How do you get to Carnegie Hall?

Practice, practice, practice! That's what I've been doing with my new Sweet Sixteen, sit-down, mid-arm quilting machine.

I started by just doing my usual paisleys and swirls and spirals and innies and outies, but thought I needed to try some different patterns so I went to Leah Day's website where she has over 400 designs for fillers.  She shows you the patterns then has a short video of her quilting it and narrating her process.  She is working on squares that are about 6" and puts a 4" square inside. I cut out quite a few black squares, layered them with batting and backing and drew my inner square 5 inches.  I did several and decided that I really didn't like to work that small and if I did, I would use my trusty old Bernina, on which I have done a lot of free motion quilting. But if you're tired of doing the same old, same old, be sure to check her out!

Then I found another website, Angela Walter's, Quilting is My Therapy.  She was showing some larger motifs, also by showing the finished product and then a video where she walks you through it.  One of my favorites was the Paisley Feather.  Since I love to do Paisleys this was an easy adaptation for me, much easier than regular feathers, so I've been practicing them. Click on any picture for a bigger view of all.

This is all done without marking.  At the very top of this section is a wavy feather that I did mark.  It was a real pain in the neck, first tracing the design on with a blue wash-out marker and then trying to follow those lines.  I much prefer to just wing it and I like the results much better. In this section and the next one is another of Angela's designs, called The Plume Feather.  I need to practice that one some more.

I added in a few swirls and spirals of my own.  This is going to be fun.

My friend just told me that she is going to make a baby quilt for her neighbor and then send it out to be quilted on a long arm, since she can no longer quilt her own quilts due to back and shoulder problems. So I said, "Give it to me!"  It will be a wonderful practice venue and she won't have to pay for that long arm quilting.

I'm linking up with Off the Wall Friday.