As I Was Saying . . .

 . . . .when my sewing machine so rudely stopped working properly.  But I'm not mad at it any more.  After the stern talking-to I gave it the day I dropped it off at sewing machine time out, it decided to straighten up and sew right.  I was able to finish the quilting on the Butterfly Garden doll quilt today with nary a skipped stitch.

I am thrilled to be finished, and thrilled that the stitch regulator on my machine is now working properly.  

I think my sewing machine guy is a genius.  He told me he had updated both the software and the hardware on my stitch regulator and that he had adjusted the "relationship" between the hook and the needle.  I wondered aloud if he was referring to the timing.  He explained to me that the timing has to do with the movement of the hook and needle, whereas the "relationship" between the two has to do with the distance they are from one another.  Capiche?  Works for me.  I mean, it really works for me.

For the quilting, I used Leah Day's design from the May Free Motion Quilting Challenge.  Initially, I wasn't sure I liked the design, but then I started thinking that it reminded me of the flight of a butterfly that you might see in an illustration to demonstrate movement.  Here's an example of what I'm talking about:

So I decided to use it on this quilt.  It had the added benefit of allowing me to meander into all the little nooks and corners around the butterfly appliques.

All in all, I think I was able to achieve my goal.  It was pretty quick to do the whole quilt this way.  It was necessary to turn the quilt this way and that way so that I could see where I'd been and not cross over any of the lines that I didn't want to cross over.  Then I quilted little butterflies into the border.

I still need to hand sew the binding, but that shouldn't take long. The quilt is about 29 x 29 inches.

This is the fifth of five quilts I was making for my friend Lisa's granddaughters.  With this one finished, the whole project is finished.  Once I have the hand-sewing done on the binding, I'll give you a doll quilt review and show you all five doll quilts.  It was so much fun making them.  As I told Lisa, I discovered how much I enjoy making quilts this size, and it improved my free motion quilting confidence by leaps and bounds.  

Now do you want to see something pathetic?

He really wants me to come outside with him.  My goals for today were to rob the trailer of anything I might want to take on my trip (Check), finish quilting this doll quilt (Check), and clean the kitchen.  Notice there is no check mark after cleaning the kitchen yet.  I do have my priorities, you know.  So with many hours left in the day, I think I'll go hang with George for a little while.  The kitchen can wait.  The cat can't.