Look, Ma! No Stencils!

One of my missions with improving my free-motion skills is to tackle quilt tops, large and small, that I have piled here and there.  I made up this Carpenter’s Wheel mini a while ago but I knew I wanted to do more than just quilt in the ditch to finish it off.  I just didn’t know what to do.  So . . . back first . . .

We’ve got pebbles and swirls and straight(ish) lines and leaves.  The front border is primarily black so I decided to quilt the border from the back – which explains the blue marking line that gave me a general idea of where to place the center vine and the borders to keep within. 

I used this design:

From this book:

Here’s the finished quilt from the back:

Close up of quilting on the front:

And the whole deal, finishing at 13 inches square.

I just love how it came out!  Here it is hanging in my kitchen:

I also made another Carpenter’s Wheel, a little smaller (a six inch finished block instead of the 8 inch finished), with a slight design change in the outer ring, done up in reproductions.  I love it, too.  It’s just so sweet – though it’s so traditional I’ll be using stencils when I finish up this one.

Here they both are for comparison: 

I love them both!

I may do this up as a pattern.  Just for a look-see, here it is in process -- with all the patches added to the foundation but the rows not yet sewn together:

If you are interested in seeing what other’s are up to with their free motion quilting projects, hop over here at Leah Day’s.  My Express Your Love panel arrived from Spoonflower and I hope to get it basted this coming week.  I love Leah’s open to anything attitude towards quilting this year.  School begins next week and I’m just crossing my fingers hoping I still get to keep up my free motion practice.  Wish me luck.