alternate title: Circles are Hard!

So, I sat down on Saturday night, setup the machine to free motion quilt, and started sewing (on my practice quilt sandwich, thankfully). This is what I got on the bobbin side:

I think it was just too late for heavy machinery. After some sleep and a few minor adjustments I was up and running on Sunday morning. Thanks to the BBQA community for some tips when I was frustrated in front of my machine.

 

Block 2.2 - Circles

Circles are hard. Block 2.2 in the Building Blocks Quilt Along is Circles. Lots and lots of circles. And oh, did I mention that circles are hard?

The Good

I quilted the whole block continuously, with NO thread breaks.

I managed to only have to travel stitch on straight lines.

I liked doing a figure 8 to make two "circles" next to each other.

Half circles were easier and more forgiving.

Some of my stitching in the ditch literally disappeared. That was pretty cool.

My husband didn't laugh when I asked him "Do any of these look like circles?"

I wouldn't have done a block with ALL CIRCLES without the direction of Leah Day, so I'm thankful to have been pushed outside my comfort zone.

It's done.

 

The Bad

These aren't really circles.

I colored outside the lines (oops, my circle escaped it's square again!?).

I had some puckering in the fabric... I think my initial line of stitching on the border edge was a bad choice, but it happened elsewhere also.

I don't really feel like I got better in the course of this block. It had also been two weeks since I'd done any free motion quilting, so that could be part of that problem. (see detail shot below)

I realized that my printout was somehow bigger than it was supposed to be... how is that even possible and how many of my printouts are wrong? ;-)

 

The Ugly (okay, I kid, but yeah...)

I guess all in all I'm in decent shape. And most importantly, I'm doing it, practicing and improving my skills. I'm so glad that the next block is wiggles, but no circles.