Even though I have been quilting for customers for well over a decade, I still get scared sometimes. Usually, when a quilt seems daunting, I reassure myself that if the worst case scenario happens, I could always remake the whole quilt. (Although I never have had to do that). But recently a quilt came my way that was definitely unreplaceable…..

If you were at Quilt Festival, you may have seen this amazing quilt hand pieced by Tula Pink

To say that I was scared is an understatement…….surely you would be too!

This quilt was several years in the making. In fact, a few years ago, Tula showed me the first few blocks. Even though she said that I would be quilting it, I didn’t actually think she would finish it…..so I wasn’t too worried. Then, about a year ago, she showed me her progress…..half of it finished. I started to get a little nervous. Fast forward to about 4 months ago, she actually finished it AND she was ready for me to quilt it……GULP. This quilt was huge, and impeccably hand pieced…….I was so scared. Geez….what if I messed it up?

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I have heard the best way to handle a fear is to face it head on…..so I loaded that quilt, said a prayer and got started.

When Tula and I discussed it, she told me that she wanted the quilting to highlight her fussy cutting as well as the stars that surround all the blocks. I always love how she points me in a direction and then lets me go for it.

So, without further ado, here is a play-by-play progression of her quilt…..

machine quilting english paper piecing

I sent this picture to Tula with the caption, “Here I go, I am freaking out!” (Note the headphones on the quilt…my secret to great quilting is listening to audio books or loud music!)

As I worked through the quilt, I snapped some pictures……

straight line quilting in border

Tula wanted the quilting in border to not distract from the piecing, so we decided on straight lines. I am loving how this is turning out…..

machine quilting with a longarm

Another text to Tula, “45 hours in and I am almost done!”

When finished…..almost 50 hours of quilting later, I finally got to see the finished result. To my huge relief……it looked great. Thankfully, when I showed it to Tula, she agreed. In fact, she may have had a glitter of a tear in her eye….

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Honestly, once I got started, I wasn’t nearly as scared as I thought I would be. All I had to do was follow the lines that Tula pieced for me.

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I used the straight lines to emphasize the patterns in the piecing.

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It felt like there was someone always watching me………..

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Tula did an amazing job fussy cutting every….single….piece of this quilt. Simply amazing!

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So the moral of this story is……even if you are scared, just get started! Chances are, you will be glad to have it done!

How about you? Have you ever had a quilt that gave you nightmares? How did it turn out?

To see other quilts that Tula Pink and I have worked on, check out our newest book:

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In other news

I have been up to something fun! Check out Craftsy’s website to see my newest project….I couldn’t be more excited if I tried!!

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Happy Quilting!