UFO #3 (Quilted)

YIPPEE, I have my first quilt done for February. I'm bad, I don't name my quilts, short of this is for baby Corbin, so I'll call it Corbin's Quilt. This is the quilt for my husband's coworker that I mentioned in a previous post. Maybe by the time I hit my 100th post, I will figure out how not to get the crazy angles I manage to capture in all my pictures. Oh well, this blogging is creating numerous learning opportunities for me. Quilts for Babys: Easy as ABC by Ursula Reikes is the book this Attic Window pattern came from. I love Ursula's books because patterns are very easy and always go together without issues.

I spent last week watching my quilting DVDs for as many tips as I could possibly pick up. I decided to work on my Loop-D-Loop skills with this quilt. Patsy Thompson mentioned that you shouldn't make all the loops the same size. I really think that helped me. Instead of freaking out because my loops weren't the same size it was fun to make small loops and then giant loops. I let the "Spirit" move me. It seemed liked it made it a lot easier for me to vary the direction of the loops too.

Saturday I pulled out my box of unquilted tops - 25. Adding the 2 from Sunday that makes 27 (aren't you impressed with my 1st grade math?). I think I should have plenty of opportunities to practice this month.

Tonight was good.

1. I tried very hard not to be critical of myself. My quilting isn't perfect, but the quilt is done. Practice makes perfect. (26 more to go)
   
2. I tried to float the top, which I don't normally do. I had some bunching by the time I got to the bottom of the quilt. With that I learned that I do a better job when the top is attached to the appropriate roller on my frame. I'm never going to know how it will turn out unless I try.
   
3. I used 2 pieces of batting butted together for this quilt. I managed to clear 2 pieces out of my batting stash instead of creating more. I didn't have a lump in the middle and I think the amount of quilting I did will definitely keep all the batting in place.
4. I learned that Mindy Casperson (I Have a Long Arm and I'm Not Afraid to Use It) is a genius. In her DVD she talked about small spools of thread and how they need to come off the spool the way they are wound. Small spools aren't wound like the large cones. Makes sense, but I really didn't know that until she said it. Mindy recommended using a horizontal spool holder on the machine. Since I don't have one I improvised based on her recommendation. A chop stick duct taped to the machine with a binder clip to keep the thread on. Very McGyver don't you think? My dad would have a coronary if he saw this picture.

Duct tape really does have a million uses.