Very Different for Me

This is another of our Victory Prayer Quilts.  It was pieced by Claudia, and she started to quilt it and then changed her mind.  I can't help feeling honored that she asked me to do the quilting.  She has a fancy expensive longarm to which, about a year ago, she added IntelliQuilter--so, yes, I was a bit intimidated because I just use my machine and my hands.  However, I'm more pleased with the finished quilt than I would have predicted.

 The fabrics in the block include themed fabrics representing Native American and Australian aboriginal cultures.

 I created a new quilting design for the center sashing rectangles.

 I debated and debated about the blocks but settled on simple Xs and a kind of crossed canoe thing in the center of the blocks.

 I used Fil-Tec Glide bright gold in the blocks, but decided to go with a Glide thread that was some where between a dark sand and a milk chocolate color so that the bright colors of the fabrics could really take center stage.

 I challenged myself to try to connect as many as possible of the interior feathers to the borders,

 I also connected some of the feathers in the outer borders.

 My favorite patch in the entire quilt was the one with this horse's head.

It's still fascinating (and I'm still grateful) that my mind is beginning to create FM quilting designs with an ease closer to which it creates quilt designs.

I'm also grateful that the other members of our prayer quilting group are giving me some of their quilts for quilting.  Their quilts are different from mine, so I'm challenged to come up with new ideas and to use familiar designs in new ways.

Our group is going to meet again this Saturday.  It will be just a business type meeting this time, and we will exchange more quilts to work on.  (And yes, I really should document  the quilts I've made and/or quilted over the last several months.  My goal has been to increase my output, and that is a challenge with a full time teaching job and how exhausted I am at the end of a work day. Of course, the time I spend quilting is almost always my happy time.)

Happy quiltmaking and knitting,