Hi and welcome 😊 I hope that September finds you well. I'm so grateful that the back-to-school rush is no longer a thing in my family - I don't miss those very stressful days! I've been quilting the first baby quilt of three for JJ's friends. Let's see how I'm doing.
Square Dance is getting quilted
This week I quilted-in-the-ditch the first baby quilt. The title of the pattern is Square Dance, so I'm sticking with that! I used a light grey for the top and a light blue thread for the bobbin. I'll be using a light blue in the bobbin when the top thread is pale, and a darker blue to match darker thread. That's the plan since my tension will cooperate 😀
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| First block quilted - ruler and FMQ |
I started by using a ruler to quilt the top triangle of the block. I gave up after that section was done. It was easier, faster and more accurate to draw the lines and FMQ them. That's because I have a generic ruler foot that is not very good. One day I will buy the proper Janome ruler foot - hopefully that will help.
Here's Square Dance with all of the blocks stitched-in-the-ditch. The top light green block has been quilted, except for the rainbow centre block. I'll probably be FMQ it with rainbow shapes that I learned at the Free Motion Quilting Summit 2026.
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| Square Dance stitched-in-the-ditch |
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| Back of the quilt with extra novelty squares |
What I learned
- I enjoy sandwiching small quilts - it's just so much easier!
- The back of the quilt came together easily. The pattern called for one extra row but I was done, so I added the 6" blocks to the back. It worked out perfectly 😊
- I was disappointed with the ruler quilting. I guess I had forgotten had bad the generic ruler foot can be. I was not in a patient mood, so out came my FMQ foot. All was good 😍
Related links
- A Finished Flimsy, FMQ, slow stitching and I Quilted This!, June 18, 2026
- Baby Quilt, Upcoming Retreat and I Quilted This!, May 21, 2026
- Getting stuff done and I Quilted This! January 22, 2026
- Modern Baby
Linking parties
I'll be linking up to many fun linking parties. You may want to check some out!
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Welcome to the I Quilted This! linking party that celebrates quilting on a domestic machine or custom quilting on a long-arm. Feel free to link up and share any recent project, even if you're not quilting it!
Here are the posts that included FMQ, ruler work and walking foot quilting last week. Thanks for linking up 😊 and consider grabbing the button.
Kat from Scrapbox Quilts FMQ this stunning panel following Angela Walter's challenge, Arcs, Curves and Points. This is the challenge I was going to use to do ruler quilting on the Square Dance quilt, but the rulers have been put away. Kat isn't a fan of the dark panel but it is a stunning finish. You'll want to expand her photo to get a better look at the FMQ.
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| Kat's FMQ on Angela Walter's Arcs, Curves and Points panel |
Diann at Little Penguin Quilts quilted her last block and is now putting together her Quilt-as-you-go (QAYG) colourful Patchwork Hearts quilt.
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| Diann quilting her last colourful patchwork heart |
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| Diann is ready to put the whole Patchwork Hearts quilt together! |
Vicki of Vicki's Crafts and Quilting has finished many quilts this week. Here are a couple of them. You can check them all out on her post. The first one below is a lovely disappearing 9 patch. Those blues really play well together! My favourite is this colourful table topper. I just love the pieced border!
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| Vicki's blue disappearing 9 patch |
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| Vicki's colourful fall topper |
Margo Yang of MY Quilts and Crafts got her gorgeous denim quilt finished. It's called She's A Star. Let's hope it'll be hanging in the Quilt National 27!
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| Margo's She's A Star |
Sandra of mmm quilts finished a quilt for her daughter, Holiday Star. It was quilted very simply but I love the little extra Sandra quilted in the secondary blocks.
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| Sandra's dramatic Holiday Star |
Debbie of A Quilter's Table made this great improv quilt - Plethora. Debbie quilted this in an uneven grid with a number of coloured thread, for a plethora of fabric and thread. Check out her post for more details.
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| Debbie's Plethora of fabric and thread |
It's now your turn 😍