My friends better sit down for this post.  I’m finishing quilts.  Don’t faint.  It’s a whole new me.  Funny what a brand spanking new quilting machine will do for a person’s energy and motivation levels.  And a clean and organized sewing room!  I love my room.  I could put a pallet on the floor and sleep in here and never leave.

But oh, my!  Finished quilts?  It’s a whole new Barb.  My friends will be amazed.

I started this quilt back in the dark ages.  At least 17 or 18 years ago.  And it languished in my sewing room as other projects seemed to get pushed ahead.  Or maybe I just like to start things and not finish them.  Something like that.  Pappy is checking it out.  He’s amazed that I’m finishing quilts too!

I had fun with this one.  Started the quilting on my day with Angela Walters.  So there is quilting by Angela on this one.  How exciting is that?

Angela quilted this star.  I should have had her sign it, right?  Oh, well.  I know.  I did one to match but hers is much better.  Hey, she’s been quilting a lot longer than I have!

I decided to quilt each row of stars differently.  For extra practice.  This one was fun.

And I like this one a lot!

Another one using Angela’s dot-to-dot techniques.  She’s doing another challenge soon using rulers and this technique and I’m ready to learn more.  Such fun!  (It’s not just for longarmers either.  She shows all the techniques on a domestic machine too.  Check it out!)

I like this one too.  The wishbones in the center are fun to do.

Swirls and paisleys in the border.

And a few leaves here and there.  I needed to practice leaves.  I like them now!

I did continuous curves in the Irish chain part.  That was fun to practice too.  Can you tell I’m loving my new longarm machine and quilting?  Hard to believe from a gal who early in her quilting life thought she would hand quilt every quilt.  Then I woke up from that dream world.  I wanted to complete more than 2 quilts in my lifetime! I still do enjoy hand work.  But I’m loving machine work more and more all the time.

I had to entice Pappy away from the quilt so I could stitch the binding on!

And I did that totally by machine too. Front and back.  I know my friends will be shocked to read this.  I used my new HQ Stitch machine.  It is awesome when it comes to binding!  And this machine was a free surprise when I got my Amara!  How cool is that?

Look how great it stitched in the ditch!

I even made a label.  And washed the quilt.  And now all the cats are taking turns trying it out. Pappy got first dibs and he’s on it again now as I type this.  The fabric is brushed cotton – pretty close to flannel – and they sure love how cozy it is.  If it ever gets cold in Texas, I’m gonna cover up with it and I bet it will be a cat magnet in my lap!

I’ve also finished two quilts for customers.  And have another loaded and ready to go.  Hard to believe.  I’m even having a hard time believing it!

It’s a whole new Barb.  Look out quilting world.

Hugs and happy quilting!
Barb