Quilting Class

I took a Quilting Class at Country Threads in Bath last week and wondered why I hadn't done it sooner.  It was fabulous.  There were only 5 of us so we got lots of individual attention and Val the teacher was so patient with us all.  She started with the basics of pulling our bobbin thread through to the stop and starting and finishing neatly.

Then we moved on to Quilting in the ditch (which was much harder than it looked!) and sewing 1/4 of an inch from the seam line.



Then we tried straight line quilting which I can't wait to try out - it was so simple but looked so effective

Then for some curvy lines









Following a pattern

I can't remember what this is called but it involved putting one layer of calico and one layer of wadding and quilting in a design.  Then you cut the excess wadding away (everything but the shape) and put another layer of wadding on with the backing and quilt the same shape again.  It gives a raised effect and can be done several times.  It wasn't really my thing but was interesting to try.

And last but by no means least - free motion quilting.  I have been reading about this on blogs for months but haven't been brave enough to try it.  I even bought a darning foot to try it out but it remained in its box.  Anyway I loved it.  I need lots more practice before I try it on a quilt but I can't wait!