Last week, I talked about the overthinking that I was doing on the graduation quilt I am making for my friend Claire….

Where do I go from here?

At this point, I was “letting it rest” to see if I came up with any more ideas.

While I was waiting, I went ahead and basted it, then started quilting. I figured that I could do what I KNEW first and then make this final decision!!

I started out by pinning on flower designs that I thought might work. I also rough-cut one flower and pinned it on too….

None of those truly inspired me!

Next. I QUILTED a flower on a scrap piece and added it to the quilt….

That was cute and less overwhelming than the fabric flowers.

Then, I wondered what would happen if I quilted the petals and added a fabric center….

DING…..DING…..DING…..DING……DING!!!!

I FOUND my solution!!

I cut out a flower template and an inside circle template.

Once traced onto the quilt….

….I was ready to start quilting.

The first thing that I realized was that I needed each stitch line to end INSIDE the center….

…and once I got the hang of it, they were fast and easy to do…..

Next, I will appliqué a yellow center over the messy quilting and add some quilting over the center.

The back of the quilt will not be PERFECT, but this is a fast and easy way to finish these flowers.

And since her graduation party is next Saturday, FAST and EASY is what I need!!

I will keep you updated!!

For Free-Motion Quilting ideas, be sure to check out my YouTube channel…… https://www.youtube.com/c/francesquilts/videos

As part of my “QuiltCon Alternative Retreat”, I spent some time quilting…..just trying different things!!

And, IT WAS SO MUCH FUN!!

I started playing with 2-inch borders….seeing how many ways I could quilt them.

Here is my first set….

They were both easy to quilt and, with some refining, they will make fun border designs!!

Next came these four designs….

As you can see, I am NOT good at feathers (2nd row from the top)!!

I especially like the 3rd one, and the bottom one has promise too!

I found a little space on another practice piece and tried two more designs…

I love what can be done with the top row of designs. It will be especially fun to play with!!

This is EXACTLY what I wanted to do on my “retreat” and I am so thankful for the decision!!

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