Bundle Up!

I love it! It's cooling down, the leaves are changing, the sun feels nice and warm rather than like a high intensity heat gun. I don't know if you can feel it, but I sure can and I'm loving it! Of course, this means the next step is BRRR, which I could probably skip. And, as we all know, with BRRR comes blankets!

A friend approached me last week about making a blanket for her mom's birthday present. Of course, I was flattered and agreed immediately (I actually agreed to making something before she told me what it was...bad plan, I know). I've spent the last week learning how to do free-motion quilting, or stippling, and practicing a LOT. My practice blanket is a baby blanket for someone in the family. I only did enough to practice the stippling before I put that on hold and attacked the one for my friend since it has a deadline.

I pinned the backing to the rug instead of taping it to my floor...

I pinned out the layers every 2-3 inches starting in the center...

Then hand-basted some lines and started quilting! I did one column before moving on to my friend's (as you can see, I had a LOT of help)...

And if you look at the square directly above her, you can see some of my quilting...

That blanket is just light-ish cotton. The one for my friend is flannel, making it a little trickier. I am almost finished. I need to tied off the thread ends, possibly add a little stitching, and add the binding. What do you think?? Not too shabby for my first try?