Free Motion Quilting

 
Yesterday I went to Jo Anns and I bought my first jelly roll with the intention of giving free motion quilting a try. Here are my initial attempts.

Quilted Scarf
I needed a small project to practice my new skill on so this was my test run. Overall it turned out pretty well. My stitches aren't all consistent since I am still a beginner but you can't really tell with all of the crinkling. Here are a few things I learned:
- The needle needs to be moving fairly fast or you end up with massive odd stitches
- It is easier to try practicing with contrasting thread because I had a hard time seeing where I had stitched at times
- Over pinning is a bad idea because taking them all out while you quilt is quite a pain (I think I want to try an adhesive sometime)
- I used a 2 inch binding and I wish I had done a 2.5 inch because it was a bit small. Also I tried machine binding both the front and back for the first time. It isn't as clean as hand stitching but for a project like a scarf it worked out well enough.
- I still haven't quite figured out how to finish the binding perfectly or the corners but I did alright.





Pin Cushion
Here is my other little practice project. I LOVE how this turned out. I saw online that someone had made a pin cushion and they put steel wool inside it to help keep the pins sharp so that is what I did with this. It turned out really well.




Baby Quilt
Here is a peek at the quilt. It is all pinned and ready to be quilted. I can't wait to finish it! The pictures don't really do it justice.