Batik Beauty

I made this over the last few weeks and quilted it yesterday. I just love the whole process. I used a new and an old pattern for machine quilting-one came with my Inspira frame called small border scrolls, and the center design is called Ocean Waves border by Hari Walner. I used YLI machine quilting thread. The quilt pattern uses one paper pieced block is from the May 2004 issue of Quilters Newsletter Magazine called Grow and Be Happy, still available on-line under Web Extras; the other block is an uneven log cabin block just using the strips I had without cutting and trimming to make them even-when they looked big enough, I rotary cut them to the block size of 6 1/2". The fabric is left over from another quilt I am making( next one to go on the frame) all batiks. This is different from any previous quilt I have made and I will definitely be visiting this process again! (Click on the picture above to see a close-up of the quilting stitches)

I learned about ripping out quilting stitches, too, but here is where all my years of being a seamstress paid off-I knew an easy way to undo-snip each 5th stitch from the top and when you have done that for about 10" then you pull the bobbin thread and the top stitches just pop out, then you repeat for the next bit and so on-I had about 30" to rip is all before I saw my problem so it wasn't too bad. All part of the whole-it is going to happen so learn to just do it!

Just pulling it off the frame-I did turn the quilt once the center and top and bottom border was finished because I wanted to do the long side borders easily and in a particular direction-I pinned it right back on the leaders and it sewed up just fine-I am learning so much and love it!

Went to the Putnam County Fair this afternoon and decided that I am going to enter a few quilts in the competition next year. I have never entered a competition before, but there were many machine quilted entries and I would like to be one in 2009!