trying out dogwood fmq

 once s1 and i got the "marmalade" charm squares all laid out in a pleasing configuration, i was able to get them put together quite quickly. and i even chain pieced the rows without getting one single square out of the order of the original layout. that was a miracle! but then i went and sewed a sashing strip on the wrong side. so one unpick for me. still, that's progress.

when it came time to baste the quilt, i chose to pin tightly down the sashing rows and then just pin across the seams of the blocks because i was going to attempt the dogwood quilting pattern. i wanted a practice run at this before finally getting around to "penny patch".

 when i looked up elizabeth hartman's dogwood tutorial on her blog, oh, fransson!, i found she actually has two patterns: dogwood and orange peel. the difference is the dogwood has lines linking the blossoms. i preferred the look of the orange peel without the lines, but like the name dogwood better. so if i call it that, don't get confused.

anyway, i have been nervous to try this pattern having heard it took some mastering. (but, really, what fmq pattern doesn't?) however, i found it surprisingly easy. maybe it's because i am comfortable with curves because of stippling or maybe my standards of acceptable fmq have relaxed, but i really enjoyed this pattern.

i can't say my petals are perfect. there are definitely some wonky ones. overall, however, they were good enough. i haven't yet decided if i like them skinnier or fatter. to make fat ones, you really almost follow the box lines but just cut the corner closely. for skinnier blossoms, stay away from the box lines. pretty simple. once you try it the difference is obvious.

the one thing i would do differently is stop to take out the pins. the wiggly spots in the petals mostly occurred when i tried to skirt around a pin. there weren't that many but i didn't want to stop the rhythm of the back-and-forth curving every other block to remove the pins. should have.

in the white sashing strips, i did a freehand vine with swirls, inspired by my oldest daughter's suggestion. i was going to echo quilt the seams 1/4" away from the blocks, but couldn't face straightline quilting issues with my walking foot at the time. so i wiggled and looped instead.

with the dogwood down, i'm ready to take on the "penny patch" now! there's still a month til the finishes link party closes. looks like i might make it.

linking up with lee at freshly pieced!