Last winter, when we were snowed in for a few days, I decided to piece together a quilt with some fabric I had on hand.  I didn’t have a pattern and I didn’t want to spend too much time thinking about it.  I just wanted to sew.  I knew I wanted large squares in the quilt, so I could try some free hand machine quilting.  Well, I finished two quilt tops, but never got around to the quilting part.  Isn’t that the story of a crafter?  We finish a project, half way, and then move onto something else.

Yesterday, I decided to work on the quilting that I had been procrastinating.  The problem I had was that I didn’t have a template or pattern for the actual stitching.  Over the weekend, I was watching Quilting Arts on PBS and the host used a light table to help with a project.  (Yes, I just admitted to Blogland that I watch shows like Quilting Arts on PBS television. I’m kind of dorky that way.)  My daughter has a light table that we use for art projects, so I decided to give it a try. I found an image online that I thought would look nice in my quilt blocks.  I enlarged and printed it, then taped it to the light table.

Next, I placed my quilt over the top.  See, you can see the pattern right through the fabric!  Those ladies on PBS are so smart.

I used my disappearing fabric pen to trace the image onto the fabric.

I layered my backing, batting, and quilt top together and then I was ready to sew.  I used a low loft, fusible batting for these quilts.  I really hate pinning when I sew, so this is a perfect choice!

This is only my third attempt at free hand quilting, so it certainly didn’t turn out the way I had hoped.  I used a dark brown thread, because I love to see the contrast between the fabric and the thread. 

Note to self:  Use a thread color that blends into the fabric until you become a better quilter.

I plan to bind the quilts today and then I’ll show you how they turned out.

Happy sewing!