The Yellow Lessons Learned Quilt

I recently finished another quilt. A quilt that is definitely not one of my favourites. But I learned a lesson or two making it.

I started out with some improv blocks I made about 1,5 years ago. Then we had an improv class during our MQG Bielefeld meeting last year. I neither liked the improv cutting nor the colors.

I decided to combine them with a rich and saturated yellow – now was better – but still not exactly my cuppa.

I had that quilt top sitting around for a year or so before I started basting it. And it would have stayed in that state had I not needed my basting needles for another quilt. I started quilting “Atomic Squares” on the yellow background. This design is one of my favourites from the book “Free Motion Quilting with Angela Walters”.

When I returned from London, I had learned so many new FMQ designs in Trudi’s Class that I decided to use this un-loved quilt as a Free Motion Practice Quilt and to try different FMQ designs in different areas:

Big-Ls…

Wavy lines and shells and clam shells…

A giant flower…

A feather, some swirls

…and some petals and leaves…

I used a white binding and my favourite zig zag finish.

I liked the “Atomic Squares” best and will definitely use that design again. I did not mark the fabric, I used some seams as guidelines and had a small ruler at hand to doublecheck the size of the squares from time to time.

I forgot to take a photo of the backing, it is pieced using leftovers from the top.

All in all, it is a fun little quilt, I am glad I finished it at all.

Besides the technical lessons I learned (improv cutting and piecing, colour combination, FMQ designs, etc.), I learned something more: perseverance (I finished it after all) and acceptance of imperfection (I forced myself to NOT rip out those ugly stitches).

Oh and by the way, I learned to NOT quilt so close to the edge of the quilt that half the stitches are buried underneath the binding ):

Many lessons learned – even if the result will never be a favourite. Because most of all, I learned that improv is not my cup of tea at all. Give me squares and rectangles and circles and triangles. But no more improvisional cutting and peicing, please…

Thanks for visiting!
Christine