Quilting is a passion

On Friday I had a private lesson with a lovely lady. She came initially because she lacked confidence in what she was doing and sewing was relatively new to her. But just 3 sessions has built her confidence to try things and she is making the most wonderful little girls clothing from Oliver and S patterns... I mean seriously gorgeous clothes!

Now she is slowly dipping her toe into patchwork and quilting - I will get her addicted!

We were talking about the work taken to complete a quilt using free motion quilting, about the time needed and patience... She took one look at the quilting and commented that the person it is for must be very special!

She is right, this quilt is for a very special person in my life:

This was taken just before the last 2 rows were added! It is a queen size quilt so it will grow with the person.

When it came to the quilting, I decided I wanted to add lost of texture to to the snowballs and the negative space. So sun bursts in the snowballs:

The negative spaces evolved into swirls, both small and large to fit the space:

The squares are staying quilt free.

It is a huge amount of work and I even set up Ellie the Elna in the kitchen so I can quilt when the boys are playing, even 10 minutes work on it helps...

I would hate to say how many hours of quilting have gone into it so far, and I am barely half way through it!

So the sentiment that I must love the recipient very much is true, but I am also pretty selfish - I am using the quilt to build my skills. I am getting to grips with using my domestic sewing machine for FMQ a huge quilt.

Plus  it is a joy every time I sit down to work on it. It is never a chore - I love patchwork and I love the quilting phase too!

Every time I quilt it I think about the years of service this quilt will give. I think about the adventures it will go on, the places it will see and the comfort it will give. I think how my quilts have bought me so much joy and comfort through the years and I am giving that gift to someone just starting on the journey of adult hood... that is a gift worth working on......