By Diane Harris, HQ Stitch Brand Ambassador

Yesterday I shared the story of this UFO, which has now happily become an FO: Finished Object! It feels great to have this one done.

I kept the quilting simple but that’s because Mary Beth Krapil, my tutor in all things machine quilting, has taught me to ask an important question.

How will the quilt be used?

You don’t need to put heirloom-level quilting on a piece that will be drug through mud puddles by a toddler.

A giving or community quilt (more appropriate descriptions than “charity” quilt, I think) can be something on which you try a new technique or explore a quilting idea. As they say, “The babies won’t care.”

I used the Handi Quilter Skinny 2″ x 10″ ruler to quilt about 1/4″ outside the daisy petals. I did the same 1/4″ inside and outside the flower centers. It felt like enough.

I used a medium pink Superior Threads Omni and it looked great on all the colors in the quilt.

I used to want to hide my quilting at all costs because I thought it was horrible. But I’ve learned that practice and some help from an experienced pro have made all the difference. I’m starting to dream about the day I will want my quilting to show!

Little Baskets

Quilting projects with applique is new to me. I tried echo quilting 1/4″ outside the handle of one basket but knew immediately that I didn’t like it. (Bottom right basket, below.)

It’s a step in the right direction that I’ve learned not to quilt a dozen handles before I take a look and decide. I removed the stitching above and quilted freeform zigzags on each handle.

I used the Skinny ruler to quilt inside each basket body. Since the piecing on this quilt is wonky, I was casual about the placement of the straight lines.

Borders

I’ve quilted borders recently that made me unhappy so I was more deliberate this time around.

I did a ribbon candy about the size of my index fingernail in the same pink Omni thread. It’s not perfect but I think it does the trick. I think I will go back and quilt the yellow border in the ditch as well. It seems to need that.

For the outer piano key border, I tried a ruler called Archie. It reminds me of a church window. I kept it simple by repeating the arches one after another.

A scrappy binding to match the last border, and that’s a wrap!

Quilt on,