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Friday, June 26, 2020

June OMG Complete : Smokey Bear Quilt

Hi everyone! Perhaps I should have quit while I was ahead...

In May I made a simple lap quilt for my husband -- the first quilt I had made in years and years -- and it turned out better than I expected. So then I decided to use a cute Smokey Bear panel and two coordinating fabrics I bought earlier this year at the Sleepy Valley Quilt Company.


Well, I made a top with some simple edging, and then pinned it together for the quilting. And, well... I didn't know what to do. I mean, I'm a simple "stitch in the ditch" sort of quilter -- I don't know any allover patterns or even how I would stitch them. So I tried to quilt around some of the shapes in the panel -- around the sign, around the trees, along the fence, across some of the grass, and of course around Smokey and the cubs. There's a big space in the upper left corner that didn't have anything, so I decided to stitch concentric quarter circles ... but that felt weird. And I think looks weird. 


But I added binding and finished the darn thing. And my husband -- now spoiled for lap quilts as he has TWO -- likes to sit under it with the cats on his lap. So he's happy with it. 

What have I learned from this project? I won't buy another big panel unless it has really really obvious things to stitch. Heck, let's be honest. I won't buy another big panel, period. It has also reminded me how much I hate the pinning process. I do plan on making one, maybe even TWO big quilt tops this year ... so I'll be looking for a longarm quilter to do the hard work. 

The One Monthly Goal link-up is organized by Elm Street Quilts with the idea that we can just focus on one task and make progress. You can see how everyone did on their June projects on the Finish Party page. Or choose an OMG project of your own and join us in July. I have a couple of thoughts for what do pick up as my July project -- an embroidery project? Maybe a new tapestry? Or maybe get my fabric organized and cut for another quilt? Time will tell! 

2 comments:

  1. Sunny, you might enjoy watching Pat Sloan's daily videos for the month of June. They are all about FMQ, and they are 10-12 minutes. She talks about other stuff too, but there's a daIly assignment, and it really helped me. She has three different panels she used for practice. You can search on YouTube for Pat Sloan June 1 and it should come up.

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  2. Fun. Thanks for linking up with Elm Street Quilts One Monthly Goal and congrats on your finish.

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