Finally, I have made a REAL quilt – you know, one that is pieced together, has wadding in the middle, has been quilted and had binding added.  It’s finished, it’s done – and would you believe I actually finished this in mid February and haven’t posted it until now!  The suspense has been killing me…

It’s the Tree and Bird Baby Quilt pattern by Craft Apple.  I was one of her pattern testers, and learned how to do free motion machine quilting following her directions.  I probably should have practiced more on scrap pieces rather than the real thing, but it was a great way to learn.  My quilting was definitely better by the time I got to the end!  Starting off in the feature circle probably wasn’t the best of ideas…

and I am SO tempted to unpick those wobbly spirals of stitching.  But then I think it will serve as a terrific reminder of the learning process.  Because eventually, the stitching was like this:

Love that meandering stipple!  The beautiful fabrics are from Ballarat Patchwork.  I didn’t do too bad a job of machine sewing the binding and mitred corners either.

Considering I did this with my twenty-year old sewing machine and a newly purchased free-motion embroidery foot (no fancy stitch regulator for me) I am pleased.  It was a great learning experience – Linda’s instructions are clear and thorough, and it’s such a pretty design.  I learned to do raw edge machine applique too.  It’s always a pleasure to test sew for Linda.  A terrific project!