Little Practice Quilts

From the beginning of my machine quilting journey I disliked the muslin practice pieces every book and instructor seems to recommend. Sure, I can see all of my stitches, often in all their awfulness, but that's not very inspiring. I also find practice on muslin boring.

The benefit is in testing tension and getting the mind wrapped around the process. I simply don't like working on muslin practice pieces more than a few minutes.

This past weekend, while scouring through my stash to find something a little less boring I came across a panel I had purchased several years ago. The vegetables were bright and offered many options for free-motion quilting. I pulled more fabrics from my stash and began to cut 2 1/2" strips. Adding them to the sides gave me practice quilting a quarter-inch seam at a comfortable speed.

The result is 11 little quiltlets. I've started working on them by workin with purple sections first. To gain speed and stitch control I'm focusing first on free-motion stitching in the ditch. Then I work on straight lines. I'll move to outlining. Finally I'll move to free-motion stippling and border designs.

There's enough variety to keep my interested and focused. Best of all, I can see and feel improvement in my control and stitching. Today I'll work on finishing the purple areas before moving on to another color.

If you find practice boring take a panel, cut it to pieces, and add border strips. Then add batting and a backing. Pin or baste the layers together. Have fun!