, wearing a hypercolor t-shirt...
I also learned that free-motion quilting is not as hard as it looks... Whoa.... before you get all flustered, let me explain. I had tried some FMQ earlier this year and it was a complete FAIL. Yes, a FAIL. Laughable to the very core. I was sure it was all me and that I didn't have the "touch". It was painful and awkward and well, bad. Luckily redemption was available and so I tried again. I quilted this on my Nana's fancy machine and it was brilliant. While I won't be FMQ like Elizabeth Hartman anytime soon, it was nice to realize that perhaps it was more machine malfunction and less Rebecca malfunction. This revelation did not aid me in loving my current machine. Mostly it just created machine envy (this machine trims your threads for you. love.) Drat. What I did learn was when quilting with more light and delicately printed fabrics, less is better. It appears that the quilting drowns out the fabric. I am sure the batting isn't helping this either. But now I know. Right.
Luckily, it still works, handing out warmth where needed, adding some color and hopefully helping a small child along the way.

Teaching myself all the quilting basics is going to take a while. (Can I just say.. eeek to applique and hexagons!) But having little successes makes it rather enjoyable and satisfying. I love the feeling when I cross something off my to-do list and it dissappears FOREVER. That's the best.