Finished is Better Than Perfect?

I mentioned in a previous blog post that I had purchased a long arm machine and planned to learn how to use it. I bought the Innova Classic 18" on a 12' frame, which was delivered in late March. Why? Because I have 10 quilt samples to make of my jelly roll Many Trips around the World quilt patterns, I offer 10 different variations, and then I plan to construct them all again for Honey Bun strips (1 1/2" strips, 1" finished block sizes) for a postage stamp variation. So, with 20 quilts to quilt, it seemed an appropriate, cost-effective solution. However, yesterday I spent the entire day attempting to quilt one 30" block for my 7 series quilt pattern.

Here's my first attempt at in the ditch ruler work. I purchased the Ditch Everything Mini ruler by Michael Davison of QuarterSquaredQuilts. I bought this ruler and several others. I like his rulers because they are thick (less likely to get under the needle and result in damage to the long arm), they are green (easy to see when you have them setting on your quilt top), and he has several that have the seam inset along the "ditch" edge that helps you line up the ruler to get the quilting stitches actually in the ditch. I did get most seams mostly in the ditch. As with anything, it's a skill that requires practice to master.

And yes, finished is better than perfect!

This quilt is the 7-series pattern, it is a Many Trips around the World quilt pattern utilizing 7 rings or trips and is an addendum to the 6-series pattern. You can find them both here. The quilt block is constructed of jelly roll strips from the Frankie collection by Basic Grey for Moda Fabrics.