Doll Quilt Update

I have not had a lot of time recently to work on the Doll Quilt for DQS7. I planned to make a applique quilt using circles of various sizes. I picked out some prints, cut some circles in both the fabric and the Seam2Seam fusible web. I made a practice top by fusing the circles to a background fabric and pinning it to some of my usual batting (Warm and Natural.) So far so good.


Then I started to practice machine applique with the satin stitch. No good. I tried several times and turned to the Internet for help. I found some good tutorials for doing machine applique. Another thing I have found is that if you search Google Books, often times you will get an ebook as a result, which you can read parts of. The book I found last night had several chapters available and some good tips.


I worked some more this afternoon on the practice quilt and while I was a little more successful, I am afraid I do not have time to get good at this before the mailing deadline. And the stress of trying to make a nice quilt for my swap partner using techniques that are unfamiliar to me is not helpful when I have to go back to WORK next week. :(

(I am not really sad about going back to work, just nervous about the start of a new school year.)


So around 6:00 p.m. I decided to make the kind of quilt I know how to make. I have started a lovely Chinese Coin Quilt using Amy Butler fabrics. Last weekend my aunt who also quilts gave me 2 bagfuls of scraps of leftover fabric from projects she recently completed. I almost swooned over the Amy Butler Daisy Chain fabrics. All good sized scraps, including a couple of yards of one print. She is a good and generous soul.


So the new quilt top is nearly finished (just the top, not any of the quilting.) I think I am going to make a pieced binding with more scraps and back it with some of the yardage. I am feeling way more comfortable about how this is going to turn out. The most important thing is that it looks nice, not that I try new techniques. I can try new techniques on things for myself.