Sewing Odyssey, Part 2

Strawberry Fields Forever Quilt, WIP

 Over the weekend I got the front part of my very first quilt put together, and today I started quilting.

It's hard.
 
I basted (when you pin your 'quilt sandwich' together with safety pins) this afternoon, and tried to decide what kind of stitching would look best with the quilt pattern and fabric.  It took me a couple tries to figure out what would look best.  I had a nice pile of ripped out thread building up, and then I settled on loops.

It's... uh, I'm not really sure how well it's going.  I have a feeling that I'll be a pro at these loop de loops by the end, and then I'll have to rip out what I've done so far, because you'll really be able to tell the difference.  Sometimes my stitches are too long and they pull funny on themselves.  Sometimes my loops overlap A LOT and it's unattractive.  And sometimes I freak out and my sewing machine wants to go one way, and my hands want to go another, and my brain thinks I should loop THIS way, and it's a horrible mess.  It's harder to tell on the front side, but on the back...  Woah.  Hot damn mess.

But whatever.  I'm learning.  (I probably shouldn't have used such pretty fabric to learn on...)

The fabric I'm using is called Hullabaloo by Urban Chicks for Moda.  I still haven't quite figured out how this fabric thing works yet, but I don't think Moda is making Hullabaloo anymore.  I think they only make so much, and then it's all gone.  I bought mine from a seller on Etsy.

("But wait!" you say, "What about that Tula Pink stuff?  What about that, Rachel?"  Well.  I still haven't found a quilt pattern that I think works with the fabric.  I really want something that showcases the designs, and I haven't found one yet.)

The pattern I used can be found here: Strawberry Fields Forever by Jera.  Jera's quilting blog also has lots of great quilting tutorials for beginners like myself.