Today was the day to finish the machine quilting on the collaborate quilt with my Mom.

The next step in quilting was to add some quilting to the inside of the octagonal blocks. I had originally thought I would do some meandering around the flowers, but, with the charity groups encouragement, I decided that it would look better with straight lines echoing the outside shape.

The only problem with these lines is that they would need to be free-motion quilted, and straight lines are notoriously hard to do. SO, I started outwith much trepidation and fear that I would soon be un-quilting large sections.

I decided to use a new “favorite” product to mark the quilting lines. The product is a white marking pen put out by Clover. The pen draws a fine white line on dark fabrics which can be removed simply by ironing the fabric.

The only drawback to the pen is that the line appears as the ink dries…. a few seconds after you draw it. You just have to be patient!!!

Here is the block with the quilting lines drawn on.

A quick hit with the iron removes the lines.

And the block is finished!!!! (In order to see the actual quilting lines, you will need to click on the block to see a larger photo)

I will post the final quilting steps later in the week…..