Sapphire

After finishing the practice quilt, I am moving on to my first (of 4) sandwiched quilts that Dianne pinned for me in early September.  Sapphire was on the top of the pile, so here it goes!

  

Because the Sapphire Quilt looks like a faceted jewel, I didn't want any curves or rounded quilting in this quilt.  I strictly used my short quilting ruler ( it's called "Slim" by Angela Walters) and did ruler work throughout.  It sure doesn't take long to get it done.  On a side note, I bought a long arm acrylic ruler, that is a quarter-inch thick.  It's made specifically for use with a long arm machine, and I really love it.  It's a short one, but so easy to use.  It has different markings on it (inch, half inch, quarter inch, 45 degree lines.) which also are very helpful.  There was no need to mark the quilt either. I just put a regular ruler on the 2-inch line at the midpoint of each section, butted the Slim ruler against the corner, removed the regular ruler, and zipped along the Slim.  It amazes me how easy this was, and how beautiful the results.  This quilt is almost finished now, quilted, trimmed and squared, ready for the binding.

Practice Quilt

I feel confident now with my new machine.  I took an old quilt that Dianne had made for me years ago, that had minimal quilting on it.  It was perfect to practice on.  All the space in the quilting area of the Q-20 (it has a 22" throat!!) made the quilting of a real quilt so easy.  NO STUFFING the quilt through a tiny throat!  Pivoting was a cinch, rotating the quilt, easy-peasy!  I will even be able to quilt my giant Gravity quilt with ease on this machine! (I will now sew the 2 halves of that quilt together instead of quilting the 2 halves separately and then joining the backing with hand sewing!  YAY!)

I loved how easy it was to make spirals, and I did ruler work for a simple line in the rails.  I love how quickly I finished the quilting of this quilt, and how beautifully it turned out.