In the last few days, I spent some time practicing various patterns in order to use them on a quilt I am working on for a dear friend and customer.  Some of these took on a new life as I tried various changes and added my own touch to patterns I learned on Craftsy from classes such as Quilting the Negative Space by Angela Walters.  

These were my continuous curves, which sometimes appear to be circles, but even when they don't, they are cute.  

One of my favorites learned in Linda Taylor's class at the International Quilt Festival in Houston last year.  

I called the center motif Random Happening because that is exactly how it occurred.  There was really no plan before I started this and it just grew as I quilted...

I called this Doodle Bug.  I know that is silly but as I was practicing the wavy continuous curves, I added a little swirl in the corner  and it just made me think of watching those litle bugs when I was a child.  I did play in dirt a whole lot......

These figure 8's are coming along.  They might not be perfect, but they are little.  The parallel lines are one inch apart so these little figures are less than a half inch.  I  like to do small quilting.  This King Tut Thread called Cleopatra makes everything look pretty.....

These fern leaves can get very tiny so I really have to control myself ....I did use an entire cone of the King Tut thread on this queen size practice piece.....and that was just on the top, not the bobbin..... Quilting boxes around some quilting was something I learned in Angela Walters' Craftsy class Quilting the Negative Space.  I have not used it but a few times, but I love it when I do.....I have a friend who has requested this on several quilts and so, I have named this for her --  Amy's Wave.  I had so much fun with various designs, I just called this Play.  Quilting is very much like play.  It makes me happy and hopefully makes someone else happy when they see their quilts or they receive a quilt that I have quilted.  Just a bit of everything in here so I called it the Kitchen Sink.  I see some hearts I learned from Nichole Webb Rivera who I miss because she now lives in Washington. But I love Washington, too, and if she ever needs company, I would love to visit!

I will soon be taking a class to learn to do curved crosshatching, but I thought I would try something that looks like what I think it should but just doing it free hand.  This is without templates and well, it is not too bad for a first time....

Well, I better get a quilt on the frame and start some real quilting.  The practice was fun and necessary.  I think that with everything we do, "practice makes perfect, or at least practice makes better".  

If you see any designs you like, let me know and let me know how much time you spend practicing any tasks that you want to get better at...

Have a wonderful day and hope you get to sew and quilt in all your spare time.

Pam Quiltaholic