branching out.

my daughter cut out her own letter, so it's a bit wiggley...

So. I'm making (err. copying) some pillows from Don't Look Now... and I decided to branch out of my comfortable stippling mode. I tried swirls and flowers AND some free-motion tracing. (I learned all of these by TRYING to copy Don't Look Now-- her quilting is AMAZING.) I'm still not sure how to make my swirls and flowers more even. BUT. I do LOVE the look of the tracing quilting. Usually, when I applique, I either satin stitch or blanket stitch around the object BEFORE I put the batting and backing on. This time I just ironed it on, SPRAY basted the batting and backing on and outlined the shapes with free-motion quilting. If I wanted a thicker line, I just went around the objects a couple of times. It was hard to stay straight- but not too bad. I LOVE how it makes my letters POP!

Who says you can't teach an old (err. I mean comfortable stippling) quilter new tricks?