Doll Quilt & Sample Free-Motion Quilting

Once my daughter realized this doll quilt (my sample fabric for a first attempt at free-motion quilting) was for her to play with, I realized I'd better finish it ASAP. Luckily, I had some binding leftover from her birthday quilt, so it only took a few minutes to finish the edges. I washed and dried it after she went to bed last night and - wah-la! - today I am the best mommy ever. She's been snuggling her baby dolls up in a homemade quilt all morning.


My daughter demanded requested that I take the "Grampa Larry" baby's picture, too (named after my dad, who gave her the doll). Doesn't she look just like Grampa Larry?

Free Motion Quilting! Me!

I'm so excited! The quilt top for our baby is complete and I made a goal for it to be my first free-motion quilted project. However, I am a little nervous because I LOVE the quilt, so I decided to start on a doll quilt for my daughter to see how I did. I studied a book called Machine Quilting: A Primer of Techniques and it helped me feel more confident to jump in. Here's the result!

A close-up. There are some jagged edges, but I'm hoping as I get more comfortable, I'll have fewer and fewer mistakes.

This doll quilt is super basic, mostly just to practice on. It's just a fat quarter sandwich.

I definitely have lots of room for improvement, but overall I am thrilled with how it turned out and confident to try it on the baby quilt. Hopefully this week!