Designing Monday

I graduated from my Long Arm Quilting class this week and feel like I can tackle loading the quilt and some very easy quilting designs.  We only touched on using pantographs as that is taught in the second part of this class -- someday in the future.

I got half way thru this quilt last week after many thread breaks and two broken needles.

 The teacher had me take it off and committed to having me finish it this week.  So this week was a little different loading a quilt that was half quilted, but we did it and off I went.  Only my first stitch out, the thread broke.  And then it broke again and then the bobbin thread broke and then I had a bunch of skipped stitches.

 The teacher finally decided that the needle was at fault and it did have a burr on the tip when we removed it.  The needles we tried didn't improved the situation.  So then she sent me off to her quilt shop across town to pick up more needles that were a different brand.  This was a good thing as I was getting frustrated and needed a break.  The new needle helped tremendously and I was able to finish with almost no problems, except a few skipped stitches.  I was just glad to stop.  This quilt pattern is a modified Fons & Porter design.

My classmates also finished their projects.  Sue was quilting two pillow shams to go with a king sized quilt top she calls the Monster.  It is made of drapery or upholstery type fabrics that are very heavy.

Joyce made another practice quilt with some Packers fabric and a batik on top.  It was Joyce's birthday so we had to have some carrot cupcakes to celebrate!

Here is Jana, the teacher. She fell last week and injured both her wrists, so now she has splints on both of them.  Her customers had to cut their own fabric at her shop for a few days.  Hope she is feeling better by now.

I have started paper piecing these little trees.  So perfect for the Emerald Woods.  This is Bonnie Hunter's Crabapples pattern.  I have been wanting to make this quilt for a long time and finally it has come to the top of my list.  I have about half of the paper piecing done and I think there are 882  squares that are 1-1/2".  That should keep me out of trouble for awhile.

Check out more beautiful designs on Judy's blog.