Design Wall Monday

This weekend I worked at finishing up my Heart Table Topper. You can find this pattern at the Temecula Quilt Company .  This was a fun "little" quilt to make.  But by the time my border didn't fit quite right I was not liking it quite so much.

Overall it looks just fine.  But if you were to call out the quilt police and inspect it you would find that I used the chop and fit method for my border.  The worst of it being in the upper right hand side.  So I have decided to use it as my first actual piece for my Baptist Fan quilting.

This is my practice piece for Baptist Fan quilting.  Happy little monkeys.  This is a scrap sandwich I've been using for more than a year.  When I start quilting something I pull this out and take a few stitches to make sure my tension is right.  So it was what I went to when I wanted to try out a freehand Baptist Fan design.  I think it turned out great.  The only part I question is the very center where I ended at.  After starting with ecru thread it finally dawned on me to change to red so I could actually see what I was doing.  There is a terrific tutorial on Bonnie Hunter's blog on how to do Freehand Baptist Fans while hand quilting.  So I just used that with my sewing machine quilting.  I started like Bonnie suggested by drawing it out on paper. That really helped.  Anyway, I'm looking forward to giving it a try on something besides my my little monkeys.

So this is pinned and ready to be quilted (used as a guinea pig).  Now to get the courage to start.  And if needed, the patience to rip out.  Naaaahhhh

I'm linking up today with Judy over at Patchwork Times.  So head over there to see lots of great projects people are working on.

Julie