Wow...I tried free-motion quilting yesterday and it's given me a rockin' headache. And a...wristache? Man, are my wrists sore. They were so sore I couldn't do dishes last night. Well, I could do them but I probably shouldn't have. I wish I had been able to do more. Why am I so good at dish piling? If it was an olympic sport, I think I'd at least be referred to as a "hopeful" if nothing else.

Back to quilting...I like to be in control of my creating which usually translates to "slow". Free-motion quilting is quite the opposite of "slow" or "in control". It's like this: press the petal fast, move the quilt sort of medium. Except the quilt is huge and doesn't want to move at medium speed. And the machine, well, my foot actually, goes all crazy and speeds up when I should be slowing down and vice versa. And then I panic and keep going no matter what because stopping and starting back up again is hard...in the way that the trajectory of the stitching is flawed or the quilt shifts before the needle can come down and I have a huge stitch that goes all wacko to the side.

On the other hand, I feel like, even if I'm not good at it, it doesn't feel quite so foreign anymore. It's kind of fun in a speedy, whirlwind sort of way (which I don't normally like and still don't like but I'm trying to be positive and let go of some of my type A hang-ups). I really like how the quilt looks, all scrunchy and smashed but puffy too.

I'm pretty sure I can finish it up this weekend (if I can find some binding fabric I like). I'll post pictures soon. Until then, do any of you have any tips? I'd be much obliged.