AFRICAN INSPIRED BLUE JEAN CIRCLE WALLHANGING!

What follows is my first ral attempt at free motion quilting. As you can see if was a fail. It cost me like an hour and a half to finish less than one third of the back panel for my pillow and three broken needles. I dont know what I was doing wrong but I just could not get it right. I left it like that as motivation to get better and to show how far I have come hopefully one day. lol The other side of the back I did in a wacky crazy zag. Straight lines are so much easier. The front I wanted a little more finished looking so I did that in a somewhat more uniform zig zag. The whole pillow could probably go under some category of lazy quilting, but whatever. What you are looking at is the inside where I used scraps and stuff. The solid pink is actually from the beautiful pillow case that started this whole project. My daughtert used the pillowcase like a potholder and burned it (why I will never know). I love these sheets and need both pillow cases. These are Isaac Mizrahi sheets now. So I used what was left of the burned case and embellished it with other fabrics to use as a replacement and to practice on the cheap.

This is the outside of the finished pillow case. The batting and quilting will make it extra comfy.

This next project was inspired by a group of African fabrics. I am not sure how to quilt with fabric like this , so I thought I would just improvise something. I didnt want another hexagon pattern but I did want something I could make at night while watching tv or just chatting with my girls. So this is actually Doreen's Circle blur jean pattern. I modified it a little trying to make it a lap project. I tried several ways of sewing the little windows by hand and it just didnt look good. Finally I had to zigzag the windows but I did mattress stich the resulting squares. Its actually hanging on my wall now. My daughter liked it so much she wants me to frame it, which I do beleive I will. Gladys, my wonderful new friend who helps me keep clean and orderly at home, would like to sell a few at her church. So I will count this project a success and make a few more it seems.