Thanks for showing us that very soft and pretty looking quilt.

Definitely check out the Gee’s Bend quilts! Pick up a book about them at the library & see if they inspire you. Their quilts are great.

You should also check out Denyse Schmidt style improvisational piecing if you haven’t before. It’s a more modern style quilting but it’s really perfect for scraps and scissor cut pieces!

Don’t be afraid to try out free-motion quilting on your regular sewing machine. I was a little hesitant at first but it is so fun. There are some really great tutorials online to get you started. As long as you aren’t doing huge quilts it’s not that difficult to maneuver around.

You could also attach bindings by machine. I haven’t been brave enough to try that out yet, maybe one of these days.

I look forward to seeing more of your work!

-Jaclyn

PS- Your cat toys are so cute!

Also, if you wanted to have your quilts machine quilted, I’m sure you could send them out to be done somewhere with a machine. I think this is how most people do it.

You should look up instructions for hand quilting though! It’s really not that complicated – it’s just a matter of sewing through all the layers (backing, batting, top) – and using a really big hoop to keep the layers straight and even. It’s just time consuming, but great busy work when watching a movie or somerthing. And the results are lovely. If a quilt is “quilted” I always prefer it to be done by hand. Personally I think machine quilting makes the whole thing look and feel more like a coverlet than a cozy handmade quilt. I like ties! Don’t feel like you’re cheating by doing that! (There’s a few great Gee’s Bend quilts that are made from huge blocks of fabric, but covered in a grid of ties. I love it!)

I think you should do more hand cutting and just start sewing and see what happens!