I have thoroughly enjoyed quilting these smaller projects, having finishes each week and a chance to experiment – Week 1, Week 2 and Week 3. This project was no different. “One of these things” is a 4 part piece, with each piece measuring 20 x 30 in.

These pieces are minimalistic and geometric in nature. They only have two colors, both being primary colors, blue and yellow. As I thought through the quilting I knew it needed to be simple and complement the elements in the design.

I decided on using 1/2″ straight line on the background aspects of each piece, both horizontal lines and vertical lines. Then in the foreground (the geometric shape) I used a 1 in by 2 in grid lines.

As this is an art piece, I did choose to bury threads to give it a nicer finish. In the picture above you can see all the yellow threads ready to be buried. The blue had already been buried before starting to quilt the yellow. Thread burying for me is a 4 part process: tie the knot as close to the quilt top as possible, trim to have even threads, thread the needle and bury thread, and then cut the excess thread off. I now do each of these steps one at a time to all the threads, so that it is more efficient so I am not switching between needle and scissors etc all the time.

Note, I use multiple methods to check my lines.

• For the 1/2″ lines, I use the edge of my walking foot as a guide. I also, every 5-7 lines, use masking tape to make sure they are staying straight and are the right distance from the first line
• For the grid lines, I marked both lines with a fabric marker pen.

I am really liking how the panels look with the quilting. The quilting and the binding are tying them together. Over the last 3 weeks I completed all the panels, so later this week you will get to see the completed piece.

I really enjoyed the 30 days of quilting, and enjoyed not stressing about making the 30 days consecutive. I am definitely doing it again, maybe in June and July. For those who have done 30 days of something what benefits have you received from the practice?

Now, I have 6 quilts to bind, so I will be getting those done over the next couple of weeks. I am excited to show you those finishes. I am thinking about getting my machine serviced, so that will give me a chance to play with piecing a couple of new quilt tops (using my smaller travel machine for piecing).