Dots & dashes in a circular design

I decided to make a bold choice for a modern looking background filler on this block. I put a twist on what I learned in the latest Craftsy course I have enrolled in called "Divide and conquer." In the course I learned how to quilt dots and dashes in a straight line. I made this bold filler pop even more by using a contrasting thread. I found out it is not easy sewing perfectly round circles! Overall I achieved the look I was going for even if the circles didn't all turn out perfect.

Dividing and conquering my quilt

Sometimes it feels like I don't know what area of my quilt to work on. The quilt is big and sometimes I feel like it will never be finished. I have to push myself to concentrate on one area at a time. I am learning to divide and conquer this quilt bit by bit in my latest Crafty course called " "Divide and conquer " by Lori Kennedy. The sqaurish shaped flower in the center of this block and the corner red on navy flowers in the four corners are from this course.

So far I am really enjoying this course. I would recommend it to anyone who is feeling stuck or overwhelmed with their free motion quilting project.

Using varigated thread for interest

I was looking for a thread to quilt Rosie's arm. I started picking up all different threads. The one that looked kind of like a skin tone to me was this one.

The surprising part about this is that it is a varigated thread made up of mauve and yellow.

I almost didn't buy it. Then I decided it may add interest to the quilt. From far her arm will just look like skin tone. Only upon close inspection will you be able to see that is a varigated thread made of mauve and yellow.

Here is my work so far. Now take a look up close. See if you can pick out the mauve and yellow.

FMQ hearts can be a little tricky

I had an area where I wanted to quilt three equal hearts stacked on top of each other. At first I just took a white pencil and drew a line down the middle. I put yellow thread in the machine so that they would really stand out. Boy was that a disaster. I wound up picking it all out. I was not able to sew them evenly. The next thing I decided to do was create freezer paper templates and iron them on.

I decided to use matching thread because I still wasn't sure if I could pull off nice even hearts. This time the result was much better. There are a few small wobbles where I went off a litle bit but it doesn't really show because of the matching thread.

Thoughtful use of quilting lines to create appearance of depth

I am still in the process of quilting this block. Here is my work so far. Just wanted to talk a little about the orange diamond shapes around the blue star.

I wanted to somehow give it some depth. Notice the two on the bottom. They are done in a diamond shaped spiral. Now see the two on the top. They are done in a wide V shape echo. Since I am no expert in creating depth, I drew it out on paper many times first to see what directions the lines would look best. 

Once I decided on how I wanted to quilt it I did not bother with pre marking. These are relatively small areas that I was quilting quite densly therefore I didn't feel the need to mark it first. I was quite pleased with the outcome.