The other day my friend let me use her Innova longarm quilting machine while I tried out some free-motion quilting (FMQ) on a panel baby quilt. After four hours of quilting I'm very glad that I didn't go with the Innova longarm. It's just not my cup of tea. A family friend had a baby that was born just a little bit too early. Soon he'll be allowed to come home and Steve and I wanted to give him a welcome home quilt. It was hard finding minkee in the nearby quilt shops so Steve picked one out that matched while he was on a business trip. Didn't he do well?
I used the print to guide my FMQ ... a bit of piano key in the two borders, faux applique around the animals and background fills. It was a lot of fun. I'll have to get some more panels so that I can make more baby quilts and practice my FMQ at the same time.
The polka dot minkee is sooooo soft and the quilting adds some interesting textures.
Since this little quilt is destined to be washed a gazillion times in hot water I opted to machine stitch the binding on both sides. For the final stitching I chose a decorative feather stitch in a turquoise Aurifil thread. It adds just that little extra bit of detail. Next time I'll stitch it from the front so that I can choose the same line for it. Regardless I think the new mom will be happy with this gift. Here's to a quick homecoming!
