Spring's First Blush - Part IX

New Quilting Pattern

Now that the cross-hatched or diamond quilted panels are done, now it is time to move on to the wineglass panels.  These are a little bit harder since they are stitched using free motion stitching, but they are a little easier than they look because I'm still working with a marked grid for guidelines.  It does take practice to keep the arcs consistent in size so that the when all the quilting is finish it looks like circles rather than ovals or unconnected arcs.  You can see a practice sample below.  The grid I'm working with is the same as the diamond quilted panels, 1/2" grid.  This produces circles that are about 1" in diameter. 

As you can see from the photo below, I still haven't washed out some of the blue marker from the quilted panel:

I've decided to keep the beads in this section, but only to do every other intersection.  I tried every intersection and it was just too much.  Remember that the goal here is a little less flash and a bit more restraint.  I think satisfies my need for beads and yet isn't over the top.

Once I finish these panels, then I will be quilting the last two, the free motion flower panels.

Parting Shot:  Stella Lily.  This is the first Stella lily of the season and it looks like there will be a lot more to come. This clump certainly has grown well over the past few years and I'm think about getting some more and dividing this group up.