Taking Risks

I quilt for my friend Sarah to help her out and also to make a few bucks.  Her money pays for my quilting retreats.  I generally just do plain old meander, but this time I was feeling adventurous.  I asked her if I could "play" on this quilt and she was all for it.  

I drew up the quilt in EQ the way she had constructed it.  Then I made printouts and I drew on them until I came up with a design I liked and then I drew it a few more times so I could figure out the path to make it all one continuous design.  

Then came the moment of truth.  I really had to gear myself up to take that first stitch but then after that it just flowed along.  Now, I did make mistakes and I did forget my path a couple of times, but it all worked out.  I even did piano keys in the border.  This is also the first time I did the middle of the quilt and came back for the borders.  The overall effect is nice.  Next time I feel like playing, I'm going to make sure there is not a plain white back on the quilt, but oh well.  I sent her pictures and she is thrilled.  I hope she likes it when she gets it up close.

I don't know how much you can actually see here, but you'll get the idea.  

Oh yeah.  I forgot.  I took these pictures before I hid the threads (I was excited!), so if you see any of them, know that I did go back and hide those babies.