Not Like I'd Planned It!

I had been itching since my Innova arrived to get started quilting "real quilts" not just leftover pieces of fabric I had lying around.  I started with my sister-in-law's baby quilt which quilted up quickly and I was feeling confident.
At the beginning of Christmas break I'd been perusing eBay in hopes of finding some quilt tops to work on. I found more than a few! EBay is a goldmine for unfinished quilt tops. I bid on a Christmas top and won it Christmas Eve for about $12 + s&h. It arrived a few days later and I was so excited. I had to fix a few seams due to misalignment and pleats but I was ready to tackle this baby!
I loaded her up on my frame one evening, decided I would float this top since it had worked so well for me on my one previous practice quilt, and tacked her down using 3 stitches per inch with my Innova.

My first eBay quilt loaded and ready!

Needless, to say this quilt did not go how I planned from the start.  When I first started I sized my pattern too small and the normal size of stars I was used to quilting were much smaller giving me fits. I did 3 passes across then stopped and took 2 days deciding what I was going to do. I could rip out all my quilting I'd done thus far and start over or I could enlarge my pattern and continue on from where I was currently. I chose the second option, enlarging my pattern and continuing on without looking back. After I put in my first pass of the larger pattern I went back and freehand quilted in some loopty loos and stars to bridge the gap.
Throughout I was having problems getting uniform stars. I would concentrate. I would relax. I would go fast. I would go slow. Whatever it was, I was struggling.  I struggled right down to the very last row I quilted.

An example of my rather wonky stars.

A particularly unattractive star.  Good grief!

Now  here is a good star, but of course, you don't notice it because it is on a solid piece of red fabric.

At some point I decided my shoes were the problem and I changed into my flip-flops in the midst of the coldest spell of weather our area has known in the last 20 years. That actually did seem to help and I am reconsidering naming my little enterprise The Flip Flop Quilter instead of Three Dog Night Quilting Co.

I took a picture of my flip flops. 

I tried smiling while I quilted. At one point I found myself leaning completely over the machine mere inches from the screen.  

I was never so happy as when I finally rolled the last of the quilt up and I had the end in sight.  I finished it off and pulled it off the frame as fast as I could.

Finally at the end.

So here is what it looks like on the front:

Looking at this now, this is a terrible photo. 

Here is the back:

Far away.

Up close.

Here are three things I learned this time around:
1. When you are aware you have a wonk-ily pieced quilt (as I should have realized when I was fixing the few seams I did) you really need to take the time to measure it out and see how square it is. Then make adjustments from there.
2. Related to number 1; wonky quilts shouldn't be floated. The really need to be attached securely to the quilt frame and rolled tightly just like the backing. I read this on a quilting blog about halfway through my project. Lesson learned.
3. I learned how to save a pattern on my Pantovision program so I don't have to try to remember the dimensions each time I go back to start another project.
I have 3 more quilts arriving from eBay any day now. I can't wait to try again!

I was cutting it close on thread at the end!