Progress

It's a good feeling when I get to the point on a quilt where all the designs are figured out. When I start a quilt like this, I never know exactly how I am going to quilt it. I usually have a few ideas but then as it progresses more ideas are formed, tried out on the quilt or paper and finally placed on the quilt. I prefer to do a lot of freehand quilting. My sense of where things should go and ability to execute a design are usually pretty good. This quilt is stretching me in new ways as I try different rulers and templates and try some new designs. Today was the most difficult. The large white spaces needed something in them. I tried out several ideas in my mind, tracing the design with just my finger into the space. I couldn't figure out what really worked for this area, so finally ended up drawing a couple designs on paper, erasing and adding, and finally putting what I thought looked best in the space. There was several rulers used, some marks made with a water-erase pen to know where things should go, and finally the design laid down. I'm happy with the results. It's not perfect (but then only God is). Now all the designs for every area but one have been tried in some part of the quilt. The finishing work will still take a long time but it's progress.