Improv in Shelburne Falls

All finished!  This little baby quilt began one quiet March day, in which I found myself improv piecing for the fun of it and enjoying the use of a design wall for improv for the first time.  Such a delight! 

The fabrics are mostly Shelburne Falls by Denyse Scmidt, with a few odds and ends thrown in.  It's so easy to improv within a tight color scheme or collection.   Everything goes anyways!

I'd had my heart set on chrysanthemum quilting, which meant I was first waiting on my new Juki and then some new free motion quilting tools and then my replacement Juki....  Finally the stars aligned and here we are.

So, the quilting?  Love it.  Fun to do, soft to the touch, kind of gorgeous....  I mostly can't believe that I can do this now.  It seems like so long I wanted to try things like this and the dogwood quilting and just didn't.  Because of fear.  And because of machine failure.  And because I thought I should take a class or something.  Turns out the machine failure was the only relevant point for me.

If you find yourself in the same boat, get a machine that's not temperamental for free motion quilting (this Juki is awesome, btw) and make some small practice quilt sandwiches.  I find that practicing my design a few times on a quilt sandwich gives me the guts to go for it on the real deal. And once you commit to the real deal, you can't help but get better and better!

Oh, also start pinning or saving the free motion ideas you really like.   You can take a day and just practice different styles to see what's easiest for you.  I find that defined patterns, like both of these flowers, are easier for me than stippling. 

Let's chat more tomorrow about my free motion experience on this quilt and the tools I used!

I backed this baby quilt in one large cut of Flea Market Fancy dots.  The little flowers between the dots echo the chrysanthemums, at least in my head.

For the binding, Shelburne Falls Plaid & Dot in maple.  Love how that little diamond-y pattern looks as a binding!  It's a zigzag binding finish, as usual.  Don't think I've even once done a straight stitch binding since trying the zigzag.  Check out my tutorial if you're ready for a quick and foolproof binding experience.  I think you'll be so glad you tried!

Shelburne Falls by Denyse Schmidt can be found online in Canada at Mad About Patchwork or in the States at Fat Quarter Shop.