Figgy Pudding Runner

Sew and learn, right?  This project started as an attempt to make two placemats out of my Figgy Pudding scraps.  I found a pattern that I wanted to try, so I thought it would be fun to try it on placemats before attempting a full quilt.  I cut out all the pieces and layed them out in the floor.  I measured and felt confident that I had enough for the perfect sized placement.  After I sewed everything together, I started to square them off, when suddenly I realized that I was wrong... WAY wrong.  Instead of trying to figure out how to fix it, I just decided to make a table runner.  I think it turned out well!  I like the pattern, but I don't think I have the patience to make an entire quilt this way. 

Most of the fabric is Moda Figgy Pudding, and the backing is an adorable reindeer pattern from JoAnn's. 

Merry Christmas!

Figgy Pudding Christmas Quilt

It's finished before Christmas!  I've been working on this quilt for about 3 months, and I did not think I'd have it finished before Christmas.  After a suggestion from a reader, I decided to hand quilt snowflakes in the blocks; I thought that was going to take forever!  I machine quilted around the trees which was a challenge, but I think it motivated me to try machine quilting for my next project. It's so much faster!

For the back, I used ideas from the blogs I read and found an inexpensive brown sheet that was almost the perfect size.  I really like how the scrappy stripes turned out too.  I cannot remember whose blog gave me that idea, but I noticed that most people were piecing their quilt backs in some way and I wanted to try it!

I've said this before, but I absolutely love this Figgy Pudding fabric.  Now, I'm off to make some Figgy Pudding Christmas placemats with the scraps.

Merry Christmas!

Free Motion Quilting

Here is my first attempt at free motion quilting.  I attached the foot with no problem, but I'm not sure that I ever got the tension right...I was inspired to try free motion quilting from other blogs. They make it look so easy!  How long am I suppose to practice before it looks right??  At this point, I cannot imagine putting a whole quilt through my machine with free motion...

Please give me your suggestions!!

P.S.  I cannot remember what my settings were on for straight stitching, so now I'm having problems there to!  I think I need a sewing mentor.  ha