FMQ Practice.

This week, I've been quilt wrangling a 60" x 80" lap throw through Agatha's rather ample, but still crowded feeling neck space. This is the largest quilt I've tried to quilt myself, and I'm about 25% of the way through.

I started with some triangles, which involved a lot of turning. I had intended to do the entire quilt in this pattern, but when my shoulders started aching thirty seconds into quilting, I decided to try a new plan--a different bit of quilting on each block.

Next up was pebbling, which devoured almost an entire bobbin of thread. (I see myself running out of thread very soon.)

And some leaf thingie-ma-bobs in the corners.

But my proudest accomplishment is my feathers. I tried FMQ because I wanted to quilt feathers, but it wasn't until last night that I actually gave them a shot, and I was pleasantly surprised. I don't think I'm ready to quilt my Marie quilt--and after this, I'm fairly confident I don't want to wrestle a queen size through my machine--but I'm happy to have gotten one step closer to this goal.

I still have a lot to learn about FMQ. I'm getting better at regulating my stitch length and getting into a good groove. While I see so many flawed areas, I also remember my first FMQ attempts, and hooray! I have improved. (And if I really want to feel better, I can think about the quilting lines on my first quilt ever, which looked as though I was very drunk when I sat down at the machine.)