Big stitching

I'm so in love with big stitch quilting!  I pinned the barnyard play quilt at retreat, and decided to use big stitch around the perimeter (the layers were sandwiched pillow-case style).

 Along the way, I kept looking at the rest of the quilt--which I had intended to machine stitch--and thinking of other places to use big stitches.

So far: the cow-spotted border getting the big stitch treatment

It helped that the magazine I got on the first night at retreat  (McCall's Quilting, Jan/Feb 2012 issue) had an article on big stitch quilting.  The article was informative.  And inspiring. 
Plus, being at retreat, I had a whole crew of people to give more advice on how to hide my knots and what types of thread to use (not just perle cotton!  I'm using floss for more color variety.  And thinking of mixing colors for even more effects.)

I look forward to showing off more of the big stitches (as I get to them).

Quilt-along, month 3

This month, I was working on the wishing well.  Got the machine sewing portion completed at retreat, but stalled on the hand finish and the quilting embellishment.  (Oh, how I wish I were more confident at free-motion quilting!)

This should be an easy finish-er-up item, but I got distracted.  And I will stay distracted until the Nancy Drew project is complete--since that one has a definite deadline.

Next month's assignment: apple tree (already have the fabrics picked out)
Due date: March 16 (same day as buck-a-block)

Wish me luck!  I feel like I'm getting too many projects creeping into my WIP pile...