Practice Makes Better

I've been working on the machine quilting for my double-sided yoga mat. I decided to quilt from the Kaffe Fassett side, on the theory that any oopsies on the back won't show as much on the taupe Bunny Hill fabrics as they would on the bright side.

Things started out very rough. It's probably two years since I did any completely free motion quilting, though at least I have machine quilted a few small pieces using marked patterns.

So, I started out just meandering, making swirls, and generally wandering around the quilt like a lost soul. My stitch length was varying widely as I got the feel for smooth hand movements. Not very pretty, but it was getting the job done.

Then, about a half hour into it, my hands remembered a fill design I'd had success with in the past. It starts with a center swirl, and then you add petals to the outside, like this:

Like 100% better! Now I'm happily quilting along and filling lots of open space rather quickly. My hand motions are smoother already too.

Practice really does make perfect! Or at least better...