So this weekend I am plugging away at one of my WIP’s, work-in-progress that is. Check out the Sassy Dictionary for quilt lingo definitions here . It is a quilt I call “Cardinal Stars”.   It has cardinal fabric and the piecing forms several different star-like shapes, I know…you never would have guessed:) My current location on my quilt journey has me working on perfecting my machine quilting. I have taken a couple of Craftsy classes(have loved every one♥) and done my homework, but one thing I have learned is none of that makes up for practice, practice, practice!!! All the experts say it takes about 25 hrs. to finally get it and one day you will just realize your stitches are fabulous. Well, I haven’t kept a log, but no aha! moment yet.  You have to be willing to sacrifice some fabric and quilt tops to the quilting gods for practice, painful I know, but you can do it:)  Anyway… after making my quilt sandwich and pin basting my quilt, the first step is to do some basic quilting in the straight seams of your quilt(SITD).  This stabilizes your quilt before you venture to quilt the more open areas with FMQ.  I did this with a walking foot or even feed foot. This foot looks like a big, clunky, monster of a foot. Unfortunately, It usually has to be purchased separately.  Here is a pic:

Your sewing machine has feed dogs down in your machine(they look like teeth)under the presser foot, they pull your fabric forward from underneath while sewing.  The walking foot has another set of teeth that also pull the fabric from the top, this keeps the fabric evenly feeding into your machine from both sides of the quilt sandwich.  This foot is primarily used when you’ve got a lot of layer action going on and are only wanting some straight-line quilting.  It is also great for attaching binding.

Now that it is secure I can take out some of my safety pins(this will free them up for my six other quilts ready to be sandwiched!!! Yikes.)  I think I will do a lot more practicing before I tackle the FMQ areas. I will keep you posted on my progress:) Maybe, we can practice together….. Oh, and by the way, you can quilt your whole quilt with the walking foot.  All you have to do is make it a straight line design! Happy Quilting. xoxo.