Quilting Lucky Charms - The Plan & FNSI Update

This quilt top has been done for a long time. It was the free pattern from Pat Sloan when she did a quilt along with the Old Red Barn Co. Now the pattern is out in Pat's latest book!

This week I finally made myself pin it. I get anxious at this finishing stage. I enjoy the piecing/designing part so much that time seems to fly by when I'm creating the quilt top. 

The quilting - not so much.

It feels tedious.

Monotonous. 

Unless I have a plan!

I knew I didn't want to outline all the rectangle bricks in the corner.
 I wanted the quilting to look feminine. 

What does that look like?

I guess I've thought about it long enough because an idea came to me today and I love it!

 My plan is to repeat the flower design in the corners. I put a piece of freezer paper over the corner and drew out my idea. Then I traced over this one with marker to make it easier to trace 3 more copies. 
The best way I know how to quilt this is to iron the freezer paper to the quilt and follow the lines. The thought of doing it without a guide scares me, and I don't want to mark on the quilt top. 
I will have to remember to make my stitch length shorter so they don't all come out when I go to remove the paper.

But with a plan I can quilt anything! 

Right?

I have spent 15 minutes a day since making my plan working on this quilt. The middle purple stitching is all complete.

 Here's the quilting from the back side of the quilt. It kind of looks like a constellation.

I tried using a trick I first learned about from Pat Sloan. Instead of completing each circle separately I did them in a continuous line, lifting my thread between pieces instead of having to cut and restart each time.

Here's a snazzy photo with numbers to help you see what I did.
Maybe you already do this, but if not, give it a try.

 AND, I did manage to make these 2 pillowcases for the Friday Night Sew In! It was just the right amount of sewing to do. My husband likes the top one so I guess it will appeal to a teenager too!



Enjoy the weekend,

Sarah Vee