Just Add More Stitches

I made the one hour trip to my favorite quilt shop, Lola Pink in Lafayette, LA, and fell in love three steps into the shop.  The new fabric line, Persimmon by Moda, just reached out to me and I knew that jelly roll had to come home with me.  Now I'm usually not a jelly roll kind of gal. I don't know if it's the price or the perfectly coordinated formula, but something usually makes me steer clear of them. Anyhow, the colors made me take the leap into jellyrolls and I'm glad I did!  I also selected an unModa step child fabric that I adored for border potential.  I made sixteen patch blocks--sooo easy with jelly rolls. I just separated the strips into darks and lights. I loved interchanging the medium fabrics as they can become either a dark or a light depending upon which fabric it is combined with. 

I planned a loose,comfy feel for the quilt so I assumed that meant loosely spaced quilting design.  I chose a wave quilting line through each block but it didn't seem like enough.  Then I added a simple seed line design at the connection seam of each column of blocks. It still looked awkward.

Even after unstitching and restitching, it didn't look "right enough'".   My excellent quilter friend, Gayle, encouraged me to just add more stitches until it feels right. 

Then in the middle of my quilting mojo, my machine gives me this message. 

What the heck????  I am in free motion mode with feed dogs down so why is my Bernina 750QE doing this crazy talk and locking up?  I finally figured it out and made a blog post for my Loving my bernina series to help other owners of the persnickety Bernina 750QE. 

So I finally reaching the point of enough and it's amazing what the right amount of stitching can do for a quilt. I love the feel and texture of the quilt now. I am selecting binding fabrics now. I'm kinda leaning toward a dark blue binding.

I will be posting this week at Freshly Pieced WIP and Crazy Mom Quilts Finish Up Friday.  

Progress

Lots of progress in my sewing room this past week:

Made a baby quilt from scraps for DH's coworker.  I started out with one vision and had to keep adjusting it based on the limited amount of fabric scraps. It was surprisingly fun to improvise and I really like the end result!

I tried a pieced back but realized too late that I didn't lay it out straight!  Must remember to check for this next time.  And will try to remember to keep my toes out of the photo ...

My new Persimmon jelly roll went from this

...to this

...and this

...and this...

...and lots more pondering...   I've come to realize that having a design wall in my sewing room can be a blessing and a curse!

Lastly, I've made it to my first goal for my handstitched Steampunk Quilt project. One dozen blocks completed and many more dozens to go!  These blocks were a bit challenging to piece but they are getting easier as I gain a rhythm with this type of work.  Still, I'm glad that I'm not under a timeline deadline for these little jewels. Kudos to Jen Kingwell for designing the pattern!

I will be sharing at Freshly Pieced blog and Crazy Mom Quilts blog this week.