Chicken Scratch

So this was my first attempt at Free Motion Quilting.  I decided to go with an all over loopy design because honestly I thought it would hide more mistakes.  After ripping out all of my stitches twice and wasting an entire spool of thread I figured I better just stick with it and keep going.  I know to some of you more experienced free motion quilters it looks like chicken scratch but I'm really proud of myself for giving it a go.  The more I did the better I think it looked.  I have decided though that it is about time I invest in a real sewing table because as small as this quilt is, it still created a lot of drag hanging off the table.  I'd love to hear your suggestions on tables as I'm on a really tight budget I don't want to get something I won't be happy with.

 My husband is working on something in the background there.

I promise we don't always have all that trash in our backyard.

This quilt is for a coworker who is having her first girl.  I know she is supper excited about it because to date she has been far out numbered in her house of all boys.  I'm a little sad that she won't be returning to the office after having the baby but I guess working just to pay daycare cost doesn't make a lot of sense either.  Thanks to all of your name suggestions I finally decided to call it "My Cup Runneth Over" because I know tumblers always make me think of cups too and I know the new mama is overjoyed to be having a girl.  The quilt measures 40 inches wide by 48 inches long so I think it will be a nice size.  It is made from Moda Bliss using quilting weight on the front and flannel for the back. 

I realized as I was typing this post that this quilt marks a lot of big landmarks for me.  It is the first quilt that I have quilted myself using free motion quilting.  I know I have a lot to learn but with the prices of fabric going up I won't be able to afford to take every quilt to the long arm so I really want to master the art of free motion quilting.  It is also the first quilt that I used the machine to attach the binding to both the front and the back.  This is probably not my favorite technique but I think it turned out well.  I just prefer the more polished look you get with hand stitching.  But since it is a baby quilt that is going to live in a home full of boys I expect it will need frequent washing and I thought the machine stitches would be a little more forgiving.  This is also the first quilt I have made as a gift for anyone outside of my family.  So while my both of my husbands parents and my mom have quilts from me I have never given one away to a friend (unless you count the first Christmas gifts I made my coworkers back in Charlottesville, but I imagine all but one of those is probably at goodwill, long story) so I just hope she will like it.  My other hope is that she will actually use it.  I hear people say all the time that they don't want to use their quilts because they don't want them to get messed up.  I understand that but I'm in the camp that believes it can be washed and that the best way to show someone you love a quilt they made you is by using it.