Free motion quilting on my own machine

Yes

I managed to finish my first quilt quilted on my own seeing machine, my new Janome QC 6260.

I used a variegated thread.

I still need to get my sticking more even, but not bad.

It's for my daughters friend and my daughter is over the moon.

First I did in the ditch around border and the pin wheels. 

Then a 5 point star in each square

And then the border where I had fun with stars.

Prep for machine quilting

First I lay out the backing make sure it's straight.

Then I use 505 to baste and add the batting

I lay out the batting then cut roughly to fit with backing and then turn up half way 

Baste with 505 and make sure it's smooths wen I add the one half of batting

Then I turn to the other half, baste with 595 and again make sure it's smooth

Then I repeat with top making sure it is centred on batting/batting

Minky corners

I got hold of this lovely minky animal print fabric to use for corner appliqués 

Tiger, Zebra, Leopard and Giraffe 

First I tested sewing the applique in minky 

After 4 or 5 little samples I started getting the hang of it.

My Janome 6260

So I purchased a new machine, my old Janome excel 4123 has served me well for 15 years, but lacked a few things. I wanted a larger area and needle down for fmq.

I love it already 

Jungle quilt - layout

After all half blocks were made 

I layed them out on the floor to come up with a design, I decided to make use of the colour difference between the3 different types of fabric so that thegreens surrounded the Browns.

I had 15 of one green, 14 of the other green and 14 Browns.

You can really play with the options here, I also needed to come up with an appropriate shape.

I came up with the above shape with the idea that each corner will be a block colour with appliqué animal.